Quote Originally Posted by Renton View Post
That's not even remotely related to government. Cooperation for mutual gain is one of the cornerstones of basic economics and something I'm obviously greatly in favor of. In that example each of those three guys is CONSENTING to that agreement. If any of them believes its not a fair deal he's free to opt out and live in a different apartment or live alone. The whole point of government is that its coercion-based.
I don't see any conflict there. If any member of the apartment/nation wants to opt out from the set of rules set by the majority, he can indeed go live in a different apartment/nation. Coercion comes around whenever participants of the system start breaking the rules, no matter what the scale of the community. A government is inherently just a larger flat share ground rule set, not a sentient machine of evil and destruction. I do understand your cynicism and skepticism though, having had only the US system to use as a benchmark.