Walter Block escribe sobre la teoría del castigo aplicada a los funcionarios, beneficiarios de subsidios etc. en este ensayo: Libertarian Punishment Theory: Working For, And Donating To, The State (PDF). La argumentación de Block tiene implicaciones menos severas que la de Rothbard, que discuto en este artículo, pero me convence menos.
Para Block la cuestión no es si uno recibe en prestaciones más de lo que paga en impuestos, o si el funcionario trabaja en un sector ilegítimo per se o en uno que el Estado monopoliza pero en rigor pertenece al ámbito mercantil. Según Block, es lícito que un liberal pida subvenciones o que un liberal trabaje en Hacienda o incluso en un campo de concentración en determinadas circunstancias. Ambos podrían ser eximidos de culpa en un hipotético juicio de Nuremberg post-estatista. En su opinión, es legítimo tomar dinero y recibir favores del Estado siempre y cuando el efecto neto sea negativo para la promoción del estatismo.
Copio un fragmento (énfasis mío):
Working for state universities is only justified for libertarians! If a statist worked for an institution of higher learning, or, indeed, for any public school, he would have to answer for this outrage at the libertarian Nuremberg trial. If X’s marginal revenue product exceeded his wage, this would imply, of course, that he is making a “contribution to XYZ University. But, if his marginal revenue product consisted, mainly, of promoting liberty, then okay; no problem, from the libertarian perspective. But, if his productive contribution consisted of promoting state education, or was neutral (say, he taught chemistry or music), then there is a problem with the freedom philosophy. Then, he would just be promoting statism. Since when can the promotion, the aiding and abetting of statism, a criminal activity if ever there was one, be reconciled with libertarianism? To repeat: seizing ill gotten gains from the state, or its minions, is justified on libertarian grounds. But, adding to the coffers of the state, whether in the form of money or productivity, is not. It is proper to take money from thieves. It is not acceptable in our philosophy to give money to them.
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