Comments on: Fallacies of the Button-Pushing Question http://libertariananarchy.com/2009/01/fallacies-of-the-button-pushing-question/ Government is immoral, unnecessary, and doesn't work! Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:36:46 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: New World Disorder http://libertariananarchy.com/2009/01/fallacies-of-the-button-pushing-question/comment-page-1/#comment-474 New World Disorder Sat, 28 Mar 2009 17:42:29 +0000 http://libertariananarchy.com/?p=245#comment-474 Being libertarian means believing that people should have the freedom to do whatever they want so long as it doesn't prevent other people from having the same freedom. If you could push a button that permanently removed the ability of people to commit or ideologically support tyranny, crime, etc., well, that's meddling with freewill. Therefore it is anti-liberty, somewhat ironically. As much as I hate evil, goodness only exists in contrast with evil. What's the point in having freewill if you can't sin? It becomes extraneous if not pointless. No, the legitimate abolition of tyranny and of the State can only come through freewill, not through some cosmic button-pushing. And freewill is not just material in nature, it is spiritual and pychological as well. Being libertarian means believing that people should have the freedom to do whatever they want so long as it doesn't prevent other people from having the same freedom. If you could push a button that permanently removed the ability of people to commit or ideologically support tyranny, crime, etc., well, that's meddling with freewill. Therefore it is anti-liberty, somewhat ironically. As much as I hate evil, goodness only exists in contrast with evil. What's the point in having freewill if you can't sin? It becomes extraneous if not pointless. No, the legitimate abolition of tyranny and of the State can only come through freewill, not through some cosmic button-pushing. And freewill is not just material in nature, it is spiritual and pychological as well.

]]> By: Wilt Alston http://libertariananarchy.com/2009/01/fallacies-of-the-button-pushing-question/comment-page-1/#comment-71 Wilt Alston Tue, 27 Jan 2009 18:39:17 +0000 http://libertariananarchy.com/?p=245#comment-71 I agree with your new question, but of course, if one could both abolish the state and remove the public opinion upon which it rests, one does not need to abolish the state. In other words, the public opinion is still the key issue--it always was--not the existence of the state in the way of buildings and other trappings. (I actually make this point, citing Hoppe, in several essays.) However, it still seems to me that Rothbard is not saying what you think. He is not saying, "pushing the button removes all belief in the State." If he is, well then, of course, the question is relatively uncontroversial, bordering upon moot, and frankly, always was. ...on the other hand, I may still be muddled. I agree with your new question, but of course, if one could both abolish the state and remove the public opinion upon which it rests, one does not need to abolish the state. In other words, the public opinion is still the key issue–it always was–not the existence of the state in the way of buildings and other trappings. (I actually make this point, citing Hoppe, in several essays.)

However, it still seems to me that Rothbard is not saying what you think. He is not saying, "pushing the button removes all belief in the State." If he is, well then, of course, the question is relatively uncontroversial, bordering upon moot, and frankly, always was.

…on the other hand, I may still be muddled.

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