[Cheiro]

Originally Posted by Choro&Swing

I have an ex-brother-in-law who is a Libertarian. He believes that the fire departments should be privatized. People could decide whether or not they want to pay for fire protection. If they want it, they would pay a yearly fee, rather like insurance, say $350 a year. This would pay the costs of running the fire department, including salaries, supplies, and equipment. If there was a fire in the homes of those people, the fire department would come put it out. No further charge. Essentially, all the subscribers chip in to cover the costs.

However, those who didn’t want to pay the $350 a year could opt out and pay nothing. But if there was a fire, the fire department would show up and keep the homes of the neighbors safe. If the homeowner without coverage refused to sign the paperwork, the burning house would burn to the ground. If the homeowner did sign, the home would be saved if possible, but the homeowner would receive a fair bill from the fire department that includes all costs for putting out the fire, for training, for insurance, for hospital costs, etc. Say a minimum of $10,000, and easily ten times that amount.

He also believes that police protection should be for those who pay for it. There’s a burglary at your house? If you haven’t paid for police insurance and want help, you get billed for, say, the detectives, the court case, etc. I don’t agree with him.

Hi, I find your concept interesting simply because from the 18th and early 19th centuries that is just how fire insurance worked. Each homeowner would sign up with a particular "mutual fund" and pay a premium for fire protection. There would be a large metal tag on the house indicating the fire protection the homeowner had purchased and from which fund. When the fire brigade arrived, if they saw their tag on the house, they would put the fire out. If the tag was not there, or it was not their tag they would leave and let the house burn. Benjamin Franklin was among the first to set up a "mutual" fund of what he called a "Contributionship." His fund was so successful that by the 1780s more mutual fund companies began to be formed and the modern concept of Property/Casualty insurance began.