I've decided that this episode of the Ramblings from Trinwardia needs to address a question that gets asked all too often, and far too rarely receives a decent answer: So as a libertarian, what would you cut first, if you could begin to dismantle the government starting tomorrow?

A more useful question to me is: In a free society, what would you support, if you had the choice of where your tax dollars should be going? And what would get the back of your hand? You see, I do comprehend the idea that governance, and community cooperation of some kind, does have a place, even in a free society without coercive powers to enforce the will of some as a burden on others. I do happen to agree that "that government governs best that governs least" – although I believe that in the vast majority of cases, that "least" means not at all.

However, I'm also unwilling to claim that a sudden leap from the current mess into a completely unfettered state of being would not create so much chaos and destruction, and harm so many innocent bystanders (including those who have perhaps been rendered incapable of comprehending what "freedom" really means, by a variety of influences and experiences?) So here's my entry in the "what would I do?" sweepstakes – my "tax ballot" if you will.

1. Things I will not support (in any form):

• Corporate welfare of any kind, including but not limited to: Promotional subsidies; Sports stadium subsidies; Farm subsidies; Oil subsidies; Price supports on sugar, soybeans, wheat ... etc,. etc., etc.
• The War on Some Drugs: be it enforcement, incarceration, fines, or other depredations. Prohibition I did not work, and should not have; Prohibition II should never have been started, and needs to end now!
• Foreign intervention: get U.S. troops out of Iraq, get U.S. troops out of Korea, get U.S. troops out of South and Central America .. no, strike that: Get U.S. troops out of AMERICA!
• Foreign aid: It goes from our pockets to "our" government, and then is passed on to other governments, most of whose leadershit then ensures that at most a trickle of it actually reaches the hands of anyone who truly needs it. But even if it worked, and helped the indigent, it is still wrong, as "forced charity" – which is an oxymoron!
• Law enforcement, outside the prevention & investigation of legitimate victim-specific crimes. Self-explanatory.
• The incarceration of anybody who has not been proven and convicted of having harmed another human being.
• The collection (i.e., extortion) of taxes (of whatever form) …
• The costs of maintenance for any "government-owned properties" – including the land they are on, which should instead be put up for auction.

2. Things I would only support as a transition (to private and/or volunteer community management):

• Law enforcement, confined to the prevention & investigation of legitimate victim-specific crimes. Self-explanatory, and probably necessary at some level until true anarchism was achieved.
• The incarceration of those what have been proven and convicted of having harmed another human being – as a transition to a point in time when either the elimination of these persons (by the would-be victims, at the time of the attempted crime), or a more restitution-based context (for those not deemed dangerous beyond their initial transgression) takes over.
• The regulation of trade, medicine, communication, …. Until such time as a transition can be made to private methodologies of internal policing – especially in medicine, communications, and industry – to provide for some method of investigating fraud or unsafe conditions, in the claims made to consumers about a given product. Underwriters Laboratories is the model for this.
• The penal system, as it shifts into a context of restitution to victims, indentured labor for working off such debts, etc. All the courts, prisons and other facilities need to immediately begin the transition to more worthwhile purposes, but as long as the paradigm is punishment and confinement, instead of restitution and rehabilitation, it will have to remain at least somewhat intact.

3. Things I would support, and shift resources to (for as long as it was demonstrable that private and voluntary measures had not risen to take the place of enforced methods for such support):

• Government aid to the poor, disabled, indigent, critically ill, or those who are otherwise unable to fend for themselves. [Note: This would in reality be such a small portion of funding, compared to the "cradle to grave" attempts now being foisted on us from every corner, that it would very quickly be taken over by private charities, volunteer efforts, corporate grants and other measures (e.g., free or low-cost pharmaceuticals to those truly in need, as some pharmaceutical companies already have programs for). The point is, though, until these changes actually prove that "freedom works" this is the LAST place we should allow to fall by the wayside!]
• Scholarship help for poor yet deserving children (as it transitions into direct support from willing volunteers and contributors)
• Neighborhood improvements (as they transition into completely private and voluntary efforts)
• Bonuses for government departments which successfully cut their expenditures (as they transition into providing their wares on a purely "fee for service" basis)
• Bonuses for government departments which successfully shift some measurable portion of their activities to private-sector charities or volunteer community groups (as they transition into providing their wares on a purely "fee for service" basis)

That's it! (I may have left something out, but that's how I see it now …) The rest of it can disappear yesterday, for my money … and not a cent would leave my hands otherwise against my will.

What does your "tax ballot" look like?

Steve Trinward