From: elton@sybase.com (Elton Wildermuth)
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 94 10:29:20 PDT
To: solman@mit.edu
Subject: Re: Voluntary Governments?
Message-ID: <9408221729.AA14060@fnord.sybgate.sybase.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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This is probably not really relevant to cypherpunks, but I think it needs
to be addressed.

Jason Solinsky said:
>Government has nothing to do with throwing people into prison or using
>guns. It is an entity that exercises authority. Or an entity that enforces
>laws.

Er.  No.  Government has _everything_ to do with throwing people into
prisons, _and_ with using guns.  Further, "exercises authority" is a
code phrase that means "throws people into prisons and uses guns."

If you want a working definition of government, it would have to be "a
group of people who have assumed to themselves the exclusive power to 
regulate and use coercive force within a set of established borders."
...And, given the USA vs. Manuel Noriega, the nature of the "established
borders" becomes subject to flexible interpretation.

It's not the case that any use of force defines a government.  It _is_
the case that only government pretends to be the sole arbiter of who may
use force, and how much they may use.

If you inspect the matter carefully, without the threat of force there
could be no government.  Otherwise, how would they collect taxes and
tarriffs?  Moreover, they must declare themselves to be the only authorized
users of force, or their "enforcement" (look carefully at that word) power
will be limited in its effectiveness by the strength of the resistive
force.  Government depends for its existence on being the biggest gang
with guns anywhere in the area.

			-- Elton