Airstrip One

Libertarian and National Defence 11th November 2002, 23.05

It is rare (almost unique) to post a purely theoretical article on libertarianism here but the comments of Daniel Thomas concerning an engagement with standing armies prompted some research.

The purest strand that I could find was Paul Birch writing about the mutual defence association or militia, dependent upon the local community and viewing defence as a mutual private good rather than as a public good. These would provide the military ballast to allow libertarian societies to defend themselves against aggressive powers or invaders.

We're a long way from the world where such institutions could flourish.