[sprucevoid]

> If you have "collective efforts" you want funded or built, you're free to ask people voluntarily to put their lives, children, families etc. on hold for whatever cause you think is important that I don't see that you have insight into.

Such collective efforts are already underway. One is called the United States, a system where the legal construct property is bounded and compatible with taxation for public provision. The US is a club of people who have banded together for common goals and with democracy as a tool for updating the system. If you don't want to be part of that club then leave.

[richardanaya]

America was founded on respecting individual pursuit of life and protection of property. It's also not a democracy, it's a republic.

[Nevermark]

I don’t think you will find any disagreement on either point.

“Democracy” is often used as a general term for governments that in some sense are a delegation of citizen power. Even though a pure democracy would remove the delegation.

As a practical matter, the US model has devolved into a party-duocracy. Power at all levels has nearly completely centralized at the national level of each majority party. Of which there are only two. The extreme minimum of choice even for a Republic.

[amanaplanacanal]

It's a democratic Republic. We elect representative to make decisions for us, rather than meeting each day en masse to make decisions.

[sprucevoid]

Incorrect, it was founded with more goals than that. It also has the mechanism of democracy for updating over time, and such updates have added prosperity producing things like taxation for public provision of education, infrastructure and much more. Which means that the initial version of the technology called the United States have long since gotten various updates.

[theplague42]

Libertarians and mentally speed-running the invention of the nation-state: an iconic duo.