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Originally Posted by qprogeny79

the only legitimate functions of a government are to protect its citizens' rights from foreign invaders and domestic criminals and to arbitrate disputes through a judiciary. to get the government in the business of protecting its citizens from anything else (unemployment, disease, poverty, financial insecurity after retirement, etc.) is to establish a welfare state; that's why the private sector exists.

not really. the only legitimate functoins of a government are those which the people determines to be, if we understand "legitimacy" to mean representative of the people. the libertarian creed is not intrinsically more valid than any other political ideology. in a democracy, it's up to the voters to decide what kind of government they want, whether it be socialism, social democracy, neo-liberalism, anarcho-sindicalism or whatever...

the problem i have with ayn rand is that being a second-rate thinker she turned philosophy into dogma. actually she wasn't as bad as her followers, who take every word ever uttered by her as some sort of divine revelation. (im not saying you're one of them by the way-- i'm talking about those ayn rand groupies i met in college)