At 10:11 AM -0400 10/19/00, Trei, Peter wrote:
While by default I hold libertarian positions, doing so sometimes requires uncomfortable contortions.
Who, for example, should the inhabitants of Tuvalu sue for rising sea levels? Neighbouring territories for failing to prevent excess seawater from crossing their mid-ocean border? Arctic nations for sloppy handling of the runoff from their melting icecaps? The rest of the human race for burning too much stuff? Me for driving a Suburban?
Sometimes ownership is so distant and diluted that individual responsibility is impossible to establish, yet the problems are real, and significant.
[This is just an example, ok? Lets NOT fork into a debate over the reality (or lack thereof) of global warming.]
No problem. However, it illustrates another point that I wish to refute. --> Every time that something happens, someone is to blame. Who is to blame for hurricanes? Haiti, for not stopping them before they reach Florida? Who is to blame for a bee flying into your mouth while you are driving? (which, if you've never had it happen, leads quickly to a car crash) -- -- Marshall "The era of big government is over." Bill Clinton, State of the Union Address, January 23, 1996 Marshall Clow MusicMatch <mailto:mclow@mailhost2.csusm.edu>