> Maybe we really don't need social security I think the libertarian idea is that we really don't need social security through threat of violence. There's a no

> Maybe we really don't need social security I think the libertarian idea is that we really don't need social security through threat of violence. There's a notion of the role of "private" charity. Libertarians aren't necessarily selfish or unempathetic. Contributing to something for the common benefit can also be borderline-coerced through social pressure. This is explored somewhat in P K Dick's short story "Foster, You're Dead!" (one of the ones adapted into something rather different in the Electric Dreams TV Series) http://www.sffaudio.com/podcasts/FosterYoureDeadByPhilipK.DickSSF3.pdf http://www.sffaudio.com/podcasts/FosterYoureDeadByPhilipK.Di... Although I found the story to somewhat muddy the waters by the world having both individual/private bomb shelters and a pay-per-use public one, as well as having a subscription-based communal shelter in the school. The town's defense was community paid but optional (through social pressure). Of course that's fiction, and we're all aware of real life examples of "tragedy of the commons", but human nature isn't entirely one-sided, either. Aren't there examples of "pay what you want" or "pay what you think is fair" schemes that work?