Liberty and Guns

From: Ian Goddard (iam@symmetry.net)
Date: Fri Oct 24 1997 - 14:19:47 MDT


kristen brennan (kbrennan@teknowledge.com)
>
>I generally agree with Libertarianism in theory. But as far as I can
>tell, for it to globally replace other systems of interaction, one
>of two things would need to happen:
>
>1. Everyone would need to voluntarily adhere to it. But as long as there's a
>profit to be made by coercion, I believe that some people
>will always attempt to do so.
>
>2. Some group would need to impose Libertarianism on the world. Of course,
>this imposition would go against Libertarian values.
>
>This catch-22 makes me draw a parallel between communism and libertarianism:
>sounds great, if everyone adheres. But usually the only way to get everyone
>to adhere is with guns, which means fascism.
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^
>Can anyone talk me out of this?

  IAN: It depends upon who owns the guns. If everyone
  owns the guns, literally, then everyone will be in-
  clinded to respect everybody else's rights. If all
  guns are ceded to one central authority, the chances
  are maximized that you'll end up with fascism, even
  if the pretext of such centralization is to protect
  everybody's liberty. I don't know if I can absolutely
  prove that, but I have faith that it will hold true
  and tends to be supported by the real-world evidence.
  For example, in areas where the right to carry is
  legalized, as I understand, murder and rape drops.

  Did people in Hong Kong have the right own firearms?

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Ian Williams Goddard ---> http://www.symmetry.net (NOT UP YET)
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