Stephenson on Government
Thanks to Glenn Reynolds, I read an excellent interview with author Neal Stephenson (Cryptonomicon, The Baroque Cycle), in which he not only talks about his books, but government in general.
Reynolds also thought this was interesting, and I agree:
"Speaking as an observer who has many friends with libertarian instincts, I would point out that terrorism is a much more formidable opponent of political liberty than government. Government acts almost as a recruiting station for libertarians. Anyone who pays taxes or has to fill out government paperwork develops libertarian impulses almost as a knee-jerk reaction. But terrorism acts as a recruiting station for statists. So it looks to me as though we are headed for a triangular system in which libertarians and statists and terrorists interact with each other in a way that I’m afraid might turn out to be quite stable. "
Read the whole thing. Very interesting, as Stephenson always is.
Reynolds also thought this was interesting, and I agree:
"Speaking as an observer who has many friends with libertarian instincts, I would point out that terrorism is a much more formidable opponent of political liberty than government. Government acts almost as a recruiting station for libertarians. Anyone who pays taxes or has to fill out government paperwork develops libertarian impulses almost as a knee-jerk reaction. But terrorism acts as a recruiting station for statists. So it looks to me as though we are headed for a triangular system in which libertarians and statists and terrorists interact with each other in a way that I’m afraid might turn out to be quite stable. "
Read the whole thing. Very interesting, as Stephenson always is.
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