From: szabo@techbook.com (Nick Szabo)
Subject: Re: Questions about libertarianism
Organization: TECHbooks --- Public Access UNIX --- (503) 644-8135
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 20:52:59 GMT

In article <BrpE77.1y3@dptspd.sat.datapoint.com> dscharfe@dptspd.sat.datapoint.com (David Scharfe) writes:

>Even
>in the unlikely event that the Libertarians could concoct a
>workable scheme for "owning" the atmosphere,

This "unlikely event" has already started to take place.  "Smog arbs"
on the Chicago Board of Exchange trade sulfur dioxide pollution units,
allowing efficient allocation of pollution control equipment
instead of micromanagement from Washington.  Similar systems
could be implemented for CFC's and (if the need should arise) 
greenhouse gases; it would be far more efficient than bureaucratic
dictation from Washington or politically motivated "carbon taxes".
(N.B.: the Swedish "carbon tax" includes nuclear power!)

>Libertarian party address the simple reality that private
>owners simply cannot AFFORD to buy all this property within
>a short peroid of time, and that if the regulations are axed
>no one will WANT to after said property is destroyed?  

Libertarians don't expect or propose to change the world overnight.
The two tasks would proceed in parallel over a period of decades, 
starting with experiments just as with the pollution chits trading.
Among the first tasks would be privatizing Federal land so that users have 
an incentive to take care of it; among the last (and most careful) would
be removing zoning for, eg, industrial vs. conservation use to allow
fully informed, decentralized, libertarian decisionmaking.  We start
on a small scale, debug, and move on with improved privatization; we 
don't auction off every last acre at once.

>Suppose someone moves in next door, and buries toxic waste for 
>profit on _his_land_.  I see that the necessary precautions are
>clearly not being observed, and complain to my Libertarian rep.
>S/he says, "it's his land, he can do what he wants!". 

Not at all.  The Libertarian rep would make sure this joker's
neighbors and insurance company know about the crap going down.
If insurance companies are free to design their own policies,
they make much more effective monitors and enforcers than 
detatched bureaucrats.  The neighbors and the legal system make
sure the insurance company does its job.  Under the current
system, insurance companies have their hands tied, and everybody 
expects the EPA to measure the toxic waste and stop the polluters.
The job doesn't get done because the only incentive the EPA has is to 
get a bigger budget from the IRS next fiscal year.  Again, the new 
libertarian system would first be experimented with on a small scale, the 
bugs worked out, and then put into effect nationwide.

Votes for Republicrats are votes that say the status quo is OK, that 
we don't need to try out new ideas that could greatly improve the 
way our society gets things done.  Votes for Libertarians send the 
message that we want these experiments to start; we want to learn how 
to make the world a better place, instead of merely griping about
it.


-- 
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