Purpose of the Blog

The purpose of this blog is to publicly envision solutions to problems that are viewed as intractable and even unsolvable. In the beginning these solutions may seem impractical - or noneconomic - but with refinement - it is hoped they will prove to be viable. Public comment and debate are welcomed. Disagreement and counter suggestions are welcomed.

Ideas may be social, economic, or technical. These three pillars all need to be strong in a sustainable culture.

Some examples of intractable problems:

• the middle east  - the harder we seek solutions the worse it seems to get
• the concentration of wealth - the more we prosper in total - the more a percentage of the populations sinks into despair and poverty
• religion becoming a causative agent in violent uprisings
• depletion of resources

Libertarianism in a connected world.

The problems cited above are all "collective action problems" - which is to say that they involved problems confronting a group - and solvable by a group. This is in contrast to a problems such as personal  finance - which requires only action on the part of a one person.

Libertarian commentary on these problems is often quite contentious - and in general - libertarians seek to maximize individual freedom and avoid collective entanglements. However these problems cannot be solved solely by individual actions. This is not to disparage the libertarian point of view -but merely to state that collective problems require collective actions.

One error in many Libertarian arguments is that degree of intrinsic connection is often overlooked or minimized. With 7 Billion people in the world this is a large omission!

It may be useful to get a firm grasp on the degree to which modern society has interconnectedness as its base. 

Take as an example our house - or apartment.

It stands as a separate structure perhaps (in the case of an apartment it is itself connected to others!). But look at the connections it has to the rest of the world.

In:

• Electricity
• Gas
• Phone
• Cable
• Water

Out

• Electricity (in my case my grid tie interconnect goes both ways)
• Sewer
• Phone
• Cable
• Trash

Intermittent connection

• Oil
• Cars
• Coal
• Deliveries

Contrast this with the norm of a century ago - there were few tight connection - almost every connection was intermittent - things like coal and wood were delivered - or not. Now things are "there" - electricty is present for the asking.

In the Libertarian view of the world individual freedom is paramount. The only rightful place for the state is in the mutual defense of the society. And this philosophy fit well with the disconnected world of a century ago. We were separate then far more than today (but less than a century before!).

The challenge is to move Libertarianism forward in the interconnected age. Our consumption competes with others consumption. Our trash and pollution combines with others. The result is a huge collective action problem. Are we free to do as we please when every flush of a toilet, every flip of a light switch, every bite of produced food, every sip of water - involves interaction with the makers and other users of these products.

Ways to identify ourselves:

Who are we? We have our invidual names of course...But in terms of group affiliations:
1) we belong to groups
2) towns
3) counties
4) religions
5) nations
6) unions
7) genealogical associations
8) races
9) genetic groupings
10) illness groupings
11) companies

Summary point
Collective action problems require collective solutions. Libertarian arguments must factor in intrinsic connectedness.