Larken Rose, Jan Irvin (Gnostic Media), and roads

re: Gnostic Media Podcast: Jan Irvin interviews Larken Rose (pt. 3)

(Larken is an anarchist and author of "The Most Dangerous Superstition")

Larken speaks about how most people ask the question, "How will we pay for the roads in a free society?" His answer: "You already pay for the roads." As if it's a "well, duh!" kind of answer. But it's a straw man - he's answering a question that doesn't really concern people. The question that people really ask is "how do we prevent the free-rider problem?" or "what's to stop people from extorting those wanting to use their roads?" or similar concerns. These concerns may or may not be valid, but it is without a doubt that in a society of socialized roads, it is indeed difficult at least for most people to imagine a society without socialized roads. Most people don't have very good imaginations and so it is not surprising that people struggle with this issue. They're not stupid.