This post is inspired by previous posts regarding anarchism and government services, in particular the fire department. My thanks once again to all for the interesting and thought provoking responses.
It is among many of us an article of faith that equality is a good thing, and in particular that government services should be granted either equally or with the intention of creating greater general equality. Yet, this is almost always not the case. Most of us believe that fire departments serve to offer all citizens equal protection from fire, and that this is a right that should be extended to all citizens equally. But this is an excellent example of how government services indeed create inequality rather than decreasing it.
Take the example of New York City. Ought Bed-Stuy receive the same level of service from the FDNY as the Upper East Side? The conventional answer is yes, naturally. But it doesn’t work out that way, does it? But why?