Disclaimer: This is a repurposed passage from my previous article -Immigration, Privatization, and Ownership in The Statist Commonwealth Over the next week or so, I plan to repackage some of my main points presented in that article in more digestible chunks, I will also expand on some points if I find necessary. Immigration is currently a hot topic in libertarian circles, and doing this will allow me to more easily cite arguments I’ve made without asking people to read a very long article and it will give me a chance to expand on some points as my thinking has evolved.
I agree that there is "no Platonic ideal" that would cover how the entire sphere of the private sector would operate, but I also think Murray Rothbard nevertheless provided the best framework to consider.
I fully agree with him in that too many libertarians seem to lose sight on practical questions because they are too hung up in the theoretical world.
We've also got the "is-ought" issue at hand. The descriptive can't pin down the prescriptive.
But we can build on the church-brothel example. They're obviously run on different and specified incentive structures. What are each looking for? What are their target markets? Who if anyone would they exclude?
The same goes for assessing a factory and a retail store. One would be more "closed borders" than the other.
Assessments can be made, they just can't be universalized for every subset of commercial life.
I agree that there is "no Platonic ideal" that would cover how the entire sphere of the private sector would operate, but I also think Murray Rothbard nevertheless provided the best framework to consider.
I fully agree with him in that too many libertarians seem to lose sight on practical questions because they are too hung up in the theoretical world.
We've also got the "is-ought" issue at hand. The descriptive can't pin down the prescriptive.
But we can build on the church-brothel example. They're obviously run on different and specified incentive structures. What are each looking for? What are their target markets? Who if anyone would they exclude?
The same goes for assessing a factory and a retail store. One would be more "closed borders" than the other.
Assessments can be made, they just can't be universalized for every subset of commercial life.