Chapter 4 Freedom and Progress
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A New Politics of the Commons
Published in Renewal magazine, December 17, 2007. Renewal is a Labour-oriented political journal dedicated to social democracy” published in London. A New Politics of the Commons By David Bollier One of the most stubborn problems in confronting the pathologies of the neoliberal political order is the limitations of our language. We do not have an adequate public vocabulary to describe the plunder of globalized markets. We have trouble highlighting the social inequities that are built into conventional economics and political discourse. We do not have a grand narrative with compelling sub-plots to set forth an alternative vision, one that can both stir the blood and show intellectual sophistication. That’s the bad news. The good news is that there is a brave, decentralized movement on the march that is addressing these problems with ingenuity and patience. The focus of this movement is the commons. The commons is still an embryonic vision. It will require time to evolve. But it is a vision with great potential, perhaps because it is not being advanced by an intellectual elite or a political party, but by a hardy band of resourceful irregulars on the periphery of conventional politics. (That’s always where the most interesting new things originate.) These commoners are now starting to find each other, a convergence that augurs great things. To be a bit more concrete: This proto-commons movement consists of environmentalists trying to protect wilderness areas and win fair compensation for the corporate use of public lands. It includes local communities trying to prevent multinational water companies from privatizing public water works and converting groundwater into over- priced, branded bottles of water. -
Freedom, Democracy and Economic Welfare
copyright The Fraser Institute copyright The Fraser Institute LORD BAUER RAMON DIAZ MILTON FRIEDMAN RAYMOND D GASTIL TIBOR R MACHAN DOUGLASS NORTH SVETOZAR PEJOVICH ALVIN RABUSHKA INGEMAR STAHL LINDSAY M WRIGHT PROCEEDINGS OF AN INTERNATIONAL EDITED BY MICHAEL A WALKER SYMPOSIUM copyright The Fraser Institute Proceedings of an International Symposium on Economic, Political, and Civil Freedom, held October 5-8, 1986 in Napa Valley, California. This event is part of the programme of Liberty Fund Inc., under the direction of its President, Dr W. W. Hill. This Symposium was managed by The Fraser Institute and organized by its Director, Dr. Michael A. Walker. Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Main entry under title: Freedom, democracy and economic welfare Symposium held Oct 5-8, 1986 in Napa Valley, Calif. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-88975-116-1 1.Capitalism – Congresses. 2. Liberty – Congresses. 3. Economics – Political aspects – Congresses. 4. Economics – Philosophy – Congresses. I. Walker, Michael 1945 – II.Fraser Institute (Vancouver, BC.) HB501.F74 1988 330.12’2 C88-091102-6 Copyright 1988 by the Fraser Institute. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical arti- cles and reviews. Printed in Canada copyright The Fraser Institute CONTENTS Participants / vii Preface, Michael A. Walker / ix PART ONE POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND CIVIL FREEDOMS: A CONCEPTUAL, HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL OVERVIEW 1 INSTITUTIONS, ECONOMIC GROWTH AND FREEDOM: AN HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION, Douglass C. North / 3 Discussion / 26 2 CAPITALISM AND FREEDOM, Milton Friedman / 47 Discussion / 59 3 THE STATE OF THE WORLD POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC FREEDOM, Raymond D. -
Songs by Artist
Reil Entertainment Songs by Artist Karaoke by Artist Title Title &, Caitlin Will 12 Gauge Address In The Stars Dunkie Butt 10 Cc 12 Stones Donna We Are One Dreadlock Holiday 19 Somethin' Im Mandy Fly Me Mark Wills I'm Not In Love 1910 Fruitgum Co Rubber Bullets 1, 2, 3 Redlight Things We Do For Love Simon Says Wall Street Shuffle 1910 Fruitgum Co. 10 Years 1,2,3 Redlight Through The Iris Simon Says Wasteland 1975 10, 000 Maniacs Chocolate These Are The Days City 10,000 Maniacs Love Me Because Of The Night Sex... Because The Night Sex.... More Than This Sound These Are The Days The Sound Trouble Me UGH! 10,000 Maniacs Wvocal 1975, The Because The Night Chocolate 100 Proof Aged In Soul Sex Somebody's Been Sleeping The City 10Cc 1Barenaked Ladies Dreadlock Holiday Be My Yoko Ono I'm Not In Love Brian Wilson (2000 Version) We Do For Love Call And Answer 11) Enid OS Get In Line (Duet Version) 112 Get In Line (Solo Version) Come See Me It's All Been Done Cupid Jane Dance With Me Never Is Enough It's Over Now Old Apartment, The Only You One Week Peaches & Cream Shoe Box Peaches And Cream Straw Hat U Already Know What A Good Boy Song List Generator® Printed 11/21/2017 Page 1 of 486 Licensed to Greg Reil Reil Entertainment Songs by Artist Karaoke by Artist Title Title 1Barenaked Ladies 20 Fingers When I Fall Short Dick Man 1Beatles, The 2AM Club Come Together Not Your Boyfriend Day Tripper 2Pac Good Day Sunshine California Love (Original Version) Help! 3 Degrees I Saw Her Standing There When Will I See You Again Love Me Do Woman In Love Nowhere Man 3 Dog Night P.S. -
