“Would you cut that out and help me over here? This guy is bashing my face in!”

I’m sure you would defend me from an armed assailant, and I you.

Not necessarily. First, he might want to confirm whether or not you’re a minarchist. If so, you might be SOL since he’d consider you to be an accomplice to the statist assailant.

If I saw you being assaulted I wouldn’t consider you a victim in the same way. You’re more of a defender that would be in need of some mutual aid.

We may be talking about the same thing using different words.

I think liberty-lovers should seek to liberate themselves first and foremost. By example and education the rest will follow.

How can you defend a willing victim anyway? That leads to self-sacrifice.

And why exactly settle for “less harm” if you want no harm?

Who said anything about settling? You try to reduce it, and end it — just as I’m sure abolitionists also supported improved slave rights and conditions.

It reminds me of the observation in Amistad by Morgan Freeman’s character: “There are some men whose hatred of slavery is stronger than anything, except for the slave himself.”

We must remember that we are trying to defend victims here, not ride on the highest horse. When trying to defend slaves (or government victims), one has the moral obligation to do everything possible both to try to end and try to reduce slavery (or government abuse).

Because it’s more efficient? If your goal truly is to remove all coercion, do no harm, how is instead settling on “less harm” a more efficient way of achieving the “no harm” goal?

If you’re afraid that no government will result in more harm, please consider this. Every single act of violence that happens in an anarchy is NOT an anarchy. To take an anarchist, that is, a voluntaryist position is to take a position against all coercion, all violence. If some of it happens, all it means is that we’ve still got work to do, not that “anarchy” fails.

You cannot blame peace for war. You cannot blame anarchy for violence. You CAN blame a minarchist for what little violence he does support, however. Thus if you are a minarchist because you fear there would be more harm without government, you’re your own worst nightmare. You support more harm because you fear more harm.

It’s like supporting a little bit of war because you fear that there would be more harm in peace time.