Reflections on "S"election Day - 11/4/26

In this November 4th webinar, Tom reflects on the day after the election, offering a perspective that looks beyond which side won. He opens with Jude Roberts’ song “Election Day” before exploring the differences between limited government and a society based on voluntary cooperation.

Highlights from this session include:

-Tom reads and comments on “The Fundamental Problem of the Minimal State,” an article he found on Mises.org. He examines the idea of a government whose sole purpose is to protect people’s property rights and contrasts it with the voluntaryist position of having no state.

-A discussion of the article’s central argument: an institution with a monopoly on coercion is expected to limit coercion—including its own. Tom explores what he sees as a fundamental contradiction in asking the same institution to exercise power and restrain itself.

-An examination of constitutions, separation of powers, and government oversight. Drawing on the article, Tom argues that better rules or more enlightened officials cannot resolve this underlying problem, and that creating a stronger institution to supervise another can lead to increasingly concentrated power.

-An exploration of voluntary agreements, contracts, and external mechanisms for resolving disputes. Tom discusses the article’s proposal that cooperation and incentives to honor agreements offer an alternative framework, while acknowledging that dishonest or aggressive behavior would not simply disappear. 

-A comparison of market competition and state-backed monopolies, illustrated through a simple example of companies making bandages. Tom uses the example to explain his view that competition encourages better products and lower prices, whereas protected monopolies create different incentives. 

-A reminder that the alternative being discussed is not presented as a finished blueprint. Tom highlights the importance of continued questioning, experimentation, and correction, suggesting that different people and communities could develop different solutions rather than relying on one universal answer. 

Tom closes by encouraging viewers to reconsider their assumptions about government and focus on how they understand the world and act in their own lives. Rather than placing their hopes solely in election outcomes, he invites them to consider a different framework for organizing society.

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