http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/ Rational Refreshing Reflections on What's Happening Now en-en Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/recent.gif http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/ http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/index.html http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/index.html 18A039.htm   18A039 All or Nothing by Jim Davies, 9/25/2018       There are plenty of people just beyond the fringe of the freedom movement who like the idea of slashing government to a fraction of its present size and scope, but preserving enough of it to perform functions like defense. They're usually called Minarchists, and want a kind of caretaker or "night watchman" residue. What's not so common is that there are some who would cheerfully shovel the whole of it - Federal, State and local - into the garbage disposal except for some other, particular function that they favor. The particlar one I encountered this month was that of guarding the environment, but it could have been any of them. That view is that the environment is just too important to leave to the mercies of profit seekers; it needs wise and benevolent experts to adjust the isotopes and compounds of oxygen in the outer layers of the Planet's atmosphere. Additionally, it's really tiresome for an individual to sue big polluters for damaging them with negative externalities, so let the government bear the burden and simply prohibit the identified conduct. That's a particularly poor one; if the damage alleged is not worth taking individual action, it can't be worth collective action either - or if it is, a class-action option is available. It's not hard to imagine the tyranny that a residual but all-powerful EPA would produce; in decades to come we'd all be told what fuels to burn, if any, to what maximum temperatures to warm our homes, what journeys to take, with how much water to flush our toilets, what trees to fell on our own property, etc etc ad nauseam. But there's an even more sinister result yet, and it applies to whatever residual function might be chosen. Instead of the EPA some might want to keep from the dumpster the function of money control - for is not the currency an essential element in out wellbeing? - surely one cannot trust it to venal bankers, to issue their own? Others would wish for Social Security not to be demolished, for society could hardly survive without government-guaranteed pensions and health care, could it? Others would name as the single surviving function of government that of road management, for reliable transportation undergirds the whole economy. Others yet might argue for education to be the surviving function, because a mind is a terrible thing to waste. Or, it might be for justice to remain under government control, for without justice there can be no peace. Arguments can be made for - and certainly, against! - any of these and others, but there's one factor that affects any and all: preserving any one such function, on its own, is impossible anyway. Here's why. 1. It could never begin to happen. Imagine a voting process: a couple of hundred million all agree to dump all parts of government at every level except one - say, Social Security. Bizarre, maybe, that anyone should wish to pay twice the free-market going rate for retirement insurance - but then, as they say in Yorkshire, "There's nowt so queer as folk" and the SS has long been known as the "third rail" with which politicians mess at their peril. Nearly half a century of failure by the Libertarian Party tells us that voters (ie, believers in initiation of force by the State) will not vote to abolish government, and even if they did they would certainly not agree on a single function to be preserved; some would want one, others anoth Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/12A012.htm http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/12A012.htm Read more about '12A011: What's To Be Done?, 2/29/2012 Fresh out of arguments, they silence the opposition ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A039.htm http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A039.htm Read more about ' ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A038.htm http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A038.htm Read more about '18A038: Why Government Cannot Work , 9/18/2018 An alternative proof ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A037.htm http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A037.htm Read more about '18A037: A Discordant Party, 9/11/2018 Not one of amp;quot;principleamp;quot; ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A036.htm http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A036.htm Read more about '18A036: Child Abuse, 9/4/2018 Ubiquitous ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A035.htm http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A035.htm Read more about '18A035: Meet M. Proudhon, 8/28/2018 Nobody saw the problem more clearly ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A034.htm http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A034.htm Read more about '18A034: Bleats from the Booboisie, 8/21/2018 Pitiable ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A033.htm http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A033.htm Read more about '18A033: They're Desperate, 8/14/2018 Fresh out of arguments, they silence adversaries ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A032.htm http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A032.htm Read more about '18A032: The Mind of a Statist, 8/7/2018 Seriously damaged ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A031.htm http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A031.htm Read more about '18A031: Unilateral Free Trade, 7/31/2018 Far better than none ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A030.htm http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A030.htm Read more about '18A030: Rampaging Looters, 7/24/2018 How to lose the least ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A029.htm http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A029.htm Read more about '18A029: The Great Polluter, 7/17/2018 endangers the environment ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A028.htm http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A028.htm Read more about '18A028: Oaths, 7/10/2018 Far, far worse than