The Politics of Indian Property Rights
Property rights, selective enforcement, and the destruction of wealth on Indian lands Ilia Murtazashvili* University of Pittsburgh Abstract This paper reconceptualizes the nature of property institutions in the United States. Conventional economic analysis suggests that the U.S. established private property rights protection as a public good by the end of the nineteenth century. The experience of Indians suggests otherwise. During the mid-nineteenth century, the economic fortunes of settlers on public lands owned by the United States government and Indians diverged. Settlers secured legal property rights and self-governance, while members of Indian nations were forced into an inequitable property system in which the federal government established an institutionalized system to discriminate against reservation Indians. The property system is most appropriately described as a selective enforcement regime in which some groups enjoy credible and effective property rights at the expense of others who confront a predatory state and institutionalized property insecurity. The persistence of the selective enforcement regime explains the persistence of poverty among reservation Indians. * Email: [email protected]. Paper prepared for the Searle Workshop on “Indigenous Capital, Growth, and Property Rights: The Legacy of Colonialism,” Hoover Institution, Stanford University. Many thanks to Terry Anderson and Nick Parker for organizing the workshop. 1 2 Introduction The United States is often used as an example to illustrate the beneficial consequences of private property rights for economic growth and development. Sokoloff and Engerman (2000) use differences in land policy to explain the reversal of economic fortunes of the U.S. and Spanish America, which started with a similar per capita GDP around 1800 but diverged substantially by the twentieth century. -
Unit 24 Individualism and Communitarianism
Gandhism (Dharma, UNIT 24 INDIVIDUALISM AND Swaraj, Sarvodaya and COMMUNITARIANISM Satyagraha) Structure 24.0 Objectives 24.1 Introduction 24.1.1 Individualist Versus Communitarian Position 24.1.2 Relevance in the Indian Context 24.2 Meaning and Development of Individualism 24.2.1 Atomism and Methodological Individualism 24.2.2 Views of Contractualists Including John Rawls 24.2.3 Views of Utilitarians 24.3 The Individualist Conception of the Self 24.4 The Individualist Theory of the Nature and Functions of the State 24.4.1 Functions of State and Government 24.5 Communitarianism: An Introduction 24.6 The Communitarian Critique of the Individualist Conception of the Self 24.6.1 Two Main Limitations of Individualism 24.7 The Communitarian Critique of the Idea of State Neutrality 24.8 Let Us Sum Up 24.9 Some Useful References 24.10 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises 24.0 OBJECTIVES Our objective in this unit is to understand and assess one of the major ongoing debates in contemporary political theory; namely, the debate between liberal individualism and communitarianism. After studying this unit, you should be able to: • Understand the individualistic theory of the nature and functions of state; • Describe and assess the communitarian critique of liberal individualism; • Compare the major theoretical positions of individualism and communitarianism; and • Understand the relevance of this debate to contemporary political theory and practice. 24.1 INTRODUCTION In this unit, you will be introduced to one of the central debates in contemporary political theory, namely, the debate between liberal individualism and communitarianism. The debate between individualism and communitarianism developed and became central to political theory during the 1980s with the publication of Michael Sandel’s Liberalism and the Limits of Justice (1982). -
Economic Freedom” and Economic Growth: Questioning the Claim That Freer Markets Make Societies More Prosperous
Munich Personal RePEc Archive “Economic freedom” and economic growth: questioning the claim that freer markets make societies more prosperous Cohen, Joseph N City University of New York, Queens College 27 September 2011 Online at https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/33758/ MPRA Paper No. 33758, posted 27 Sep 2011 18:38 UTC “Economic Freedom” and Economic Growth: Questioning the Claim that Freer Markets Make Societies More Prosperous Joseph Nathan Cohen Department of Sociology City University of New York, Queens College 65-30 Kissena Blvd. Flushing, New York 11367 [email protected] Abstract A conventional reading of economic history implies that free market reforms rescued the world’s economies from stagnancy during the 1970s and 1980s. I reexamine a well-established econometric literature linking economic freedom to growth, and argue that their positive findings hinge on two problems: conceptual conflation and ahistoricity. When these criticisms are taken seriously, a very different view of the historical record emerges. There does not appear to be enduring relationship between economic liberalism and growth. Much of the observed relationship between these two variables involves a one-shot transition to freer markets around the Cold War’s end. Several concurrent changes took place in this historical context, and it is hasty to conclude that it was market liberalization alone that produced the economic turnaround of the 1990s and early-2000s. I also question market fundamentalists’ view that all forms of liberalization are helpful, arguing that the data show little to no benefit from reforms that did not attract foreign investment. Word Count: 6,698 (excl. -
