Blog: There is no Reason for the State to Protect Your Rights

Repeatedly, I encounter libertarians who think the state should simply protect our rights.

From the Randians, who echo Ayn’s statement that “A government is the means of placing the retaliatory use of physical force under objective control”, to countless other proponents of a limited state who say things such as, “I want the state to protect my rights” and, “governments are instituted to secure our rights.”

I suppose at first, these can sound like sensible goals. But imagine declaring: “I want the state to produce our food and keep everyone fed” or, “government is the means of placing food production under objective control.” Suddenly, these sound rather silly. It’s cool that you want everyone fed, but shouldn’t we consider whether states are capable of allocating resources effectively so as to produce food in an efficient manner, or whether they have any incentive to, or maybe that they will simply make things worse? You know, the questions libertarians routinely ask for everything else. And how absurd would it be to say that if food production is nationalized, then it is under objective control?

Likewise, these questions need to be asked in regard to criminal justice. With a little investigation, it should become apparent how ill-equipped the state is to do such a noble task. I’m not asking libertarians to do anything all that different, just to apply the same critical thinking to the production of security as they already do to every other sector.

Can members of government police efficiently allocate their time and resources without access to the feedback that comes from profit and loss? Is democracy (or any variation of it) an effective means of ensuring accountability (and if so, why not allow state production in every industry and provide accountability via the vote)? What incentive do state actors have to produce law that protects our rights? Why won’t they merely serve their own self-interests?

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