Thomas Jefferson, ever the democratic republican, believed that the safest repository of power was in the masses. The right to political power is always with the people, not with the representatives, and only when the masses exert that right will the power be effectively and appropriately checked. However, the masses are very easily swayed, mainly [...]
Archive for the ‘Economics’ Category
Appropriating More than Man has a Right To Own
April 29th, 2009
1 Comment
Lastly is the problem with our current economic system in the West: hoarding. Locke warns us of the mechanisms that exist to allow appropriation of more than we have a right to take from the common stock. These two mechanisms are money and the State. The measure of property nature has well set by the [...]
Land as Property
April 9th, 2009
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Locke next launches into the very difficult proposition of land as property. Somehow he sees land (ideally) as something that, like water (theoretically), is inexhaustible (a requisite for claiming something out of the common stock) and thereby rationalizes the ability of individuals to fence in land and claim it for their own.
The Purpose and "Bound" to Property
April 3rd, 2009
7 Comments
In my prior post regarding Locke’s ideas on property, I attempted to establish that property is, by nature, common to all man and that it become personal or private only by labor that separates that property unto the individual. A couple of further quotes will help to drive home Locke’s thoughts and position here:
Property and Economics: The Foundation of Politics
March 31st, 2009
5 Comments
Both John Locke and Thomas Hobbes (and almost every other political philosopher) start their discussion from a state of nature. Locke’s state is one of liberty and love. Hobbes’ is a state of fear and war. However, both opine that government is instituted in order to securitize property and peace. For Hobbes, the state of [...]
"Too Big to Fail"
March 30th, 2009
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How often over the last six months have we heard the phrase? Bear Sterns wasn’t, but AIG is. Now the federal government is requesting expanded powers to take over these companies that are deemed by someone as being “too big to fail.” Although this might theoretically be a better option for the taxpayer to have a [...]
Property: To What Extent?
March 19th, 2009
4 Comments
John Locke is credited with being the most influential English writer on those who declared independence from Britian and put forth the goal to “form a more perfect union.” His Second Treatise on Government is, perhaps, the most powerful piece describing the concepts that the people are sovereign and that government can only be done [...]
The Magic School Bus, The Environment, Frederic Bastiat, & The Economy
March 11th, 2009
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Originally posted by me at The Cause of Liberty While driving last week, I overheard a video my children were watching (The Magic Schoolbus) about the critical interrelations that take place in the environment. The story was about how putting artificial turf down (to keep the area clean) in a patch of rain forest resulted in [...]
The Natural End of Economic Structures
March 5th, 2009
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In my previous post I proposed that corporatism is worse than socialism because of the inherent inequality that lies therein. However, it got me thinking about the natural ends of these economic structures. This is a line of thinking that I have considered before, but not to the point of writing about it.
Worse than Socialism
March 2nd, 2009
6 Comments
Socialism is generally defined as holding in common the means of production and labor in an economy. State socialism is when the government owns those means. This economic construct is laden with inefficiencies and lack of freedom and potential for oppression and force. Besides, it doesn’t work. There is, however, a worse economic construct than [...]
