Transcript
  • 00:01    |    
    Initial credits
  • 00:06    |    
    Introduction
  • 00:24    |    
    Reflections on the minimal state
  • 01:17    |    
    Justification for government
  • 02:31    |    
    Definition of state and minimal state
  • 04:46    |    
    Justification for the minimal state
  • Quote n John Locke
  • 08:23    |    
    Public goods
    • Security and policing service as a public good, Christopher W. Morris
    • Adjudication as a public good, Theodore R. Posner
  • 11:06    |    
    Debating the public goods argument
  • 16:39    |    
    Correcting the normative premise
  • 19:40    |    
    Thought experiment: establishing a new constitution for the truly minimal state
  • 25:28    |    
    Remedial state
  • 29:24    |    
    Essential features of the state from an analytical perspective
  • 31:26    |    
    Testing the empirical premise in reality
  • 33:37    |    
    Final words
  • 33:57    |    
    Questions and comments section
    • Would a private law enforcement system result in a coercive entity fueled by personal interests?
    • Without a government monopoly on the application of justice how would you prevent any one private group from taking over the system?
    • What would it mean for the citizens to live in a minimal state versus a remedial state?
    • What is your position on foreign defence?
  • 51:06    |    
    Final credits


Reflections on the Minimal State

New Media  | 15 de octubre de 2013  | Vistas: 176

John Hasnas reflects on the long-existing argument of the minimal state. Over the years, a state has been defined as an organization that monopolizes basic policing, rule-making and adjudicative functions within an identifiable area, and funds them through some form of tax. Libertarians argue that a minimal state - a state that limits itself to fulfilling only these functions -is morally justifiable. They agree that a market system cannot supply these “public goods”, as it would incur in risk of collusive monopolistic behaviors. Anarchists argue that a minimal state is not justifiable, since there are functional examples of private provision of these services.

Hasnas brings focus away from the empirical premise, as he corrects the normative premise to this argument: that if the market cannot, government must provide these services itself. A remedial state, he says, is a state that ensures people get the services they need, but does not need to provide them itself. Establishing the remedial state, experimentally, in the future, is an ideal means to prove whether or not the market can be trusted to provide the services everyone now assumes have to be provided by government.






Conferencista

John Hasnas is author of the book Trapped: When Acting Ethically…

IDEAS DE LA LIBERTAD

Nuestra misión es la enseñanza y difusión de los principios éticos, jurídicos y económicos de una sociedad de personas libres y responsables.

Universidad Francisco Marroquín