[ExI] Libertarian-spotting field guide

David Lubkin lubkin at unreasonable.com
Sat Jul 3 15:10:26 UTC 2010


Eric Messick wrote:

>I think people tend to ignore this position because anyone with
>entrenched power will find the position threatening, and work to
>minimize it.

It seems to me that this is parallel to assassination. Assassination is
widely denigrated as ineffective, cowardly, and beyond the pale.

A casual dispassionate look suggests it's far more cost-effective than
open warfare, and far more humane (as measured in death or suffering
per military objective achieved).

I reconcile the two by postulating that since TPTB would be the ones
assassinated, they have an incentive to vilify the practice.

Pulling back further, it seems (duh) that it's common throughout history
for those in power to encourage the promulgation of beliefs that keep
them safe and in power ("Good King Foobar was anointed by God.
To defy him is to risk eternal damnation.").

Does anyone know of a good examination of this?


-- David.




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