[vacri]

What a load of absolute tosh. Governments provide a lot more than 'cracking down on criminals'. Or are you one of these supposedly 'intelligent' people who see public schools as a sequestering station for criminals? When an industry receives a government subsidy, how is that 'cracking down on criminals'? Perhaps we should ask the street-sweepers how effective they are at 'cracking down on criminals'? What about firefighters and paramedics, how are they turning the common citizen into a criminal?

Why must libertarians so egregiously misdefine common terms? Why are they so wilfully self-delusional?

[CamperBob2]

Or are you one of these supposedly 'intelligent' people who see public schools as a sequestering station for criminals?

Try keeping your kid home from public school without obtaining permission to withdraw them, and see what happens.

When an industry receives a government subsidy, how is that 'cracking down on criminals'?

Try not paying your share of the tax money that the government is turning over to the industry, and see what happens.

Perhaps we should ask the street-sweepers how effective they are at 'cracking down on criminals'?

Street maintenance is not an exercise of "power."

What about firefighters and paramedics, how are they turning the common citizen into a criminal?

Fire/paramedic services are not exercises of "power."

[vacri]

Try keeping your kid home from public school without obtaining permission to withdraw them, and see what happens.

Permission is actually not that hard to get. Try talking to someone who home-schools their kids. As for 'see what happens', are you suggesting that the parents get jailed? Could you please cite some references? Because otherwise you're just using weasel words, leaving it 'out there' for the imagination, rather than actually specifying what happens.

I have to say also that it's a neat trick of yours to turn the entire educational system into a 'system to create criminals' simply because you think it's hard to homeschool.

Try not paying your share of the tax money that the government is turning over to the industry, and see what happens.

Uh... taxation is separate to subsidies. I know that libertarians try and turn everything into an argument about tax, but saying 'subsidies are an exercise of power making people criminals because... tax!' is just being childish. Rand's comment is saying that the government can only act through punishment, and clearly it does other things as well.

Hey, embassy staff helping out a citizen who has run into trouble in a foreign country... well, that's the evil of the government coming to the fore... because... tax!

Hey, government interpreters translating materials for new immigrants so they know their rights and responsibilities... well... that's the evil of the government coming to the fore... because... tax!

Hey, government-provided lawyers to represent you if you can't afford one... well... evil tax!

Street maintenance is not an exercise of "power."

It is a power the government has - which proves Rand's comment incorrect. Rand didn't say "Governments exercising power can only make criminals", she said "the only power a government has is to crack down on criminals".

Fire/paramedic services are not exercises of "power."

Ditto.

Libertarian arguments rely on the government being turned into a fantasy boogyman. All governments have problems, but how do you expect a pragmatic solution to them if you don't actually care about using truthful definitions?