Wednesday, February 15, 2006
An Earthy Conservative Thought
When does one transcend the line between Conservatism and Libertarianism? Adam Smith said that the government should provide the goods that the market is unable to produce. Milton Friedman wrote that public parks were not a legitimate public purpose.
Would public parks exist if the government did not supply them? Yes. However, they would have to be profitable. Most of the great mid-west national parks have minerals that would far exceed the money made off of park visitors. It is fair to assume that in the free market most of that space would be used for development and not as a park. This also applies to a small park in the city, regarding housing development.
Here is the problem: parks are great for almost everyone. Having a national park system and local parks creates greenways that allow a diverse ecology. Even if you do not benefit directly, the environmental stability of the
Therefore maybe government should supply things that the people want in the aggregate. The government, if it buys land at a fair market price and without using eminent domain, can do this reasonably without hurting anyone. This principle must be applied rarely. However, the market will not supply the natural world. We have to conserve it.
First off, nice post hippy. Secondly, I happen to agree with you. You know where I grew up and I can sympathize spending time in the great outdoors and that they need to be conserved.
My backyard was the rocky mountains and fly fishing a near routine. I would be at a total loss without my mountains and trout streams and friends and family there to share it. Good post...
: 8:01 PM : 8:02 PM Huh?
So, if people, "in aggregate" want universal health care, midnight basketball clubs, and free denture replacements, should the government provide them too? Don't get me wrong, I love parks. And I want the government to continue to support a national park system. But, lets be honest. It is illogical to be a conservative or libertarian and support the public park system. I accept this-- you, however, seem to be trying to impossibly marry the idea of public parks and limited government. It can't, with any intellectual honesty, happen. If governments are in the park business, why not the medical/education/real estate ones too?
Just accept that, to some degree, you accept tyranny and you'll be much happier.
Markets do not supply parks. Markets do supply medical care.
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