Today I was thinking how we would solve this in a truly libertarian society. I think we need a basic law that simply states that any property should respect and maintain the natural wildlife balance. Also, if you want to do any things on your property that will put this balance or your neighbours at risk, you should not be allowed to do so unless you have proper insurance (or money on a blocked account) to pay out everyone affected if something goes wrong. A good example would be an oil rig. You would not be allowed to create one, unless you had insurance (or enough money) that would pay everyone affected if it blows up. This will have the added benefit that the insurance company will make sure things get done properly. It would also prevent overfishing or the destruction of rainforests. Same would apply to nuclear power plants. Additionally any pollution would be stopped, cause you do not want your neighbours to sue you for blowing toxic smoke on their property. Thoughts?
Oi, overfishing, etc. results from something called the tragedy of the commons, not from private ownership.
I would recommend reading For A New Liberty, specifically starting from page 307. Rothbard covers how the “public land” and ill defined Property Rights cause the conservation problems, and how private property protects resources:
Thanks, I will read it. Can you tell me how we would take care of the initial privatisation of currently public property? Auctioning it off or other ways?
Aristotle’s Legacy: The Reality and Ethics of Communal Property
“Each man pays most attention to what is his own, but less attention to what is common, or else, as much as contributes to his own interest. For each man, besides other reasons, thinks that others will take care of the matter and so pays less attention to it, as in domestic duties where many servants sometimes do a job worse than a few servants. (1261 b 35)”
Bekker Numbers: Corpus Aristotelicum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpus_Aristotelicum#Bekker_numbers
Aristotle’s Politics
