Comments on: 6. “Is There an ‘Anomalous’ Section of the Laffer Curve?”

By: Paul Schneible

Paul Schneible — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 03:43:41 +0000

There is a typographical error at the top of page eight which, if not properly recognized, reduces the meaning of a statement to incoherency. The sentence reads, “In my opinion, B may [render A unconscious], but is then obligated to pay off B for the harm, rights violation, he has committed on him.” Clearly, Block means to say that B must pay off A. This is obviously not a major problem, but it is an editorial error that could easily confuse readers. It should be corrected in future publications (or updated if that is possible in online journals such as this).

That discrepancy aside, I found that the paper raised some very important points about the application of the NAP. It certainly opens the door to a great deal of future inquiry into how the NAP is best applied and what exceptions to it can justifiable be made.

By: geoih

geoih — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 17:47:04 +0000

I’m hardly a schooled philosopher, but I think Dr. Block’s article highlights what I think is a possible practical axiom of libertarianism, that for it to be a truly practical basis for a society, it’s other axioms (e.g., NAP) must be accepted by at least a majority, if not unanimously.

A group of people (e.g., a socialist community) could always band together to defeat or destroy an individual, and individual libertarians (those accepting the NAP) would be precluded from responding in kind against the socialist community unless their own property or liberty was attacked. In this way, a socialist community could easily take over a libertarian community, one individual at a time.

Consequently, I think that in the same way a criminal within a libertarian community surrenders his right to liberty upon committing a crime, individuals outside of a libertarian community do not necessarily enjoy the rights and priviledges of those within a libertarian community.

By: Peter

Peter — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 15:39:48 +0000

Walter

Thanks for your interesting article. Jessie Ventura is making a similar argument for a draft in Afghanistan. i.e: that a draft would lead to the end of the war. I wonder if he would accept the punishment for his advocacy?

By: Jeff P Zacher

Jeff P Zacher — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:23:15 +0000

After reading this very entertaining essay I can only conclude, as a libertarian, that we must immediately Tax dissent. There has to be an optimal position on the Laffer Curve that would tell us how to maximize dissent through taxation.