Libertarians frustrated by what they view as the lack of engagement by arch-Keynesian Paul Krugman with their arguments have come up with a clever ploy: they’re promising to donate $100,000 to the Fresh Food Program ofFoodBankNYC.org if Krugman will debate one of their stars.
The idea is meant to bribe and shame Krugman into debating Robert Murphy, an economist trained in the Austrian school of economics.
Basically, if Krugman refuses to debate Murphy, it will be tantamount to depriving the FoodBank of $100,000. What good liberal would want that on his conscience?
To make the debate even more enticing, the proponents have promised to have it moderated by Ezra Klein, the Washington Post’s liberal policy-wonk blogger. Read the rest of this entry »
At 3:00pm today Stefan Molyneux and Jan Helfeld will debate the pros and cons of Anarcho-Capitalism vs Minarchy. Both these men are great philosophers so this will surely be a stimulating debate!
Here’s the awesome “head 2 head” boxer like intro.
What is Minarchism?
Minarchism refers to a political ideology which maintains that the state’s only legitimate function is the protection of individuals from aggression. Minarchists defend the existence of the state as a necessary evil,but assert that it may only act to protect the life, liberty, and property of each individual. A minarchist state would therefore consist simply of courts, a military, and a police force—the mere components of a night watchman state. Generally, minarchists identify themselves within the broader libertarian movement.
What is Anarcho-Capitalism?
Anarcho-Capitalism is an individualist anarchist political philosophy that advocates the elimination of the state and the elevation of the sovereign individual in a free market. In an anarcho-capitalist society, law enforcement, courts, and all other security services are provided by voluntarily-funded competitors such as private defense agencies rather than through compulsory taxation, and money is privately produced in an open market. Because personal and economic activities are regulated by the natural laws of the market through private law rather than through politics, victimless crimes and crimes against the state are rendered moot.
