You depend on the government organizing a military force to protect you. You depend on the government to check food and drug imports free from mal intent. I depend on the government to protect me because of my race from bigots. We depend on the government for anti-trust laws. Europeans depend on the government to give fair health policies that are not functions of business profit-cost balance sheets.
Right, but that doesn't mean this is necessarily a great thing. It's just the least worst option we've come up with as a race.
People were once dependent on private interests but increasingly no longer because private interests are NOT DEPENDABLE. Their purpose is profit, not the betterment of society and its people.
Depending on how you look at it, businesses are the most honest they've been in human history. Have you heard of company towns? Have you seen the snake oil that used to be passed off as real medicine? It makes the sexual energizer pills they sell at the gas station seem downright honest by comparison.
Do you really think the purpose of the government is the betterment of society and its people? Because it's a very silly idea.
Why is the argument always presented as government or private business? Why aren't government regulated markets more discussed?
It doesn’t help when libertarians paint government programs as evil tax sucking purposeless institutions. This is absolutely clearly not the case.
Do you think all government programs worth our tax dollars?
And please - I don't think I've ever posted that public roads are a bad idea or anything nutty like that. There's libertarians and then there's the Ron Paul devotees. I don't know if I'd self-identify as Libertarian anywhere other than my Facebook page, but don't lump me in with them without some kind of reason, please.
Also, if you are going to use the mobility argument; then again check out Europe. The people are far more mobile. It costs nearly three times as much to go from Paris to Marseille than it does to take the train. Yet I get there anyway (faster, without the hassle, and with a glass or two of wine) Am I less free?
The government is creating an economic situation that frames the choice in a specific way. You can have the benefits of driving, but they come at a higher cost than just doing it using their train system. There is bias and control inherent to the choice.