Also if there were no laws, no one would help old ladies carry their groceries
IF NOBODY OWNS IT NOBODY WILL TAKE CARE OF IT
More like: if there were no laws, you could buy shares in taking groceries from old ladies on the NYSE and Goldman Sachs would inflate them using derivative trades.
^^^^ Good thing anarcho-capitalists believe in laws.
Benjamin,
I disagree with practically everything that you’re saying. However, It’s nice to see dissenters who are willing to stick around for an actual debate. Good job.
Here is a letter I sent to the editor of USA Today,
Dear editors,
In “Our view on Gulf Coast crisis”, the author wonders why oil companies are not responsible for their own messes. Instead, the taxpayer takes responsibility. The problem is lack of incentive, stemming from the ‘tragedy of commons’.
The lack of ownership erodes any possible liability British Petroleum may have had for the most recent crisis. If there was defined ownership of the Gulf of Mexico, BP would have had to answer to the owner of the particular sections of the gulf affected by the spill. Unfortunately, since the Gulf is unowned, and oversight is provided by the government, BP does not have to answer to anybody. They can wash their hands clean and continue with business as usual.
Although my analysis is necessarily simplistic, it holds that private property is the only means by which to conserve the environment and make companies liable for their mistakes.
Sincerely,
Jonathan M. Finegold Catalán
And here is one to USA Today,
Dear editors,
In the editorial “Industry Doesn’t Step Up”, you argue that the only method by which to avoid future spills is greater regulation. While regulation may seem like a good way of enforcing companies to use redundant safety mechanisms, the fact is that there is no better way to avoid spills than by having oil companies regulate themselves.
Oil companies are not only protected by Federal law, but they are also subsidized. Ending these protections is one step towards a cleaner future. One such protection is the $75 million liability limit enforced by the government. Had BP been liable for all the damages done, I am sure that they would do everything possible to avoid similar accidents in the future.
While regulations can force companies to install certain safety measures, the truth is that there is no better tool to think of efficient safety measures than the creative human mind. Had BP been liable for the billions worth in damages there is little doubt that BP’s executives would have used the aggregate creativity of their company to think of ways of avoiding such costly accidents in the future.
By regulating the industry, the government takes away the incentive to self-regulate. The result is inefficiency, as regulations can’t plan for the future or foresee new problems. All the while, rather than creatively thinking of ways of saving money by avoiding oil spills, BP’s executives instead find creative ways of paying off the bureaucracy.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Finegold
There are quite a few economic incentives to pay the shrimp-boat captain.
First off, destruction of property makes then automatically justified in taking from BP what is rightfully theirs. This can be figured out in private courts.
Secondly, BP is a government entity in the fact that the business structure was built on laws and regulations. That fact alone only makes them liable for some of the damage. And allows a corrupt business to flurish.
Thirdly, public image is tarnished. Who would sell an oil rig to BP when they are a OIL LEAK HAZARD?
Jonathan, do you have a source for the $75 million liability limit?
We already have those.
They’re called US treasury bonds.
zing!
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20004217-503544.html
http://blog.al.com/live/2010/05/white_house_pushed_to_lift_lia.html
Thank god for Mendez and Lautenburg.
Considering the government already stole money from oil companies to fund clean-ups against future oil spills. Isn’t this 75 million dollar limits similar to insurance minimums?
I am not defending BP or the government, but just point out how government involvement screws things up.
This can be figured out in private courts.
No one would ever agree to be subject to the jurisdiction of a court which they expected to rule against them.
No one would ever agree to be subject to the jurisdiction of a court which they expected to rule against them.
Agreeing to a chain of arbitrators would be part of private security contracts. For those who have no provider and also refuse to any arbitrator, I guess they are out of luck.
I think BP could afford a more powerful private security firm than the shrimp fishermen…
Wait they already have a few I think!
In many countries, multinational corporations have paid directly for private policing services from the local army; or have hired outside security companies to harass nationals who protest against the environmental impact of their operations. The firms involved represent a growing number of new corporate security operations around the world, linking former intelligence officers, standing armies, and local death squads.
One of these security companies is Defense Systems Limited (DSL). DSL is run by two ex-Special Air Service commandos out of London offices, across the street from Buckingham Palace. Their clients include petrochemical companies, multinational banks, embassies, nongovernmental organizations, and national and international organiza-tions. One of DSL’s biggest contracts is with Mark Heathcote, a former M16 (British equivalent of the CIA) officer who ran operations in Argentina during the Falklands War. Heathcote is now the chief of security for British Petroleum (BP). In 1996, DSL sent a group of British personnel to train Colombian Police on BP-owned rigs. Training included lethal-weapons handling, sniper fire, and close quarter combat.
