Rand Paul

[Tiberius]

Wouldn't private enterprise offer a higher quality service in those areas? Why should I spend my dollar buying government justice, legislature, or defense? Further, why should government have a monopoly on these services/products?

Possibly in the defense department (which is why I think private security / defense contractors are fine and should exist), but I don't think it works with the others, mainly because they aren't actually trade services.

With legislature, you would have no single authority to actually enforce law. One company might create a law saying "Murder is illegal", whilst another creates one saying "Murder is legal". Who gets to decide which law we go with? The bigger company? How do they enforce such a law? Do "customers" of the smaller company have the right to ignore the bigger company's law? If not, why not? They aren't paying that company for their laws...they are paying the other company.

Laws aren't services or products that can be traded (though some lobbyists seem to think they are). Laws are entirely different. They are supposed to make society a fair and free place to live, and that sometimes means that some people are prevented from doing things, even if they are wealthy.

In the court system, is it fair that a wealthy person can buy a judge or a "not guilty" verdict for some crime they have committed. How would courts judge which crimes to follow anyway? Again, if people pay for private courts / laws, what happens when someone pays for a court that doesn't respect the laws of the company the person pays to? What happens when someone sues a person over some violation of law X, and the other person pays for a different court that doesn't believe in law X?

I'm not entirely sure you are serious, or if you are just trying to provoke discussion. It's an interesting proposal, but I just don't think it works in theory or in practice. Laws and the justice system aren't something that can be traded; they are the systems in place which allow for fair trade.