I'm Gonna Plagiarize Ed Lopez's Philosophy Here, Because It's Mine Too

Lynne Kiesling

In the comments on Will Wilkinson's post to which I just linked, Ed Lopez offers a statement of philosophy that expresses my own beliefs more clearly and eloquently than I am capable of doing:

Your post is why I consider myself a philosophical anarchist. I would love to have a government to which I could in good conscience consent. But I know of no political institutional arrangements that have not led to plunder or otherwise morally illegitimate acts of state. On the other hand, governments can be pretty handy--not for economic reasons like roads or defense, which are better left to markets, but as focal points for organizing public interaction in beneficial ways. I don't expect perfection from markets, so I do support even imperfect governments if they have mechanisms for enforcing things like anti-corruption norms. A government that prosecutes corrupt government officials is better than one that doesn't. Our big problem is that fewer and fewer people give a crap about principle and want to outsource responsibility to the state.