Cafe Hayek — where orders emerge: "One of the points I make in The Invisible Heart is that those of us who want smaller government because we think it will make the world a better place are the allies, whether we like it or not, of purely selfish people who want smaller government in order to avoid taxes and who have no intention of giving to charity. That should give us pause. At the same time, those who care so much about others that they would run their lives for them are allied with those who would run the lives of others because of less attractive motives–for power and profit."
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2 comments:
That's a great point.
I feel much better aligning myself with selfish people than with megalomaniacs.
Also, I understand that some government is necessary. But I have real qualms theoretically with a group of people taking property from person A to give to person B. Even if person A is selfish and person B is deserving. Even if Everyone ends up better off.
From a utilitarian perspective I think we are better off with less government and stronger property rights. But even if we weren't better off, I'm just uncomfortable with this idea that a person don't have some sort of right to the fruits of his labor or to what is voluntarily transferred to him.
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