Griff wrote:
Obviously.
Only so if you know me.
Quote:
It works fine for me.
That doesn't make this a logical premise. If a premise isn't logically derived or appeal to a commonly accepted premise then why should others accept it as holding any validity? At the very least I appeal to the common ideal of classical liberalism.
Quote:
Nah. I just decided to take a different tack on the subject. The self-interest approach is looking like an interesting approach to politics. If we have a sense of aesthetics or compassion, we'd still be fulfilling our self-interest by satisfying these motives. It's more naturalistic.
By the way, I'll no longer be bothering to defend the approach that I brought up for land rights. I still think it's attractive, but I'm interested in exploring other mechanisms.
Oh, ok, the self-interest approach is how the world works. I often like to look at things from a somewhat consequentialist perspective to be honest, with some regard for utilitarian concerns. If we did then you are right, we would fulfill our self-interest by satisfying those motives. I think that it can be shown through our charitable donation patterns that although we have some care, we do not have an enormous amount though.
I really do not, however, I am really not that big of a proponent of property taxes as a method of public finance. They can reduce sprawl and perhaps a tax on land in order to reduce said sprawl might be desirable but as a method of financing a government they are undesirable due to their regressive nature. I am also typically not a big fan of eminent domain as mentioned. It may be desirable from a utilitarian stand point but not from a rights based standpoint in my mind and the difference between those 2 approaches must be emphasized.(although it is also argued that property taxes are in some cases more progressive, really though, there are also other distortionary measures to look at, I might prefer simply using more income based taxes to be certain on the burden of the tax and to be certain on the effects of the finance method)
10 Apr 2007, 10:32 pm
