I've had many a discussion about Atlas Shrugged, and in fact used to be an adherent to its philosophy. Until I realized something. For a pure Libertarian society to work, those who cannot work must die. If there is absolutely no social safety net, then if you are too sick to work, you can't make money and therefore can't get care and die. Sure, some will live through charity, but there would be far too many people who just can't make a net positive monetary contribution to society. What do those people do?
Or they riot and rebel. The surest way to see how violent people can be is to offer them no choice in the matter. This is a country with a lot of guns, tons of space, and a poorly paid police and military. It’s not hard to imagine how the prospect of a quiet, ignominious death would go over. There are already militias and preppers, and I for one want those movements to do something other than flourish and expand.
If they rebel, then either there is a use for some of them for guards, or those we can hire for guards are better (and will win).
The US indeed have a large amount of land and many guns, but that land is already termed "fly-over" country, do you think most people on the coasts care if somebody runs around up in the Apalachian mountains with a gun shouting down with the rich?
If (which I do not believe) those persons will have no value at all, we will deal with them when/if they riot.
If they rebel, then either there is a use for some of them for guards, or those we can hire for guards are better (and will win).
The US indeed have a large amount of land and many guns, but that land is already termed "fly-over" country, do you think most people on the coasts care if somebody runs around up in the Apalachian mountains with a gun shouting down with the rich?
If (which I do not believe) those persons will have no value at all, we will deal with them when/if they riot.
If only we had some proximal lesson from recent history to look to, as a way of explaining just how deveststing insurgencies can be in the modern world. You know, a lesson involving a bunch of mountain men with guns, fighting from their home turf. Oh well, I can’t think of anything, but if it comes up I’m sure that our record stamping them out quickly, effectively, and without catastrophic loss of life and treasure will speak for itself.
There's quite a few poor in the Bay Area, or in the LA Basin, or in the East Coast megapolis. Some of them are within a day's march of Silicon Valley, or Beverly Hills, or Downtown Manhattan (though it might be more defensible against those not already on the island).
Just being "not in flyover country" isn't going to save the elites if the poor seriously rise.
