against the state (3): decision theory

volume 3 of my attacks on the arguments for the legitimacy of government, from my book "against the state: an intreoduction to anarchist political theory." this one is about the economic "decision theory" approach of james buchanan and others.
and yes that is my seven-year-old daughter jane running around behind me in her underwear. (she was outside playing in the hose.) i hate it when children act like children!

Category:

Education

Tags:

• anarchism
• against
• state
• anarchy
• government
• legitimacy
• philosophy
• james
• buchanan
• political
• politics

[Psycatalyst]

I disagree with your assessment power is delegated from the five people to the one person. The enforcement is through electing the individuals. Also you setup the game theory decision matrix wrong. Also you forgot to include Tragedy of the commons into your assessment.

[natedaug1]

There is a little kid running around it his underwear.

[heartless187]

i ike how a little random girll just runs right threw the vid. lo

[AHBritton]

...how could that situation even be described as a government monopoly on force at all? Force was divided up into citizen's armies and state militias. There was no person or group of people with much direct unquestioning control at all over coercion.

[AHBritton]

I don't think states always have a monopoly of force as demonstrated by military coups, fractions between coercive forces, etc. Granted certain states represent a somewhat complete monopoly of force, such as North Korea, but except for recent times many states have had relatively well armed populaces at least theoretically possible of offering a reasonable counter force.

For example, in the early United States when there was no standing army...

[AHBritton]

Has rhetoric proven more infallible and less manipulatable than decision theory and game theory? Your main argument seems to be that it is not detailed and complicated enough to represent true to life situations. You don't seem to present a good argument other than regards to a monopoly of force.

[AHBritton]

If so, what is your evidence? It seems to me that there is ample evidence that some states do a much better job at constraining and providing balances to monopolies of force than others.

I think it is odd that you show sarcasm outright in discussion of decision theory forming some forms of proof for the legitimacy of the state. Why is that by necessity more idiotic than your attempt to use rhetoric to prove the state as illegitimate?

[AHBritton]

Crispin,

Why do we never find people in this pre-social and pre-political position? Hasn't it happened at least once, and possibly many separate times, at some point? I don't see a way around it unless you believe the state was granted by a God or something. Can't a society (in fact don't societies) set up checks and balances to these monopolies of force? For example abuses of force happen all the time but is your contention that nothing can be done within a state to counteract this?

[fogg787]

Thank God Im not alone... There is no state or government established that is not led secretly by a prince of darkness, a.k.a. a demon. The aluminati is behind it all kids.....

[bxjam85]

A "lazy" person can you shoot you in the head and take your stuff even if the state exists. People shoot and steal from other people now. State power and law enforcement is not as effective at preventing crime as some of us think it is. In fact, I'm not sure that the state really does prevent crime at all. Unemployment and poverty is not merely a result of laziness. That's a very smug opinion.