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russotto · 08-26-2005, 09:12 PM

I prefer the Iron Rule, "do unto others as they have done unto you".

As for the guy speeding through the school zone; forget it, you can't do anything about it if you follow the NAP. If you start making imposition of an arbitrary amount of risk into "initiation of force" (and the amount of risk from doing 25mph in a 15mph zone is pretty small compared to other risks accepted daily) which can be legitimately responded to with retaliatory force, you've vitiated the NAP. The amount of paternalistic legislation which can be justified under the "non-imposition of risk" principle is enormous.

The NAP, of course, is not the be-all and end-all of libertarianism; it started as a way of keeping the LP from getting tagged as a revolutionary organization, back when the government was especially oppressive about such things.

08-26-2005, 09:12 PM	#2
russotto Professor Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 1,788	I prefer the Iron Rule, "do unto others as they have done unto you". As for the guy speeding through the school zone; forget it, you can't do anything about it if you follow the NAP. If you start making imposition of an arbitrary amount of risk into "initiation of force" (and the amount of risk from doing 25mph in a 15mph zone is pretty small compared to other risks accepted daily) which can be legitimately responded to with retaliatory force, you've vitiated the NAP. The amount of paternalistic legislation which can be justified under the "non-imposition of risk" principle is enormous. The NAP, of course, is not the be-all and end-all of libertarianism; it started as a way of keeping the LP from getting tagged as a revolutionary organization, back when the government was especially oppressive about such things.