John Walters

I would like to ask the following question to increase my understanding of Objectivism. Suppose it could be shown that by some empirical criteria that rational individuals would be "better off" in economies where the government, with taxes, builds and runs the roads. Would an Objectivist still choose to live in the economy where the government does not build roads because they do not want to violate the rights of others? Alternatively, could it be argued that since Objectivism is "inductive," the most prosperous society (defined by this criteria) is the morally best society. That is, a rational person "should" favor the government that taxes and builds road if, perhaps, in a probabilistic sense, all rational selfish persons would on net be better off in such a society. Stated another way, my question is this: is the "best" society by definition one where the government does not violate the rights of individuals (by, for example, not collecting taxes) or is there some alternative empirical criteria of what the "best" society is which one can use to show that if the government does not violate the rights of individuals, then this will produce, by this empirical criteria, the best society?