The concept of a governing elite (going back to Plato) transcends modern categories of “Left” and “Right” but is born of millenniums of experience demonstrating that there is an unfortunate category of people who left to their own devices generally do a poorer job of governing themselves than if governed by an elite. The concept you put forward, that: “Each person is responsible only for himself, for his family, and for those whom he—of his own volition—chooses to care for,” is of course very seductive but is based upon the premise of the “responsible” citizen. Sadly such citizens in many areas of the country are few and far between.

So yes, the people can govern themselves but without some ruling elite that governance has no focus, it is at best anarchist and at worst socially dysgenic in that the selfish and irresponsible will always outnumber their opposite kind. Either way such as society will bear no resemblance to what we have come to know as “civilization.” Libertarianism like true communism may be functional in small organic homogeneous communities–in the real world they are regretfully utopian. The former inevitably leading to anarchy, the latter (as is increasing the case in our country) leading to repression.

I think a lot of what is being suggested is an important rhetorical ceremony for bolstering and justifying the stature of someone called a “proprietor” whose private concerns shall be their purpose in life and which will be the measure of their social standing – the legislative councils of colonial parliaments around the world typically started off as upper houses full of the most wealthy owners of swiped land and functioned quite openly as such until this outcome of the logic of Self Government began to make things look too obviously stacked in favour of those who were quite honestly “serving themselves”.

I would like to see how easy it is to keep the Responsible Self Government discussion going as an intellectual ideal in the pursuit of “liberty” when the problem of Education is considered. I happen to think this is where the State brings important benefits. How does a society hope to achieve freedoms if everyone has to educate themselves and educate those they are immediately responsible for? I’m intrigued.