>What was that blackout of the eastern half of the US then? Or >all the rolling blackouts California used to have?
Eh. That was a temporary situation. They were recovering from government control. They instated an incompetent and inexperienced group to direct it.
The eastern blackout was an accident, plain and simple. Had nothing to do with government control or not. Some transformers overloaded, and the power grid backed up, blowing more transformers (I don't think they were transformers... They were called transmitters or something).
You can be sure under a capitalist system, whoever was responsable for the accident would be cut from the system, immediately, and a restructuring would be imminent, people would be tested for competence ETC... under government control, you couldn't be so sure. The only way you could be sure something would be done is if there was sufficient public outrage.
>Explain how that fits in with non-initiation of force? It's not >like a monopoly is going to build their own military and lead a >revolution. No, they'll work within the system, much like they >do now.
Still, infringing on other people's rights means initiation of force. If they don't initiate force, there's no problem. Think Wal-Mart. People hate them, call them a monopoly, ETC. But people buy their products because they want them. If they say, start breaking the law, they will be brought out and beat to death in public. Enron.
It's mighty strange how your form of libertarianism is looking > increasingly more like already-existing forms of government as > this argument goes on.
Duh. The US is probably the most libertarian nation on earth. I acknowlege that. But the libertarian movement is still useful. The government, over the years, has become bloated and incompetent. Libertarianism seeks to reverse that trend.
Europe is different. Employment quotas and nanny-state laws have destroyed overall productivity. In Germany and France, they have passed laws to decrease the limit on hours per week an employee can work without being paid overtime, but has changed it in such a way that the employee's overall salary cannot be lowered either (they get paid the same amount to work fewer hours). The idea is that they will hire more people, and decrease the overall unemployment rate. What is a business supposed to do under such pressure? The government basically has told them what they will pay for service and how much they will pay for. Not only that, but most businesses now are reluctant to hire anyone at all, and the unemployment rate has not significantly fallen.
Libertarianism (or more specifically, a Republican form of government) is admittedly flawed for our current society, but much less so than collectivism.