The two unnamed former SAS officers in Colombia fared better. Their black boxes -full of guns and ammunition-were waved through the checkpoint run by a colleague Bill Nixon, a former British intelligence officer, whose new job is providing security at the private airport owned by Bntish Petroleum (BP). All three mercenaries were on contract to BP to help train the Colombian police-notorious for their human rights abuses-to protect the Dele-B oil rig. The oil company interpreted security concerns broadly: According to a recently surfaced report commissioned by the Colombian government, BP collaborated with local soldiers involved in kidnappings, torture, and murder. The unpublished document alleges that the oil company compiled intelligence-including photos and videotapes of local people protesting oil activities, and passed the information on to the Colombian military, which then arrested or kidnapped demonstrators as “subversives.”
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/New_World_Order/Mercenaries_Minerals.html
As early as 1990, Richard Bethell was in Colombia protecting oil operations from Marxist rebels, and they have been there since operating through the subsidiary Defence Systems Colombia. They have provided the training of troops for the purposes of securing the 500 mile long OCENSA oil line from rebel attacks, as well as supplies and equipment to carry out the job.
Mark Heathcote of British Petroleum and formerly of the MI6, is the chief of security for BP’s operations in the region. In 1997, DSC run security measures saw BP’s oil line, the longest in the country, blown up only once. In comparison, Occidental Petroleum’s pipeline, the country’s second longest, was blown up 65 times[18]. Incidentally, Oxy Petro along with AirScan Inc.and the Colombian Air Force were responsible for dropping a cluster bomb on the town of Santo Domingo the following year.
The improved security may have come at humanitarian costs[19]. DSC trained and supplied soldiers have been implicated in serious acts of repression. The soldiers were from a known right-wing death squad, including a certain Maj. Gen. Herman Guzman Rodriguez, that has been implicated in several massacres.
The extent to which DSC was willing to go in protecting the pipeline included training troops in psychological warfare operations and setting up spy organizations in communities that were not ambivalent to BP’s destructive path and inconsideration [20]. Troops armed with equipment brought to them by DSC, OCENSA, and Israeli firm Silver Shadow, were responsible for disposing of dissenters, setting examples for others, and gathering more information under torture [21][22][23] [24]
Said Amnesty International on what has occurred in Colombia: “In the context of the current human rights crisis in Colombia – in which the Colombian security forces have been responsible for widespread extrajudicial executions, torture and “disappearances” of civilians – it would be extremely difficult to guarantee that any form of military, security and police training arranged by a private company to protect their own interests is not directly or indirectly contributing to further abuses against the local population.”[25]
http://spinprofiles.org/index.php?title=Defense_Systems_Ltd
One of the many problems with anarcho-capitalism… the richest clan gets all the mercenaries.
One of these security companies is Defense Systems Limited (DSL). DSL is run by two ex-Special Air Service commandos out of London offices, across the street from Buckingham Palace. Their clients include petrochemical companies, multinational banks, embassies, nongovernmental organizations, and national and international organiza-tions. One of DSL’s biggest contracts is with Mark Heathcote, a former M16 (British equivalent of the CIA) officer who ran operations in Argentina during the Falklands War. Heathcote is now the chief of security for British Petroleum (BP). In 1996, DSL sent a group of British personnel to train Colombian Police on BP-owned rigs. Training included lethal-weapons handling, sniper fire, and close quarter combat.
In many countries, multinational corporations have paid directly for private policing services from the local army; or have hired outside security companies to harass nationals who protest against the environmental impact of their operations. The firms involved represent a growing number of new corporate security operations around the world, linking former intelligence officers, standing armies, and local death squads.
One of these security companies is Defense Systems Limited (DSL). DSL is run by two ex-Special Air Service commandos out of London offices, across the street from Buckingham Palace. Their clients include petrochemical companies, multinational banks, embassies, nongovernmental organizations, and national and international organiza-tions. One of DSL’s biggest contracts is with Mark Heathcote, a former M16 (British equivalent of the CIA) officer who ran operations in Argentina during the Falklands War. Heathcote is now the chief of security for British Petroleum (BP). In 1996, DSL sent a group of British personnel to train Colombian Police on BP-owned rigs. Training included lethal-weapons handling, sniper fire, and close quarter combat.
I think BP could afford a more powerful private security firm than the shrimp fishermen…
Wait they already have a few I think!
In many countries, multinational corporations have paid directly for private policing services from the local army; or have hired outside security companies to harass nationals who protest against the environmental impact of their operations. The firms involved represent a growing number of new corporate security operations around the world, linking former intelligence officers, standing armies, and local death squads.
One of these security companies is Defense Systems Limited (DSL). DSL is run by two ex-Special Air Service commandos out of London offices, across the street from Buckingham Palace. Their clients include petrochemical companies, multinational banks, embassies, nongovernmental organizations, and national and international organiza-tions. One of DSL’s biggest contracts is with Mark Heathcote, a former M16 (British equivalent of the CIA) officer who ran operations in Argentina during the Falklands War. Heathcote is now the chief of security for British Petroleum (BP). In 1996, DSL sent a group of British personnel to train Colombian Police on BP-owned rigs. Training included lethal-weapons handling, sniper fire, and close quarter combat.
