Originally Posted by kutulu

Come on, that is a meaningless answer. How do you protect air quality, groundwater quality, and soils in a libertarian society? Give an example.



He's picking it apart because $40 billion is just a number. It has no meaning unless you know how many people contribute to it. If 10 million people are contributing to that then the average is $4,000 per person and that is probably a significant portion of their income. If 100 million people are contributing then it is only $400 per person and it doesn't mean that much.



If you aren't confused then you are being intentionally obtuse. Society only needs x amount of brain surgeons. We only need y amount of toilet cleaners. You are still talking about INDIVIDUALS and leaving out the fact that there is a specific need to toilet cleaners.

/speaking in general here:

I don't get why it is so hard for Libertarians to look at reality. Our society can be viewed as a pyramid. The base of the pyramid makes very little and represents more than half of the area. The tip of the pyramid makes most of the money and represents about 5% of the area and the rest is the middle class.

The area is not static but the angles are relatively fixed. Individuals freely move from top to bottom but to maintain the shape, more move down than up. That is reality. In a fantasy world, everyone could be working to their fullest potential. However, the shape of the pyramid still isn't going to change. Essentially we would end up with overqualified toilet cleaners.