At 03:29 PM 4/13/97 -0800, Jim Bell wrote:

Looked at traditionally, "we" have a military because "they" have militaries. There appears to be no way out of this game, and thus in that context militaries could be viewed as a public good, or at least a public necessity. But give the public a relatively easy option to exit this game, and that public good becomes a public evil. Naturally, it doesn't appear that way to the people who profit from such waste: Government officials and employees, etc.

Area defence is a public good, and therefore can only be paid for by charity or by coercion. Retribution, however is an excludable good. Therefore it can be paid for by normal market mechanisms. --------------------------------------------------------------------- | We have the right to defend ourselves | http://www.jim.com/jamesd/ and our property, because of the kind | of animals that we are. True law | James A. Donald derives from this right, not from the | arbitrary power of the state. | jamesd@echeque.com