Freedom, Society, and State - Ludwig von Mises Institute

The foregoing is a highly imaginative approach to
the pro b I e m 0 f pol I uti 0 ncon t r o·}. Wh i I e per haps m0 r e
cumbersome than the more direct regulatory approach
currently in use, it has the advantage of great flexib
iii t Y • And wh i let heli be r tar ian 0 r na t urair i g h t s
approach would be even more complicated than the utilitarian,
its program strikes me as being at least Ceasib
1 e . Wh e the r its compIex i t Y rna kesit des ira blei s
another question. It could well be, however, that
these complexities are exaggerated by the failure to
rea liz e the rna r ketinc e n t i veexis tingin t his cas e for
the simplification of procedures. As Burt says, "we
have every reaSon to expect the system to be only -as
complicated and 'utopian' as it needs to be."(73)
b. Conservation.
Lib e r tar ian s a r g u e t hat the prob I em 0 f res 0 u r c e
conservation could be solved in the same way. Richard
and Ernestine Perkins argue that universal private property
would create a "cycle of protection." They note
that while such endangered species as seals, birds and
f ish are i n va ria b I Y f 0 undon governmen t - own e d air, I and
or wa t e r, ani ma 1sthat are p r i vat ely own e d s uchas
t u r key s, chi c ken s, h 0 r s es, cows, etc., are not inany
danger of extinction. The reason for this is obvious.
Sin c e there co u ] d be no chi eken breeders wi tho u t chi c kens
the owners must make sure that they breed at least
as many as they kill.(74) Universal private property
would permit the extension of the "cycle of poverty"
into many areas in which it is now inoperative. "Baby
seals, as well as many other wild animals whose fur or
meat has commercial value," contend the Perkinses,
would be deliberately and scientifically
farmed on a business basis, in the same way
that thousands of chickens and turkeys are
raised in farms specializing in their production.
The unreasonable killing of animals,
inclUding birds, whose lives are of value in
the ecologIcal cycle, simply would not occur,
because the property in which they lived
would be privately owned. The owners would
pro tee t the m, jus t as dome s tic ani rna 1s are
protected today. When nearly all such property
is privately owned, there would be as
much chance of reading in the newspapers of
the senseless slaughter of seals, as there is
today of the senseless slaughter of an
English farmer's dairy herd.(75)
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