# Libertarian Fire Department (photo) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 13, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libertarian-fire-department-photo/666142 "2013-08-13T17:04:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libertarian-fire-department-photo/666142/1 "2013-08-13T17:04:56Z")
[I liked this photo](https://sphotos-a-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/1097978_578104512231737_2065290429_n.png) ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libertarian-fire-department-photo/666142/2 "2013-08-13T17:10:23Z")
Hah. That looks about right. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libertarian-fire-department-photo/666142/3 "2013-08-13T17:16:16Z")
He better not be hooked up to a city fire hydrant! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libertarian-fire-department-photo/666142/4 "2013-08-13T17:17:52Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > He better not be hooked up to a public fire hydrant! :mad: There are no public hydrants. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libertarian-fire-department-photo/666142/5 "2013-08-13T17:24:05Z")
Eh, I’m not so sure the joke works. I was expecting a firefighter with a contract ready to sign. “Just a little paperwork, then we can get to your fire…” ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libertarian-fire-department-photo/666142/6 "2013-08-13T17:25:31Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Eh, I’m not so sure the joke works. I was expecting a firefighter with a contract ready to sign. “Just a little paperwork, then we can get to your fire…” Or a smartphone with a card reader. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libertarian-fire-department-photo/666142/7 "2013-08-13T17:33:51Z")
Or a hose with a gallon meter that runs like a Taxi meter, except 15x the rate. “Hey, if you wanted coverage, we sent flyers out last November. If only you’d locked in rates then…” _claims adjuster head shake_ ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libertarian-fire-department-photo/666142/8 "2013-08-13T17:47:48Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Eh, I’m not so sure the joke works. I was expecting a firefighter with a contract ready to sign. “Just a little paperwork, then we can get to your fire…” Or shooting at it with their concealed weapons. But yea, the joke in the image doesn’t work very well. Any of the suggested ideas would’ve been funnier. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Lurker\_Above](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@The\_Lurker\_Above](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Lurker_Above)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libertarian-fire-department-photo/666142/9 "2013-08-13T17:52:30Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > But yea, the joke in the image doesn’t work very well. Any of the suggested ideas would’ve been funnier. The photo is screaming for a caption though. I just can’t seem to come up with one that works. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libertarian-fire-department-photo/666142/10 "2013-08-13T18:11:18Z")
Real-world example of a privately-owned fire department. https://video.foxbusiness.com/v/video-embed.html?video_id=2580066549001&ref=twitter.com ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libertarian-fire-department-photo/666142/11 "2013-08-13T20:53:26Z")
I like the photo, but I really don’t get the libertairian connection. Maybe something along the lines of “I got this handled, just don’t tell Mom and Dad!” ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libertarian-fire-department-photo/666142/12 "2013-08-13T22:41:41Z")
I prefer the [Homeopathic Emergency Room](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMGIbOGu8q0). ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libertarian-fire-department-photo/666142/13 "2013-08-13T23:11:04Z")
I guess I’m dense. I don’t get the joke. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libertarian-fire-department-photo/666142/14 "2013-08-13T23:28:10Z")
> [@kittenblue](#): > > I guess I’m dense. I don’t get the joke. It’s a play on the extremist libertarian belief that there are no effective government programs, and that rugged individualists can manage better on their own without a nanny state looking over them. It’s making the point that some things (the raging inferno symbolizing societal programs) can’t be solved by people splitting off and looking out only for themselves (the incompetent kid with a dinky garden hose, as opposed to a well-trained team of government firefighters with real firehouses). ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libertarian-fire-department-photo/666142/15 "2013-08-13T23:56:37Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Eh, I’m not so sure the joke works. I was expecting a firefighter with a contract ready to sign. “Just a little paperwork, then we can get to your fire…” That would be [history](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_firefighting#Rome) repeating itself: > [@](#): > > The first Roman fire brigade of which we have any substantial history was created by Marcus Licinius Crassus. Marcus Licinius Crassus was born into a wealthy Roman family around the year 115 BC, and acquired an enormous fortune through (in the words of Plutarch) “fire and rapine.” One of his most lucrative schemes took advantage of the fact that Rome had no fire department. Crassus filled this void by creating his own brigade—500 men strong—which rushed to burning buildings at the first cry of alarm. Upon arriving at the scene, however, the fire fighters did nothing while their employer bargained over the price of their services with the distressed property owner. If Crassus could not negotiate a satisfactory price, his men simply let the structure burn to the ground, after which he offered to purchase it for a fraction of its value. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libertarian-fire-department-photo/666142/16 "2013-08-14T05:10:12Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > It’s a play on the extremist libertarian belief that there are no effective government programs, and that rugged individualists can manage better on their own without a nanny state looking over them. The belief of extremist libertarians, or is the missing comma suggesting that all libertarian beliefs extremist? In any case, we believe in non-coerced cooperation and we’re not rugged individualists, but liberty-ists. We know we can’t do everything ourselves. But we can do many/most things better without governments getting into the way. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libertarian-fire-department-photo/666142/17 "2013-08-14T05:30:47Z")
New York City [experimented with a libertarian model of fire-fighting](http://www.eastglenvillefd.com/_mgxroot/page_10847.html): > [@](#): > > Even after the formation of paid fire companies in the United States, there were disagreements and often fights over territory. New York City companies were famous for sending runners out to fires with a large barrel to cover the hydrant closest to the fire in advance of the engines. Often fights would break out between the runners and even the responding fire companies for the right to fight the fire and receive the insurance money that would be paid to the company that fought it. BTW, what _is_ a “libertarian” anyway? > [@Balthisar](#): > > In any case, we believe in non-coerced cooperation and we’re not rugged individualists, but liberty-ists. I once described myself as “libertarian” but, although my views have changed little, _I do not self-describe with that word anymore._ 🆒 I really wish you self-described libertarian Dopers would debate amongst yourselves and come up with labels for your various ilks. I’ll start with an easy question. **Balthisar** , was the 2008 credit crisis caused by too much government regulation, or too little? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libertarian-fire-department-photo/666142/18 "2013-08-14T05:31:26Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > I like the photo, but I really don’t get the libertairian connection. Maybe something along the lines of “I got this handled, just don’t tell Mom and Dad!” Libertarians don’t believe in big government pushing its nose into their private house fires. They’ll just get the hose and handle it themselves, dammit! ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libertarian-fire-department-photo/666142/19 "2013-08-14T05:54:15Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > BTW, what _is_ a “libertarian” anyway? A right wing anarchist. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libertarian-fire-department-photo/666142/20 "2013-08-14T09:07:16Z")
> [@The\_Lurker\_Above](#): > > The photo is screaming for a caption though. I just can’t seem to come up with one that works. The usual for images displaying some kind of shortcoming is “Nailed it” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libertarian-fire-department-photo/666142.md?page=2)