re: #211 Targetpractice

Yeah, it’s always a good source of amusement, hearing libertarians try to rationalize keeping government out of everything until they actually acknowledge that government serves a useful purpose. One of their usual favorites is to make a bunch of noise about “government only to protect rights,” but sometimes you can’t protect everybody’s rights without imposing limits. And they absolutely hate the idea of government setting limits, but at the same time will acknowledge that not everybody will personally agree to the same limits.

Yeah, that’s the thing—it’s like some kind of magical childhood thinking where everyone is going to agree on the rules and play fair. Shit, even children actually know better. Or rather they very quickly learn that there must be limits, and what we consider good/fair/polite usually involves a significant amount of self-interest: I’m gonna play fair and treat you nice because 15 minutes from now I might find myself in a position where I need you to reciprocate.