Locked History Attachments

StatistFallacies/EnvironmentNotProtected

Fallacy:

"We need the government to protect the environment! Without government, big corporations will pollute the planet and waste resources!"

Response:

Government is antithetical to environmental stewardship. The only way to safeguard the environment is by recognizing property rights, and the right to sue for damages. It is government that bombards the planet with nuclear and conventional weapons, operates the most fuel-inefficient vehicles, and protects corporations from liability for their actions. Governments also distort the market's natural rationing mechanisms through price controls, subsidies, and irrational regulations.

In contrast, a market with a manipulation-free price structure provides a distributed grassroots information network to signal supply and demand accurately, to better allow people to understand the availability of goods and services, and to provide automatic incentives for conservation or for exploration for new resources. (LT)