The two unnamed former SAS officers in Colombia fared better. Their black boxes -full of guns and ammunition-were waved through the checkpoint run by a colleague Bill Nixon, a former British intelligence officer, whose new job is providing security at the private airport owned by Bntish Petroleum (BP). All three mercenaries were on contract to BP to help train the Colombian police-notorious for their human rights abuses-to protect the Dele-B oil rig. The oil company interpreted security concerns broadly: According to a recently surfaced report commissioned by the Colombian government, BP collaborated with local soldiers involved in kidnappings, torture, and murder. The unpublished document alleges that the oil company compiled intelligence-including photos and videotapes of local people protesting oil activities, and passed the information on to the Colombian military, which then arrested or kidnapped demonstrators as “subversives.”
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/New_World_Order/Mercenaries_Minerals.html
As early as 1990, Richard Bethell was in Colombia protecting oil operations from Marxist rebels, and they have been there since operating through the subsidiary Defence Systems Colombia. They have provided the training of troops for the purposes of securing the 500 mile long OCENSA oil line from rebel attacks, as well as supplies and equipment to carry out the job.
Mark Heathcote of British Petroleum and formerly of the MI6, is the chief of security for BP’s operations in the region. In 1997, DSC run security measures saw BP’s oil line, the longest in the country, blown up only once. In comparison, Occidental Petroleum’s pipeline, the country’s second longest, was blown up 65 times[18]. Incidentally, Oxy Petro along with AirScan Inc.and the Colombian Air Force were responsible for dropping a cluster bomb on the town of Santo Domingo the following year.
The improved security may have come at humanitarian costs[19]. DSC trained and supplied soldiers have been implicated in serious acts of repression. The soldiers were from a known right-wing death squad, including a certain Maj. Gen. Herman Guzman Rodriguez, that has been implicated in several massacres.
The extent to which DSC was willing to go in protecting the pipeline included training troops in psychological warfare operations and setting up spy organizations in communities that were not ambivalent to BP’s destructive path and inconsideration [20]. Troops armed with equipment brought to them by DSC, OCENSA, and Israeli firm Silver Shadow, were responsible for disposing of dissenters, setting examples for others, and gathering more information under torture [21][22][23] [24]
Said Amnesty International on what has occurred in Colombia: “In the context of the current human rights crisis in Colombia – in which the Colombian security forces have been responsible for widespread extrajudicial executions, torture and “disappearances” of civilians – it would be extremely difficult to guarantee that any form of military, security and police training arranged by a private company to protect their own interests is not directly or indirectly contributing to further abuses against the local population.”[25]
http://spinprofiles.org/index.php?title=Defense_Systems_Ltd
One of the many problems with anarcho-capitalism… the richest clan gets all the mercenaries.
One of these security companies is Defense Systems Limited (DSL). DSL is run by two ex-Special Air Service commandos out of London offices, across the street from Buckingham Palace. Their clients include petrochemical companies, multinational banks, embassies, nongovernmental organizations, and national and international organiza-tions. One of DSL’s biggest contracts is with Mark Heathcote, a former M16 (British equivalent of the CIA) officer who ran operations in Argentina during the Falklands War. Heathcote is now the chief of security for British Petroleum (BP). In 1996, DSL sent a group of British personnel to train Colombian Police on BP-owned rigs. Training included lethal-weapons handling, sniper fire, and close quarter combat.
In many countries, multinational corporations have paid directly for private policing services from the local army; or have hired outside security companies to harass nationals who protest against the environmental impact of their operations. The firms involved represent a growing number of new corporate security operations around the world, linking former intelligence officers, standing armies, and local death squads.
One of these security companies is Defense Systems Limited (DSL). DSL is run by two ex-Special Air Service commandos out of London offices, across the street from Buckingham Palace. Their clients include petrochemical companies, multinational banks, embassies, nongovernmental organizations, and national and international organiza-tions. One of DSL’s biggest contracts is with Mark Heathcote, a former M16 (British equivalent of the CIA) officer who ran operations in Argentina during the Falklands War. Heathcote is now the chief of security for British Petroleum (BP). In 1996, DSL sent a group of British personnel to train Colombian Police on BP-owned rigs. Training included lethal-weapons handling, sniper fire, and close quarter combat.
Wow! Ex-state employees serving state-connected corporations in a corporate state. You, sir, are, as always, enlightening.
Worrying how the shrimp fisherman would stand up to BP in an “anarcho-capitalist” society rests on the prior assumption that there could be a BP in such a society.
Not saying there could not be a single corporation of similar wealth, but you shouldn’t get ahead of yourself.
BENJAMIN , BP IS SUBSIDIZED BY US TAXPAYERS AND HAS LIMITED LIABILITY BECAUSE OF THE GOVERNMENT
IN A BUREAUCRATIC WORLD THE RICHEST CLAN CAN BUY OUT THE BEST POLITICIANS AND ALREADY DONE SO
/thread