Note to readers: This week I’m taking a break from the serial with some thoughts on the “tragedy of the public square.” Let me know what you think in the comments. The concept “tragedy of the commons” originated in an 1833 essay by the British economist
This outstanding analysis would make for an excellent speech/presentation.
One of Rand’s great accomplishments is the moral identification that “property,” and the rights that underpin its/their recognition, is entirely consistent with our “nature” – i.e., the individual’s capacity and responsibility to think and act in response. Said recognition demands that ANY potential abrogation of property be logically seen for what it is. A destructive political imposition on the individual’s moral responsibility and "right" to function.
Further, attempts to rescind the right of the use and disposal of property that one has come to “own” – however properly acquired from Nature or one’s fellows, is but one manifestation of the perverted moral precept that “the ends justify the means.” Conversely, the unstated and unique moral/political precept embodied in America’s founding is that “the means justify the ends.”
The results of this proper moral/political precept, offering a cacophony of obvious benefits to mankind, screams in its obvious value!
It also screams when it is violated. A deafening tragedy that most-visibly manifests in what I would term, “the public labyrinth.”
Anders:
This outstanding analysis would make for an excellent speech/presentation.
One of Rand’s great accomplishments is the moral identification that “property,” and the rights that underpin its/their recognition, is entirely consistent with our “nature” – i.e., the individual’s capacity and responsibility to think and act in response. Said recognition demands that ANY potential abrogation of property be logically seen for what it is. A destructive political imposition on the individual’s moral responsibility and "right" to function.
Further, attempts to rescind the right of the use and disposal of property that one has come to “own” – however properly acquired from Nature or one’s fellows, is but one manifestation of the perverted moral precept that “the ends justify the means.” Conversely, the unstated and unique moral/political precept embodied in America’s founding is that “the means justify the ends.”
The results of this proper moral/political precept, offering a cacophony of obvious benefits to mankind, screams in its obvious value!
It also screams when it is violated. A deafening tragedy that most-visibly manifests in what I would term, “the public labyrinth.”
Looking forward to Thursday.
Dave