But Who Would Build The Roads?

One of the most common responses given when a statist is confronted by an anarchist's rejection of government authority is, "But who would build the roads?"

History
Yes, governments like to build roads to move armies, enhance tax collection, buy loyalty, and display their power, but this is not the source of roads. Governments like to "improve" preexisting trade routes to ensure that trade is properly taxed, but they only fed off the preexisting trade. they did not create it or the routes by which it traveled.

The most famous road in the world is probably the Silk Road, a series of trade routes spanning Asia. many empires built roads to guide this trade and ensure that a cut found its way into the coffers of the warlords and kings along its route, but if their demands were too high, the route could be changed. Traders didn't need the State, but the State needed the traders.

In the USA, the Cumberland Road was the first federal road project. It didn't blaze a trail through the wilderness though. It essentially rebuilt a preexisting military road that had in turn followed an ancient native American trail. The famous Oregon Trail emigrant route was developed entirely by fur traders and pioneers. The Interstate Highway System is the biggest argument for government control, but it was developed long after the Lincoln and Dixie highway networks s along with the rest of the Auto Trail system developed by private industry and the burgeoning automobile community. Major bridges and other massive construction projects have been built by private interests as well. One example with which this writer is personally familiar is the Bridge of the Gods on the Columbia River.

Funding

"But we would be plagued with tolls everywhere we want to go," insist the apologists for government monopoly. Yes, there was a toll on the Bridge of the Gods when it was a private interest. There is still a toll now after government assumed ownership. Many government highways charge tolls, and most "privatized" roads are merely crony corporations administering government roads. On top of this is the tax on every gallon of gasoline or highway diesel fuel sold, auto registration and licensing fees, and potentially any other tax-funded revenue streams used by various governments, all of which are funneled through a central bureaucracy. But private roads exist anyway, and most charge no toll. Businesses want customers and workers to be able to reach them, transportation to move goods, and commerce in general to function as seamlessly as possible. Any number of funding methods have been raised by writers at various times, and the example of the Auto Trail system even exists just a century in the past. Automobiles have become far more advanced over the decades. Why is it so hard to imagine that a flat surface to drive them over is so hard to improve, too?

Conclusion

Stop making excuses for government, especially when history easily demonstrates how absurd an apology for its control really is. Understand that there are no magical exemptions for government when it comes to the waste and abuse inherent in monopolies. Look past the obvious benefits and explore the unseen costs of a popular policy. Don't assume that the status quo has any special weight in rational discussion.