from Kevin D. Williamson:

If you’re not willing to have somebody hauled off at gunpoint over the project, then it’s probably not a legitimate concern of the state.

Implicit in this point of view is the presumption that voluntary cooperation through charities and business arrangements can solve many problems that are intended to be solved by government. The contrary point of view would be that there are many “market failures” that will not be solved by voluntary action alone. However, those who enumerate many market failures tend to sweep the coercive aspects of government under the rug. They prefer to think of government as if it were a producer of Schelling points–providing us with solutions that all of us would agree to if we had the time and insight to coordinate on them.