Re:A Defense of libertarianism (and response to Zed, etc.)
by grandalf on Sunday January 11, 2009 @04:59PM
(#429679)
Libertarians generally tend toward a property rights framework to handle things like this, as opposed to a "greater good" framework.
In other words, if you put toxic waste on your property, that's fine UNLESS it leaks onto someone else's property. So there is no need to open the discussion of how pollution impacts the greater good, because polluters just can't harm the neighbours' good!
The perverse incentive for planners to identify the "greater good" is the same as the way priests and religious leaders do so -- and they are likely to shake their finger just as judgementally.
In other words, if you put toxic waste on your property, that's fine UNLESS it leaks onto someone else's property. So there is no need to open the discussion of how pollution impacts the greater good, because polluters just can't harm the neighbours' good!
The perverse incentive for planners to identify the "greater good" is the same as the way priests and religious leaders do so -- and they are likely to shake their finger just as judgementally.