Sam--

On the issue of the necessity of government coercion:  libertarians are correct, of course, that all governments are founded on coercion.  They may or may not be correct that coercion is always unethical.  Sometimes, perhaps, governments are justified in using coercive means in order to prevent an even greater harm.

On this issue, it may be worth your while to consult the "Tully" essays, written by Alexander Hamilton at the time of the Whiskey Rebellion in the summer of 1794.  Hamilton points out that government resort to the use of force is a bad thing, to be avoided if possible.  But he also points out that there is a larger public good to be found in upholding the rule of law (on which, it seems to me, markets depend).  Precisely because it is a bad thing for governments to resort to force, Hamilton argues that it is a responsibility of citizens to uphold the law voluntarily.

Notice, however, that in making this argument, Hamilton is suggesting that the character of citizens matters, and that it is a matter of public responsibility for public men to model correct behavior.  In turning to this problem--to the cultivation of the dispositions and character of citizens necessary to sustain a thriving and ethically decent republican polity--Hamilton points us to issues that, it seems to me, libertarian theory addresses poorly.

From a small R republican perspective, we should support a public history site at Fortress Monroe if by doing so, we make a contribution to cultivating citizens with the right character and disposition necessary to sustain a republican form of government.

Warm regards,
Kevin

---- Original message ----
>Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:34:00 -0500
>From: Sam Treynor <[log in to unmask]>  
>Subject: Re: Ft Monroe & public funds  
>To: [log in to unmask]

>But even if the Hayekian point were wrong, the libertarian argument that
>government depends on the initiation of force, and the initiation of force
>is morally wrong, would still deny the right of government to impose its
>will on private free markets.
>
>Sam Treynor
Kevin R. Hardwick, Ph.D.
Department of History
James Madison University

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