What are you paying for?

The raging wildfires in California brought up a unique point to my wife and she asked me to expound on it here.

When the people of this nation are extorted for billions of their hard earned dollars every year, when they are forced to pay the privilege of subservience, there is some level of belief that the funds they are paying in are going to be used for somewhat basic needs and variable necessities. But what if it doesn't? What happens when everything you thought you were funding is actually a farce? What is to be made of the fact that even for that belief in the priorities of the government your money is not being used in the ways it is advertised to you? What happens when a person is further hurt by the inefficiencies of government and their misuse of money?

Taking the recent wildfires raging in California as an example. The people whose homes are on the edge of destruction are probably expecting some sort of government intervention based on the money they have been forced to pay for services currently held in monopoly by the state and local government. But what is happening? The fire departments are deciding which homes to save and which ones to overlook. So who decides on the triage status of these properties? Who gets to decide if a home is to be saved or allowed to be destroyed? How should those people who have paid for a protectionist service such as a fire department be compensated for the inability of the department to provide the service they are intended for? What recourse do those that have now paid for services, and not received appropriate actions from these mandatory services, really have?

The same can be said of police departments and their "services". If a man is injured or killed and has paid for these protectionary  government agencies, what now happens to reclaim losses or injuries? The agency has obviously not performed a duty right? The police slogan being to protect and serve, the first mentioned duty as protectors has not been provided. In the instance of a man being robbed, the police are in most cases called after the act has taken place, these crimes go mostly unsolved as clues can not or will not (willfully) not be found. A great deal of what police officers do are what is known as reactionary measures. This means that police by and large do not stop crime from happening but merely respond after a crime has been committed. They try to recreate a scene and to collect information to further an investigation of the matter. This leaves people to still be victims and no recourse for the inability of police to "stop" crime from happening. Now this problem could be solved by the hiring of a private security force, to dispel any threats against the life and property of a contracted client. Mostly wealthy individuals choose this route as their preferred choice, knowing that in the instant a threat is made their personal protection agency and its enforcers are there to act. So what happens if a private security firm fails in their actions. The contract, if written to include clauses, could provide all recourse measures, including recuperation of monetary losses.  


It is a failure of government that highlights the free market alternative for fire and police services. In a world where people are free to choose their own protection and not be forced to submit authority or be extorted for money to fund mandatory services, a market of competing and cooperating companies is possible. Think of a service that includes the service of fire suppression and prevention for a fee, by contract and with means to collect losses if they occur. Think of a service that allowed person to hire security forces for themselves and to also collect looses on the occasion of breach of contracts or failure to provide adequate services to the contract holder. This is not so out of the ordinary or far fetched, it is simply a new way to look at the choices, preferences and right of association and contracts of free people and free markets. All the services currently held in monopoly by government can be provided in a market without the use of force or coercion.