Crow - Do you have any idea of the sort of transformation it would be: from gargantuan state… to minimal government?!
Heh, I admit I can scarcely imagine it either.
A privatised, deregulated economy, far smaller military budget, and extremely judicious foreign aid (if any).
(btw, “setting man free from men”, is not only protecting his life, rights and property, it’s also setting him free from their social/political influence. A majority electorate would not make any difference, with individual rights in place.)
It’s certainly hard to imagine, and definitely something that wouldn’t happen all at once (which makes it even harder to guess how it would play out).
Now, we did discuss in the other thread I mentioned above that the ideal government, based on today’s realities of the world, is not “dirt cheap” by any means. It might be half the cost, or even a bit less, but it will certainly cost a significant percentage of our GDP. Freedom is not free.
To whit, a “far smaller military budget” is something we can all hope for, but certainly not something we can be sure of. It could even go up in price. Ditto for foreign aid, since some of that money is a proxy for military spending in today’s context.
Also remember that just having “individual rights in place” doesn’t remove all imaginable disagreement from a society. For instance, what should we do about Iran? You could ask 5 people here and get 5 answers–and they’d all be rational and valid arguments, which would include different people’s predictions of the future. Rational people can disagree. Their decisions and views can affect your life even in the most free society we can imagine.