Mill's "Very Simple Principle": Liberty, Utilitarianism And
MILL'S "VERY SIMPLE PRINCIPLE": LIBERTY, UTILITARIANISM AND SOCIALISM MICHAEL GRENFELL submitted for degree of Ph.D. London School of Economics and Political Science UMI Number: U048607 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U048607 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 I H^S £ S F 6SI6 ABSTRACT OF THESIS MILL'S "VERY SIMPLE PRINCIPLE'*: LIBERTY. UTILITARIANISM AND SOCIALISM 1 The thesis aims to examine the political consequences of applying J.S. Mill's "very simple principle" of liberty in practice: whether the result would be free-market liberalism or socialism, and to what extent a society governed in accordance with the principle would be free. 2 Contrary to Mill's claims for the principle, it fails to provide a clear or coherent answer to this "practical question". This is largely because of three essential ambiguities in Mill's formulation of the principle, examined in turn in the three chapters of the thesis. 3 First, Mill is ambivalent about whether liberty is to be promoted for its intrinsic value, or because it is instrumental to the achievement of other objectives, principally the utilitarian objective of "general welfare". -
Public Service
THE DUTCH PUBLIC SERVICE Organisation and functioning of the government in the Netherlands, the position of civil servants and the main developments PAGE 2 The Dutch Public Service Foreword The Dutch government is traditionally an for themselves on the right form of action I highly recommend this book to you. It attractive employer, with an unusually in the dynamics of the network society. provides excellent insight into how the high degree of social involvement and Dutch government is organised. relevance. Virtually no other sector allows There is also the issue of good profes- us to look behind the scenes so often. sional skills. The key to this is profes- sional knowledge. Such knowledge is According to international comparative essential to maintain a high performance research, the Netherlands does this very level and to be able to anticipate the well. I believe that we can be justifiably many changes occurring inside and proud of the quality of our government outside government. The core of good system and the people who work in it. performance remains unchanged: a good The same vigour that we applied to build civil servant realises that he or she is up this position is now being used to working in exceptional circumstances. maintain and expand it. In the A civil servant serves democracy, impos- Netherlands, we do this along two tracks: ing high demands on integrity. firstly, by aiming to provide a government that is better equipped for the future and Integrity is a topic that became current in secondly, by ensuring that we have a good the Netherlands 20 years ago and has lost civil service. -
Extensions of Remarks
August 8, 1984 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS 23165 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS MILITARY READINESS: A vestments, especially strategic nuclear fense request, the House Armed Services GROWING PROBLEM programs. Simply drawing out pro Committee was most protective of conven curement, or cutting a program in half tional warfare systems and force readiness, will only postpone what will then be a but willing to let strategic nuclear systems HON. CHARLES McC. MATHIAS, JR. take their lumps. Weinberger's sacrifices OF MARYLAND larger crunch in the 1985-90 time were quite the opposite, insulating the stra IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES frame. tegic buildup while cutting back the general Aerospace America magazine recent forces. Wednesday, August 8, 1984 ly pttblished an article in which these very points were discussed, and in con Looking down the road, it is obvious that •Mr. MATHIAS. Mr. President, while many more tough decisions will have to be siderable detail. I insert the Aerospace made about what to keep, cut back, post the current military readiness picture America article entitled "Pentagon's may be good-and even getting pone, and what to jettison. Richard De Bright New World Fading Fast" in the Lauer, defense under secretary for research better-the long-term effectiveness of RECORD: and engineering, told Sen. Ted Stevens <D our Armed Forces may indeed be in Alaska) that he could "handle" congression danger. [From the Aerospace America, July 1984] al refusal of new starts for the $1 billion DDG-51 guided missile destroyer as well as It seems to me there are two poten PENTAGON'S BRIGHT NEW WORLD FADING FAST tial problems: the nature of the de the $129 million requested for development <By Henry Simmons) of the McDonnell Douglas C-17 STOL fense budget itself, and the financial transport in the current fiscal year. -
Private Property Rights, Economic Freedom, and Well Being
