The End Game for Libertarian Islands

Reader comment on: Seasteading

Submitted by Bob Miranda (United States), Aug 18, 2011 10:26

As in the novel, "Lord of the Flies", the prospect for success of a theoretically pure Libertarian island is pretty dim. In a largely unregulated society, the alpha types will soon dominate and eventually exploit their more numerous, but less capable brethern. Witness the Robber Baron era when capitalism degenarated into oligopolies and monopolies. As James Friedman stated so well in a recent interview on Squawk Box, this country became a great industrial and military power because of a balanced partnership of Government and the Private Sector. This partnership produced uniform industrial standards; the interstate highway system; the space program; etc. It also helped the externalities of production such as pollution of our waters and air which industry on its own does not factor into its cost of production and hence ignores.

Note: Comments are moderated by the editor and are subject to editing.

Other reader comments on this item

Comment on this item