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From: mrh@cybvax0.UUCP (Mike Huybensz)
Newsgroups: net.politics.theory
Subject: Problems with libertarianism.
Message-ID: <485@cybvax0.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 22-Apr-85 13:24:49 EST
Article-I.D.: cybvax0.485
Posted: Mon Apr 22 13:24:49 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 26-Apr-85 20:26:05 EST
Reply-To: mrh@cybvax0.UUCP (Mike Huybensz)
Organization: Cybermation, Inc., Cambridge, MA
Lines: 41

References:

In a recent article, one libertarian spoke of "natural rights".

I don't believe rights exist.  They are convenient legal fictions like
corporations.  Thus the search for "natural rights" is akin to the
quest for other supernatural entities (like gods.)

We choose the legal fictions based on social goals, one of which is
non-coercion.  Another common goal is social stability.  There are trade-
offs between all these goals, and I have yet to see a convincing argument
for one to be placed above all others.

It is relatively easy to show that an excess of attention to one goal
(such as non-coercion) leads to an assortment of problems in attending
to other goals.  By reducing negative feedback, you allow (for example)
class and racial divisions to grow and fester.  There are enough examples
in the world of these problems to convince me that preventing their
growth by coercive nipping in the bud of their roots (to mix and mutillate
some metaphors) is an important task.

This, really, is the basic problem with libertarianism.  "United we stand,
divided we fall"-- and libertarianism wants to pull the teeth that keep
us united.  On several levels.  Politically and economically.

A simple example of this principle is the cartel.  If there was a whaling
cartel, whales would not be in danger of extinction.  The cartel would
manage the whales to maximize yield.  But because there is no good way
to enforce a cartel among equals and newcomers, it falls apart (like OPEC)
or is never started (and thus we have the decline of the whales.)  We do
have working examples of successful cartels in the US though: state game
management.  Before hunting became regulated, white-tail deer became
practically extinct in NY state.  Since (I think it was Teddy) Roosevelt,
they have been managed, and have a huge, maintainable population.

The examples where maximization of benefits can only be secured by
enforcing cooperation are innumerable.  Unless cheating is made uneconomic,
cooperation will dissolve or never appear.  It's nice to minimize the
coercion required, but to make that a priority goal will cause
cooperation to suffer.
-- 

Mike Huybensz		...decvax!genrad!mit-eddie!cybvax0!mrh