Steve Brenneis: Is and is not

(By Steve Brenneis, Laissez Faire) - One of the most commonly heard sentences that will issue from a libertarian is, "That's not a proper function of government." Since you rarely hear any libertarian holding forth on what 'is' a proper function of government, the statement can sometimes seem a little arbitrary. There is a reason you don't hear libertarians going into a lot of detail on the subject of what government should be doing. For us, it can be summarized in very succinct terms: government exists to protect us from each other.

It must be always remembered that government has only one tool in its bag of tricks: coercion. We constantly hear politicians use verbs like "prevent" and "protect" and (worst of all) "help," but government can't actually do any of that. As well as being a one note song, government's sole power can only be used after the fact. In the face of an entity that has no regard for consequences, government is absolutely powerless.

In broad terms, government should be limited to the basic functions of mediating between its citizens in the case of a conflict, providing for defense against extra-territorial enemies, and providing continuity between its political and geographic subdivisions. Government should absolutely not be involved in the business of promoting or implementing any social program, tinkering with the private sector economy, or, most importantly, preventing its citizens from doing anything to themselves, harmful or otherwise.