The Census is invasive, says Michigan

[Elephant Walk]

Originally Posted by ree-Xi

Another example of what many people define as "socialism".

There are groups in the US who want to do away with:

From my classically liberal perspective, you do not comprehend the issues (some of which you fairly nail, but are completely off the mark)

- public schools (which teach only the government's agenda)

J.S. Mill, a classical liberal like myself, thought that public schools created a singular thought process which would be dangerous to the growth of the mind. That being said, of the few things that I think the government should do, education is one of them.

- the road and highway system (yes, every person is assigned a stretch of road to care for)

Assigned? That sounds like fascism, not a libertarian dream. Furthermore, the rather standard argument is that corporations would build the roads (not contracted out, but over sole design), however a Hayekian (and thus free-market perspective) is that there is a market gap which the government must provide.

- the FCC, FAA, FDA and and other "socialist" programs (sure, let's get rid of regulations regarding airplanes and flying!)

Regulations aren't necessary. They're heavy-handed and generally hurt, instead of help. Let the market decide. The only regulations necessary are those which ensure property rights. As long as property rights are in place, the economic system will remain in place.

- public libraries (because everyone has professional journal and historic works at home

You're confusing things rather badly, this was the point where I realized you did not understand what you were talking about. The argument is NOT against libraries, it is against the state funding libraries. Libraries are easily created through private means. Carnegie (that evil baron-capitalist) created a lot of libraries out of his own pockets. Shoot, he was the one who created the foundation which led to TIAA-CREF.

- Police (if we all had guns, we wouldn't need the police!!), fire departments (I got nothing on this one. Just let everything burn down)

There have been some very good arguments for a private police force. That being said, they still have to be paid. Police/Firefighters are an example of market gap (along with streets and street signs and a few other things). However, a libertarian would propose "user fees".

For example, why should you pay for taxes for a firefighter if you live in an apartment? Those taxes should only be paid for by the owner of the apartment. Why should you pay for streets when you're bound to your bed? Cars should have a high user fee for the roads that would have to be paid, rather than unspecific taxation for something someone doesn't use. It leads to problems, sure. But in my opinion, alot less problems than the current system.