"My income could be regarded as a resultant of two components, namely, the income I would have had under the 'natural' system of property rights less the reductions due to government interference"

Well Danny, you *could* think of your head as a turnip, but you'd be wrong about that too.  I think.  *Obviously*, your income is also the resultant of at least one or two more components:  1) the *increase* in income above any "natural" system of property rights given by the increased security that government offers over the state of nature, which facilitates many more opportunities for people to interact profitably with each other with reduced fear of being taken advantage of and having to go through costly assessments of each person's trustworthiness and/or individual pursuit thereof when they screw you.  Knowing that I can call the police *anywhere* (police who are generally answerable to democratically-elected officials who tend not to get reelected when there's fixable social unrest) whenever I run into such behavior, saves me a *lot* of time when I walk down the street, or go shopping.  You too, you just ignore that and apparently pretend that this is all "natural."  Try walking with cash down a road in Somalia and report back to me from there, if so.  2) the income you *didn't* have to spend on costly infrastructural needs to support your economic and other activities, because they can be provided far more cheaply as public goods.  I once lived in a town with multiple private garbage services; you could contract with any or none, as you saw fit.  Their prices were all uniformly higher than in any other city where this was a city service, because they each had to pay for transport across redundant routes, where a city service can optimize the routes.  Plus the confusing nature of the situation provides opportunities for free riders--I know, because I was one; when my trash volume was low I dropped my service for several months, and my old provider still picked up my trash now and then because the pick-up men can't afford to keep perfect track of who's on and who's off (and perhaps I put a small amount in a neighbor's bin once, my memory is hazy).  Trash collection is a natural monopoly; justice, of course, is another, as are road networks, etc.  1 is really a version of 2, then, but important enough to be treated separately.


Again, if you disagree, and think your income and your neighbors' would increase wildly and multiply beyond limit if only the damned gummit would get off your back, go to Somalia and write us from there, but if you want SEALS to save your ass when you get an AK-47 in your face, leave a forwarding address and a deposit to pay for the rescue.  Then I *may* start taking you seriously.