amp;quot;Dammit!amp;quot; ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A027.htm http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A027.htm Read more about '18A027: Thanks to Uncle?, 7/3/2018 Not exactly ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A026.htm http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A026.htm Read more about '18A026: Prisons in the ZGS, 6/26/2018 Very, very different ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A025.htm http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A025.htm Read more about '18A025: Music of the Wars, 6/19/2018 Rising resentment of the State ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A024.htm http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A024.htm Read more about '18A024: 1918, 6/12/2018 Government folly, piled upon government folly ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A023.htm http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A023.htm Read more about '18A023: Social Security in the ZGS, 6/5/2018 At long last, it will resume ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A022.htm http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A022.htm Read more about '18A022: The Social Contract, 5/29/2018 Where is it? ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A021.htm http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A021.htm Read more about '18A021: Lesson from an Error, 5/22/2018 A great way to learn ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A020.htm http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A020.htm Read more about '18A020: Moms, 5/15/2018 What ladies do best ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A019.htm http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A019.htm Read more about '18A019: Of Laws and Men, 5/8/2018 The only valid lawmakers ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A018.htm http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/18A018.htm Read more about '18A018: Gekko, 5/1/2018 Blindness on the Left ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch2q18.htm" http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch2q18.htm" Read more about 'ZGBlogs for April - June 2018 ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch1q18.htm" http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch1q18.htm" Read more about 'ZGBlogs for January - March 2018 ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch4q17.htm" http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch4q17.htm" Read more about 'ZGBlogs for October - December 2017 ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch3q17.htm" http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch3q17.htm" Read more about 'ZGBlogs for July - September 2017 ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch2q17.htm" http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch2q17.htm" Read more about 'ZGBlogs for April - June 2017 ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch1q17.htm" http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch1q17.htm" Read more about 'ZGBlogs for January - March 2017 ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch4q16.htm" http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch4q16.htm" Read more about 'ZGBlogs for October - December 2016 ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch3q16.htm" http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch3q16.htm" Read more about 'ZGBlogs for July - September 2016 ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch2q16.htm" http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch2q16.htm" Read more about 'ZGBlogs for April - June 2016 ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch1q16.htm" http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch1q16.htm" Read more about 'ZGBlogs for January - March 2016 ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch4q15.htm" http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch4q15.htm" Read more about 'ZGBlogs for October - December 2015 ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch3q15.htm" http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch3q15.htm" Read more about 'ZGBlogs for July - September 2015 ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch2q15.htm" http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch2q15.htm" Read more about 'ZGBlogs for April - June 2015 ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch1q15.htm" http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch1q15.htm" Read more about 'ZGBlogs for January - March 2015 ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch4q14.htm" http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch4q14.htm" Read more about 'ZGBlogs for October - December 2014 ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch78914.htm" http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch78914.htm" Read more about 'ZGBlogs for July - September 2014 ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch45614.htm" http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch45614.htm" Read more about 'ZGBlogs for April, May amp;amp;amp; June 2014 ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch2012.htm" http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch2012.htm" Read more about 'ZGBlogs for January amp;amp;amp; February 2012 ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch101211.htm" http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch101211.htm" Read more about 'ZGBlogs for October - December 2011 ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch5911.htm" http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch5911.htm" Read more about 'ZGBlogs for May - September 2011 ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch0411.htm" http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch0411.htm" Read more about 'ZGBlogs for April 2011 ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch0311.htm" http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch0311.htm" Read more about 'ZGBlogs for March 2011 ' on the Zero Government blog... Tue, 25 Sep 2018 09:57:06 -0500 http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch0211.htm" http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/"http://www.theanarchistalternative.info/zgb/arch0211.htm" Read more about 'ZGBlogs for February 2011 ' on the Zero Government blog... 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