Working Paper 19 Private Property Rights, Economic Freedom, and Well Being * BENJAMIN POWELL * Benjamin Powell is a PhD Student at George Mason University and a Social Change Research Fellow with the Mercatus Center in Arlington, VA. He was an AIER Summer Fellow in 2002. The ideas presented in this research are the author’s and do not represent official positions of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Private Property Rights, Economic Freedom, and Well Being The question of why some countries are rich, and others are poor, is a question that has plagued economists at least since 1776, when Adam Smith wrote An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Some countries that have a wealth of human and natural resources remain in poverty (in Sub-Saharan Africa for example) while other countries with few natural resources (like Hong Kong) flourish. An understanding of how private property and economic freedom allow people to coordinate their activities while engaging in trades that make them both people better off, gives us an indication of the institutional environment that is necessary for prosperity. Observation of the countries around the world also indicates that those countries with an institutional environment of secure property rights and highPAPER degrees of economic freedom have achieved higher levels of the various measures of human well being. Property Rights and Voluntary Interaction The freedom to exchange allows individuals to make trades that both parties believe will make them better off. Private property provides the incentives for individuals to economize on resource use because the user bears the costs of their actions. -
Liberty, Property and Rationality
Liberty, Property and Rationality Concept of Freedom in Murray Rothbard’s Anarcho-capitalism Master’s Thesis Hannu Hästbacka 13.11.2018 University of Helsinki Faculty of Arts General History Tiedekunta/Osasto – Fakultet/Sektion – Faculty Laitos – Institution – Department Humanistinen tiedekunta Filosofian, historian, kulttuurin ja taiteiden tutkimuksen laitos Tekijä – Författare – Author Hannu Hästbacka Työn nimi – Arbetets titel – Title Liberty, Property and Rationality. Concept of Freedom in Murray Rothbard’s Anarcho-capitalism Oppiaine – Läroämne – Subject Yleinen historia Työn laji – Arbetets art – Level Aika – Datum – Month and Sivumäärä– Sidoantal – Number of pages Pro gradu -tutkielma year 100 13.11.2018 Tiivistelmä – Referat – Abstract Murray Rothbard (1926–1995) on yksi keskeisimmistä modernin libertarismin taustalla olevista ajattelijoista. Rothbard pitää yksilöllistä vapautta keskeisimpänä periaatteenaan, ja yhdistää filosofiassaan klassisen liberalismin perinnettä itävaltalaiseen taloustieteeseen, teleologiseen luonnonoikeusajatteluun sekä individualistiseen anarkismiin. Hänen tavoitteenaan on kehittää puhtaaseen järkeen pohjautuva oikeusoppi, jonka pohjalta voidaan perustaa vapaiden markkinoiden ihanneyhteiskunta. Valtiota ei täten Rothbardin ihanneyhteiskunnassa ole, vaan vastuu yksilöllisten luonnonoikeuksien toteutumisesta on kokonaan yksilöllä itsellään. Tutkin työssäni vapauden käsitettä Rothbardin anarko-kapitalistisessa filosofiassa. Selvitän ja analysoin Rothbardin ajattelun keskeisimpiä elementtejä niiden filosofisissa, -
Immanent Politics, Participatory Democracy, and the Pursuit of Eudaimonia
LIBERTARIAN PAPERS VOL. 3, ART. NO. 16 (2011) IMMANENT POLITICS, PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY, AND THE PURSUIT OF EUDAIMONIA GEOFFREY ALLAN PLAUCHÉ* Political and economic freedom is not simply the absence of government controls over the economy and of dictatorial authority. It involves the emergence of alternative and more fragmented notions of “authority” in which participants in effect have to earn the always partial authority they have. It depends on the active participation in the polity and in the economy by diverse people who exercise their own initiative. —Lavoie and Chamlee-Wright, Culture and Enterprise, p. 1 Radicalizing [democracy] is too often imagined as moving toward “direct democracy,” voting directly for social outcomes. But there is much more to democratic processes than voting, and much more to politics than government. Wherever human beings engage in direct discourse with one another about their mutual rights and responsibilities, there is a politics. I mean politics in the sense of the public sphere in which discourse over rights and responsibilities is carried on. —Lavoie, “Democracy, Markets and the Legal Order,” pp. 111–12 Introduction LIBERALISM, AND THE MARKET FORCES it has traditionally championed, helped to undermine and overthrow the old order of the status *Geoffrey Allan Plauché is an adjunct instructor for Buena Vista University, webmaster of The Libertarian Standard, and founder and executive editor of Prometheus Unbound: A Libertarian Review of Fiction and Literature. He can be contacted via his website at gaplauche.com. This article is a revised version of chapters six and seven of his doctoral dissertation, Aristotelian Liberalism: An Inquiry into the Foundations of a Free and Flourishing Society (May 2009), which can be found online in Louisiana State University’s Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Library.