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  1. Xref: sparky talk.environment:2891 alt.politics.marrou:121
  2. Path: sparky!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!rutgers!rochester!cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!crabapple.srv.cs.cmu.edu!tsf
  3. From: tsf@CS.CMU.EDU (Timothy Freeman)
  4. Newsgroups: talk.environment,alt.politics.marrou
  5. Subject: Re: Libertarians & the environment
  6. Message-ID: <TSF.92Jul22120132@U.ERGO.CS.CMU.EDU>
  7. Date: 22 Jul 92 17:01:32 GMT
  8. References: <1992Jul20.192034.2963@beaver.cs.washington.edu>
  9.     <1992Jul21.035335.25089@reed.edu> <1992Jul21.213229.4946@techbook.com>
  10.     <1992Jul22.011657.3102@reed.edu>
  11. Organization: School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University
  12. Lines: 25
  13. Nntp-Posting-Host: u.ergo.cs.cmu.edu
  14. In-Reply-To: sharvy@reed.edu's message of 22 Jul 92 01:16:57 GMT
  15. Originator: tsf@U.ERGO.CS.CMU.EDU
  16.  
  17. In article <1992Jul22.011657.3102@reed.edu> sharvy@reed.edu (V Headshape) writes:
  18.    People who own things have incentive to think up solutions when the "problem"
  19.    is a threat to their ownership.  The only reason property owners might 
  20.    try to think up environmental solutions is that if they don't, they
  21.    may lose their "property rights," and THAT incentive is provided by the
  22.    threat of government intervention.
  23.  
  24. If you're right, then how did anyone solve any problems before the
  25. government existed?  If you assume that people are always going to do
  26. the wrong thing, then you should assume that people working for the
  27. government are always going to do the wrong thing to.  Government
  28. intervention doesn't make the situation better.
  29.  
  30. You say "only" because you are lacking in imagination.  People have an
  31. incentive to think up solutions when the problem will decrease the
  32. value of a resource they own.
  33.  
  34. The threat of government intervention reduces how long people are
  35. willing to plan ahead, because it is so unprincipled and arbitrary.
  36. --
  37. Tim Freeman <tsf@cs.cmu.edu>
  38. When they took the fourth amendment, I was silent because I don't deal drugs.
  39. When they took the sixth amendment, I kept quiet because I know I'm innocent.
  40. When they took the second amendment, I said nothing because I don't own a gun.
  41. Now they've come for the first amendment, and I can't say anything at all.
  42.