Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Competitive Governance and Private Provision

There should be no doubt or argument that the main impediment to freedom and individual liberty is the State, no matter its form.  Though this is true, this impediment, the State, is securely buttressed by “we the peoples’” fear of being unsecure in their homes, persons and businesses, resulting in “we the people” abrogating their personal rights to independently secure themselves in their homes, persons and businesses through the ballot box, though this is somewhat tempered by the provisions of the second amendment here in the United States.

“We the peoples’” fear of being unsecure in their homes, persons and businesses is constantly encouraged by the State, allowing the State to don what appears to be the one and only authoritative mantel of law and order, or what is commonly referred to as the monopoly of force posited by Max Weber.

Fear of being unsecure in our homes, persons and businesses is understandable, but is the State, in actuality, the one and only way “we the people” can obtain the secureness desired in our daily lives?  Not necessarily, as this example from Kenya shows.

For BABS, security means much more than guards and cameras. Kenya’s dysfunctional State has failed to provide many services traditionally considered the purview of “public” authorities. BABS runs a growing courier service, delivering domestic and international mail. I ask Ouma what a person could have delivered. “Anything,” he retorts nonchalantly.

BABS also consults for companies to protect themselves against industrial espionage and even helps industry comply with safety and health regulations. BABS has a staff of private investigators and can even be hired to do forensics: physical and digital.

More surprising still, they supply and maintain all the equipment and staff necessary to operate a full-service firefighting outfit. Contracts are typically annual and tied to individual properties – not neighborhoods or cities. BABS will work with your insurance company to lower premiums if you take out a contract with their fire service, since some municipal services are unreliable or just nonexistent.

The above was taken from a posting up at the Adam Smith Institute which is an excerpt from an upcoming book being written by Zachary Caceres.  The posting is titled Law and order in Kenya: BABS Security Services Ltd which I linked to via a blog post at Let A Thousand Nations Bloom titled The Private Provision of Public Goods in Kenya.

Posted by John Venlet on 12/21 at 08:52 AM
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