Difference between revisions of "Initiation of Force"
From Critiques Of Libertarianism
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The problem with the “initiation of force” arguments of libertarians is that they boil down to “Uses of force that we like are retaliation; anything we don’t like is initiation of force.” Humpty Dumpty couldn’t have said it better himself when he pays words extra to mean what he wants. | The problem with the “initiation of force” arguments of libertarians is that they boil down to “Uses of force that we like are retaliation; anything we don’t like is initiation of force.” Humpty Dumpty couldn’t have said it better himself when he pays words extra to mean what he wants. | ||
− | For example, libertarians also consider fraud to be initiation of force. How is fraud force? And there is no individual right to be free of fraud: remember "let the buyer beware"? Or | + | For example, libertarians also consider fraud to be initiation of force. How is fraud force? And there is no individual right to be free of fraud: remember "let the buyer beware"? Or should we make up that right too? |
Libertarianism does not shun initiation of force at all: it just calls it retaliation. If a starving man starts to peacefully eat fruit from a libertarian's tree, a libertarian can violently attack him, initiating force, while screaming “My property! Mine!” | Libertarianism does not shun initiation of force at all: it just calls it retaliation. If a starving man starts to peacefully eat fruit from a libertarian's tree, a libertarian can violently attack him, initiating force, while screaming “My property! Mine!” |