The benevolence and compassion of the state...

Posting this link again as it is such a fantastic illustration of the non-aggression perspective behind the libertarian philosophy. It's sort of an idiot's guide introduction to the root philosophical idea behind which all of libertarian philosophy springs.

One of the key points that is brought up in the video, but not emphasized, is the role of the state in providing a way for individuals to be violent while pretending to themselves that they are not. Peaceful people, generally, will go to great lengths to avoid using violence to further their goals, if violence is not initiated against them in the first place (and even then peaceful people frequently find it difficult to engage in violence). And yet, through the state, peaceful people at least threaten violence on a daily basis. The state becomes a kind of proxy through which people are insulated from their own conscience.

An opportunity to understand libertarianism better...

Over at the Cato@Liberty blog, David Boaz links to a series of discussions and debates about "communitarianism" vs. libertarianism. He points to what I also see as persistent misunderstanding and misrepresentation about what libertarianism is. It astounds me, sometimes, the comments that come from people criticizing libertarianism -- comments that expose such a complete lack of understanding that it makes you wonder why they even felt qualified to speak on the topic... and if you think about that for a moment it makes you wonder what other subjects they might be commenting on without sufficient knowledge.