3 ms·

I wouldnt really go so far to say that schools should be shut down because they do serve one good purpose - making friends (even though you could do that in oth

I wouldnt really go so far to say that schools should be shut down because they do serve one good purpose - making friends (even though you could do that in other means), but its a good meeting point. One of the worst aspects of government institutions is that we become dependent on them. We then no longer remember how life could have existed without them. Before the age of the university, young people would meet interesting other people through fraternal associations, clubs, coffee houses, and pubs. In these societies you could find a rousing chess game, talk politics, start a charitable activity or even purchase group health insurance. The University of Pennsylvania, was originally founded by Ben Franklin as society for his friends to promote their mutual intellectual advancement. The cost was nearly free. The idea that we need government to subsidize "making friends", that finding a group of intellectual peers requires spending $50K a year in tuition, is preposterous.

flipbrad 18y ago
like many 'order out of chaos' systems, government tends to be a self-reinforcing system, unfortunately, leading to ever increasing ordering of its environment. the only way it can apparently beat the second law of thermodynamics is to consume ever more resources out of its substrate. your body is the same way - it gets bigger and maintains itself, but has to eat. as kevin kelly argued 10-15 years ago - death is an essential component of healthy, evolving ecosystems.
adrianwaj 18y ago
There is a Noachide law to "Set up courts and bring offenders to justice." This is a biblical law for Jews and Non-Jews alike, and it makes sense: even the most righteous, well-behaved and respected people will have disagreements with each other, and in a society with no government, implanting conflict-resolution, law-giving and judgement institutions would be a very good justification and first step to establishing one. As long as a legal and judicial system is not abused to the detriment of the society for which it serves, this aspect of government is very useful.
- elai 18y ago
  You don't need a court system to resolve conflicts and disagreements. People do it all the bloody time without involving the government
  - adrianwaj 18y ago
    Yeah, be my guest, try running a country without a judicial system. Go back 4000 years or more, or into a hunter-gatherer society...
sonink 18y ago
yep ..makes sense.

flipbrad 18y ago

like many 'order out of chaos' systems, government tends to be a self-reinforcing system, unfortunately, leading to ever increasing ordering of its environment. the only way it can apparently beat the second law of thermodynamics is to consume ever more resources out of its substrate. your body is the same way - it gets bigger and maintains itself, but has to eat. as kevin kelly argued 10-15 years ago - death is an essential component of healthy, evolving ecosystems.

adrianwaj 18y ago

There is a Noachide law to "Set up courts and bring offenders to justice." This is a biblical law for Jews and Non-Jews alike, and it makes sense: even the most righteous, well-behaved and respected people will have disagreements with each other, and in a society with no government, implanting conflict-resolution, law-giving and judgement institutions would be a very good justification and first step to establishing one. As long as a legal and judicial system is not abused to the detriment of the society for which it serves, this aspect of government is very useful.

elai 18y ago
You don't need a court system to resolve conflicts and disagreements. People do it all the bloody time without involving the government
- adrianwaj 18y ago
  Yeah, be my guest, try running a country without a judicial system. Go back 4000 years or more, or into a hunter-gatherer society...

sonink 18y ago

yep ..makes sense.