Per the admin's request, I thought I'd give a brief definition of what I mean by "minarchy" as my Twitter name and my name here.

First off, I don't really intend to argue that anarchy/voluntarism is bad or even wholly impractical. My heart tells me I am an anarcho-capitalist, but my head tells me it is extremely unlikely to come about and just as unlikely to last (though admittedly, this is true of minarchy as well!). At least in the States we have a cultural basis and history of believing in limiting government, so it is much easier to attain than the extremely broad consensus required for voluntarism to work. I think it's a battle we can "win" in the same sense that mowing your grass keeps the weeds down, if only for limited periods at a time.

Now, what does the "-archy" in my minarchy look like? That's another point I'm not going to be too strident about. I would say that I identify myself as a classical liberal. I have a fondness for the mindset of the founding fathers of this country, a mindset which flourished before the Constitution but which was all but lost not long after the Constitution's weaknesses were found and exploited (and this didn't take long). This is to say that while I consider myself a Jeffersonian and a defender of the Constitution, I am not necessarily going to be beholden to government as he advocated it in all its particulars. I am a Jeffersonian in that I am a classical liberal. I find much to be desired and underdeveloped in the Founders' varied preferences for their governments.

As I said, it is the spirit of the tireless pursuit for liberty that propels me. What makes me a minarchist instead of an anarchist is that I believe the journey to be somewhat asymptotic, not ever truly attainable. I'm sure there are plenty here who disagree heartily, but I've yet to be persuaded.

That said, if we ever achieve something resembling a minarchy, I'll switch to attacking it and advocating anarcho-capitalism. Maybe the username "Voluntarism" will be available for me in case that day comes.   Until then, I hope my ancap/voluntarist friends will refrain from making the perfect (no state) the enemy of the good (a relatively unobtrusive state).

I see you are a georgian as well- its  the only form of taxation I think is acceptable (on Land)

Richard Enderle wrote on Feb 20^th, 2010 at 12:53pm:


How about a flat consumption tax. Presumably the more you consume the more you happen to be using public goods in the process too, such as roads, highways, national defense (protecting imports from pirates), etc. So, say, 15% of all goods and services rendered to end consumers.