<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16825" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"
bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=role_document
face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10">
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>From: Steven J Scher <A
href="mailto:sjscher@eiu.edu">sjscher@eiu.edu</A><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>>> Is it permissible to be an anarchist <BR>or a libertarian?
<<<BR><BR>Steven J.
Scher
</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>>>>>>></DIV>
<DIV>Being an anarchist would not be compatible with what the Torah seems to
consider the primary purpose of government -- maintaining order. It says
in Pirkei Avos, "Pray for the welfare of the government, because without it,
people would swallow each other alive." The absolute
must-haves of a government are a military defense force to protect the country
from external enemies, and a police force, to protect people from each
other. The government also has to provide a basic infrastructure, like
roads and water. There also has to be some kind of taxing arm to raise the
funds to pay for the necessary functions. All other functions are
doubtful, of dubious legitimacy and questionable utility. There is
almost nothing the government can do that cannot better be done by the private
sector or by people acting on their own behalf. Also, smaller and more
local units of government are more effective and less tyrannical than powerful,
distant, centralized units of government.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>That being said, there is nothing in halacha that either requires or
forbids Jews to belong to any particular political party in a democracy.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Libertarians are not consistent in what they believe and are not all the
same. To the extent that they tend to believe that the government should
mostly leave people alone, that attitude is neither required nor forbidden by
the Torah. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I myself am a classical, 19th century liberal -- today known as a
conservative, in American terms, but nothing like a European ("bring back the
monarchy") right-wing kind of conservative. Does the Torah require
us to be classical liberals a/k/a conservatives? Yes, but only in the
sense that the Torah presupposes a Jewish people who are wise and
intelligent. However, it is not, strictly speaking, assur to be
stupid.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff><BR></FONT><B><FONT color=#0000ff>--Toby
Katz<BR>==========<BR><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#000000 size=2
FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10"></B>--------------------</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT
lang=0 face=Arial color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10"><FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2><BR><BR></FONT> </BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>