I've been running through my head over and over again between the two ways in which people reach Libertarianism. Under the deontological rout, we form principles based on Liberty being the default position in the absence of any real substance for authority's claim to legitimacy. From this Liberty, we discover the rights of fellow human beings that we are morally obligated to respect. From this rout, the next logical step is total dismantaling of the state towards true Anarchy as the only morally viable social system.
From the consequential side of things, Liberty is seen as the greater good and that Liberty should be achieved for the greatest number of people possible. After listening to Milton Friedman, he appears to be in this camp, as he advocates the use of Government to enforce the respect of Liberty, such as imposing taxes on consenting parties that injure a third party (i.e. pollution tax) in order to curb and reform the delotarious behavior. The logical conclusion of this argument is the minimized or night watchman state.
So, which side is right?
For the most part I fall into the deontological camp, however, their is one part of me that sees the value of centrally planed road systems connecting various towns together. I don't know if anybody here has experienced it, but the highway system in Costa Rica more or less does not exist, so the local towns must make agreements to build roads connecting each other by splitting the costs. Because the costs of these roads are not diffused over the entire nation, subpar construction materials and engineering are used. The rainy weather is particularly hard on roads in Costa Rica, making smartly engineered, and well constructed and maintained roads essential. But since their isn't a central body keeping track of the road system, they end up with pot holes big enough to swallow a car.
Unlike the progressive idea of government being the gardener and the people being the garden. I view government more as the skeleton or superstructure of a building, and the people are the ones who build on that skeleton, customizing it to their needs. Even if the roads themselves in a minimized state society were privately owned and constructed toll roads, it would still require a central planner to create a grand design for an interconnecting highway system.
So, how exactly do I get rid of this little problem regarding roads so the state can be totally eliminated from the equation?
Shane is far more knowledgeable in the topic of roads and government than I am.
From what I've heard, we already had roads (shipping routes) which the state used eminent domain on.
As for Costa Rica, I don't know that much about them. Though I fail to see simply how them not having a central power is the reason for the problems with their roads.
To be sure, you'd have to compare before and after from them going from public roads to private or vise versa.