The.Natty.VeganThe government offers public goods. These are goods the whole community can benefit from. They're also goods which rarely would return a profit in a free market. I.E roads, parks, etc, etc. But with regards to roads,the UK government in the 80's actually looked into toll roads. And one suggestion was every car be installed with a tracking device. Now obviously having a private company know your whereabouts everyday of the year is fucking terrifying and it would never actually work because freedom and shit.
Now onto schools. Sure paying a tax for something you don't use kinda sucks. But you know what else sucks, having your level of education determined by how much money your parents make. We've already seen this in America in the college system. And before you say it would make teachers and schools better. Just going to point to Australia which has the best education in the world and is completely run by the government.
Libertarians love dealing in hypothetical situations.because you can neither prove nor deny anything. All you can do is point to current public goods and say how a free market could make it better. Which may or may not be true.
And as far as governments having monopolies. Like I said, the government offers public goods. These are goods that otherwise would rarely see a profit if left to the free market. And I fear monopolies because monopolies are fucking scary. Having one company control the entire supply of something. Prices would sky rocket. Just look at Da Beers and diamonds. Diamonds are worthless, however since Da Beers has a global monopoly on diamonds they can restrict the sale of diamonds and adjust price accordingly. Now if you don't find that scary then errrmmmm
For the roads, the idea is we're already throwing thousands a year toward taxes and some areas still have shitty roads. A private company would no longer make money if they weren't using the money to fix the roads. Now though, you pay taxes, and if they do not fix the road, almost nothing will happen.
You said, "Now obviously having a private company know your whereabouts everyday of the year is fucking terrifying and it would never actually work because freedom and shit."
I just want to point out that Facebook, foursquare, google maps, google, your cell phone provider, garmin and other gps devices etc already know your whereabouts. They track your every move when you have your cell. Now I am not saying I want a private company tracking my whereabouts because they want toll money. I just want to say this is already happening. Our freedom is already in jeopardy. The NSA collects metadata. Which from experts (Edward Snowden on the Startalk podcast) say that metadata is the same as a private investigator following you around. They may not be listening to every word you say on the phone, but they know who you talked to and for how long etc. With all the info about who you talk to and when, and where you travel, they can connect all of the pieces.
We are not free. We are being watched.
The thing, education is already based on how much your parents make. More income equals more taxes that equals better schools. Taxes are kept high in areas to keep up a higher standard of living (and to keep lower class people out). If you want your kid to attend a better school, then you can make more money. There are already so many talks about how our school systems are failing - so what makes you think the government could turn this around? Try to fix the government ran schools with more government mandates is not working. And certain colleges are private and they stay in business. Why could a high school not do the same? Just because public schools are all we know and what most of us grew up with does mean they are the only solution.
In reference to your fear of monopolies, you are not realizing that in a free market anybody could start a competitive company. For example, your local power company has a monopoly on providing power. The government is aiding this monopoly by funding them and making regulations to prevent other companies from providing this service. In a true free market, another company would be able to start up and provide the same service. Another example I have used is Uber and Taxis. There are places like Vegas that want to ban Uber because they are ruining the taxi business. However, Uber provides a more efficient, cheaper service. However the local taxi company is licensed by the government. The government we have now is what is causing this monopoly. Uber should be the sign to taxi companies that they need to step up their game. Not be a sign that they need to use the government to block Uber because they want to be the only company.
