Reply To: Is it possible to privatize police AND the justice system?

#19838
jclaytonw
Member

@Chris Box

Porphyrogenitus gave a pretty good explanation. As stated, the State can already use its large and powerful police and military to remove anyone it wants to from their property by using eminent domain, where the state, instead of the property owner, determines what price shall be paid for the property. So in the current situation, because property rights aren’t well defined not protected, one is already vulnerable to such a situation. The difference in a free society is that one would be fully within one’s rights to hire an insurance/private defense company to protect against such scenarios. Under the current system, such types of insurance/private defense companies would likely be harassed by the state. Further, because the state can expropriate wealth from the rest of the population, it has a significant advantage over competitors (it can raise as much money as it wants by taking it from others).

Also, nothing stops a community from having a police force funded by voluntary contributions. That is, the city of Columbus may have a police force funded by everyone. The key difference between this and the situation today (under the state) is that any residents would be free to not fund it. And anyone not funding it would not necessarily be protected by the private police. This doesn’t mean the police wouldn’t protect them; it just means they wouldn’t be contractually obligated to.