THE MOST AMAZING LIBERTARIAN QUOTE OF ALL TIME…. There’s apparently an ongoing controversy in New Hampshire about state officials removing a newborn from a home considered dangerous for the child. Reports indicate that the father in the home has a long history of domestic violence towards the mother and her two other children, and an affidavit from the state’s Division for Children also noted the multiple weapons in the home, as well as the father’s associations with radical political organizations.
But that last part sparked outrage from libertarians, who’ve argued the state is stealing the babies of Oath Keepers. Slate‘s Tom Scocca flagged a quote from one local activist that simply amazed me (thanks to reader D.D. for the heads-up):
“The family should be left to resolve it on their own,” [Amanda] Biondolillo said. “Or private enterprise — private companies can contact the family and say, ‘We heard you were hitting your kids. Can you stop that?’ “
Oh, those wacky libertarians. Sometimes, they just leave me speechless.
Scocca added in response:
[R]eally? Private enterprise! The solution to domestic violence is for there to be private companies that will go around telling people to please stop hitting their kids. Oh, the parents will say, we hadn’t thought of that. We will stop hitting the children now.
OK, private enterprise is superior to government at every conceivable task. Extreme version of a very common belief. But it’s pretty remarkable to see it coming from someone who has no idea how private enterprise works. Set aside the question of how effective this imaginary private company is going to be at ending child abuse. What’s the business model here? Where does the revenue come from? Are the employees of Please Don’t Hit Your Child, Inc. going to collect tips from their grateful customers? Are they going to sell ad space on the trucks they go visiting in?
I can’t do any better than that.
