Libertarian Questions

Here are some questions that have recently been posed to me. Hopefully, these inquiries, plus my responses, will be of interest. Note to all those who send me questions of this sort: I reserve the right to blog your inquiries and my responses to them, but shall keep your identity anonymous.

Q1. Donald Trump (half in jest?) told his guards to confiscate the coats of people who came to one of his speeches to heckle him. Is this compatible with libertarian punishment theory.

A1: Yes and no. If he announced this beforehand (and was the owner of the venue, or this was approved by that person), then yes. Property owners should be able to set whatever rules guest must abide by, but only if this was widely publicized. I wrote about this under the title of “murder park” here and here.

But, suppose the owner, in this case The Donald, did not publicly proclaim this unusual punishment to all and sundry. Then, it would not be justified. For under such a system, actual outright murder could legally occur. I invite you to my home. As soon as you enter, I pull a gun on you, tell you that my rules are that all guests are fair game, and shoot you dead. Surely, this outrageous behavior of mine should not be considered legal in any civilized system of law. food at any one time to serve everyone if they all wanted three meals in a row, so isn’t this a sort of fractional reserve banking? They store food so you don’t have to carry it around, and you have a demand deposit to withdraw food. If fractional reserve banking is illegitimate wouldn’t dining halls, in their current form, be as well?

A5. (This query is from a high school senior who is thinking of enrolling at Loyola in the fall, and has made a campus visit). Good point. I thank you for keeping me on my toes, once again. However, read the attached essay; the part about fractional reserve parking lots, airline overbooking, etc. at the very end of the article. I think my co authors and I cover your question there.

Q6. Couldn’t a time deposit note could be used as a medium of exchange, allowing for an increase in the money supply without any fractional reserve banking occurring?

A6. (this is a follow up to A5) Yes, pretty much anything could be used as a medium of exchange: bananas, apricots, sand, time deposits too. And, yes, also, if these things were added to the money stock, it would perforce increase. But, the Rothbardian Austro-libertarian position only opposes fractional reserve banking for demand deposits, not time deposits. For some readings on this, see here, here, here, here, here,  here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here. Most people will not read all of these. The last few are by Murray Rothbard, and, as per usual, they are scintillating. So, if you only read a few, read those.

Q7 Dr. Block, Recent musings in the circle of libertarian blogs have challenged and humbled me, for which I’m grateful. Are my thoughts consistent with the brand of  Libertarianism professed by the likes of you, Rothbard, and Rockwell? Rothbard says the only justification for death as retaliation is as a response to murder, but what about instances where a victim of aggression is overpowered, and can only take extreme measures to protect the self? IE – shooting someone dead. I can’t justify a victim being expected to accept the violation as it happens, but I can’t picture Rothbard justifying it either. I wouldn’t mind some insight on the issue from a wiser mind than mine.

A7. Thanks for your kind comment. Good question. Murray quite properly distinguishes between the use of force while the victim is under attack, and afterward, when the criminal is caught and about to be sentenced. In the former case, Murray, again quite properly, avers to the effect that the victim may use deadly force to protect himself if needs be. But, in the latter case, killing should be reserved only for the most serious of crimes. I think this is very reasonable and eminently compatible with libertarian theory and common sense too. Here is the best reading on this matter.

The post Libertarian Questions appeared first on LewRockwell.