To expand on Bastiat:
The idea behind libertarianism is that coercion is bad, and although some minimum might be a necessary evil, respect for the dignity of the individual means leaving most social transaction in the realm of voluntary behavior. Conservatives and liberals both agree, against libertarians, that society has a broad claim to ensure civility and a humane environment. Conservatives, however, are more prone to rely on voluntary transactions, and to consider governmental action ancillary to the spontaneous ordering of society, through mediating institutions like churches, clubs, corporations, and charitable foundations, and therefore are able to cooperate with all but the most fanatic libertarians.
The main difference between government and such institutions is the blunt instrument of force. A charity persuades people to contribute to a worthy cause, a government implicitly holds a gun to their head. Obviously, one should be leery of wielding the instrument in a heavy handed way, regardless of whether the person is affluent or not, and regardless of the high mindedness of one's intention. That is the point, for example, in deploring confiscatory taxes: When one takes in excess of 50% of someone's property and/or income, it cannot be anything other than robbery, no reasonable person would agree to such treatment.
Democratic participation in the process permits some rough calculation of fairness, but there is always the danger of the less affluent using the powers of the state to rob the rich, since they constitute the majority. One of the minorities that the Founder's wanted to protect was the one with substantial property. |
