Human Respect Fellowship Application Q&A
As part of the application process for the Human Respect Fellowship, I was asked to answer a few questions.
Below are a few of my answers, I’d be curious to hear how you would answer, and where you believe my answers fall short. I’m here to learn as much as anything else. The comments section below is fine, but as this may be a personal question, please feel free to email drigotas@duck.com. Thanks!
What role, if any, do you believe the government should play in a civil society?
- The proper role of government in a civil society is to protect individual rights. As result, the structure of government must be limited to this narrow purpose and strictly held to exercising only powers derived from individual consent. To offer a definition: government is no one entity but merely the name of whatever mechanism is used among consenting persons to arrive at accountability and adjudication of disputes when rights are violated, it is both from consent and violations of consent that just power can be derived. Where governance is derived from consent, civil society and governance are often synonymous. In cases where consent is less than fully informed, government powers should be limited and subject to intense scrutiny.
In your opinion, is there any instance in which coercion would be necessary to carry out a political end?
- While there are many political ends which necessitate coercion to achieve, I do not believe any of them are just or worth the cost of undertaking. Coercion and the use of force, by nature, are violations of consent and as a result, run afoul of the circumstances necessary for just power to arise. “Necessary” is a word often used to justify theft and violence but, in reality, good ideas do not require force. It is our great opportunity as humans to collaborate to create and maintain great achievements which advance human flourishing. Doing so does not require strong arming or other violations of individual rights.
How would you describe your political philosophy?
- I am a Capitalist. I believe every person, without exception, has the right to freely exchange value and that the proper role of government is to intervene/ respond only to ensure individual rights. While public or government (centralized) services beyond this scope may spring forth from a free people, the means of doing so must be consensual and may not be attained using theft or violence. Capitalism as a political philosophy and socio-economic system is synonymous with a belief in the value of human life and consistent with known reality, while accommodating of inevitable change and acquisition of new knowledge.
