In a governmentally controlled society, the unrestricted enjoyment of property ownership is not permitted, since government has the power to tax, regulate, and sometimes even confiscate (as in eminent domain) just about anything it pleases. In a laissez-faire society, everything which was valued and rationally claimed would be owned, and this ownership would be total.
If composers could set still-unmatched records of productivity without copyrights while earning a living, writers could do this in an environment t
So, some Americans are unloading their family treasures and cheering for bailouts, money printing, and gun control, while others are stocking up on precious metals, guns, and ammo to protect themselves and their wealth.
There is no question which group is the civilized one.
"Nagel thinks that people in society are morally bound to each other in ways that generate egalitarian obligations."
Although Aristotle, in the Greek tradition, scorned moneymaking and was scarcely a partisan of laissez-faire, he set forth a trenchant argument in
Liberty is an end unto itself, with prosperity as its positive externality.
Social institutions matter most, and they are very wrong now: a huge improvement is possible, and freedom is the answer.
Even some of the big unions, the steel union, for example, now doubt the effectiveness of wage increases that run beyond productivity.
All consumers place a high value on their personal safety. The sellers of any consumer product must fulfill this desire in order to profit in a capitalist economy.
