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Thread: How would protecting orcas be handled in a libertarian society?

  1. #1

    How would protecting orcas be handled in a libertarian society?

    I have read the orcas in the Pacific Northwest are somewhat at risk, due to various underlying issues (commercial transport, chinook shortage, etc.). If true, how (or what) would a free society do to preserve them? I'm assuming after a certain distance from shore, the ocean is nobody's property. So unless someone claimed a specific stretch of ocean, it wouldn't be a property rights issue.

    So how would the market figure out how to protect the species, in the absence of charitable contributions?



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  3. #2
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    Reduce population growth with an emphasis on a meritocracy and personal responsibility. IMHO There are too many people on this planet producing waste and consuming vital resources, which leads to the rapid destruction of oceanic life as you outlined.

  4. #3
    First we need to find out whether they are good eating. so how about it @oyarde ? Orca steak worth preserving?

  5. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by AuH20 View Post
    IMHO There are too many people on this planet producing waste and consuming vital resources, which leads to the rapid destruction of oceanic life as you outlined.
    Yup also MHO, and a fact.

    Edit: Which brings me to an interesting point. Most problems humanity faces, large big problems, are caused by overpopulation. Famine, war, destruction of the natural environment, etc are caused by overpopulation. Things like criminal acts, many of them when looked at carefully can be sourced back to scarcity of sorts caused by overpopulation, I say this carefully as any society will have crimes committed.

    The people who we elect to create a better environment, better known as politicians.. They usually want to increase the population to solve things...

    So yes, a very interesting thought.
    Last edited by luctor-et-emergo; 07-10-2018 at 01:46 PM.
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  6. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by kona View Post
    I have read the orcas in the Pacific Northwest are somewhat at risk, due to various underlying issues (commercial transport, chinook shortage, etc.). If true, how (or what) would a free society do to preserve them? I'm assuming after a certain distance from shore, the ocean is nobody's property. So unless someone claimed a specific stretch of ocean, it wouldn't be a property rights issue.

    So how would the market figure out how to protect the species, in the absence of charitable contributions?
    First, you assume that they need preserving. Why? Because you like them? Well, then, go get some and preserve them. The curious thing about liberty is that you have to accept that some things will fade away with time. Just because the mountains erode with the winds doesn't mean we need to bend over backwards trying to "preserve" them.

    But to your larger question - yes, you definitely have a tragedy of the commons happening with the oceans. And any time you have that, you will also have heartache and destruction. If the oceans were allowed to be sectioned and owned, the unnatural problems of the commons wouldn't exist.
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  7. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by kona View Post
    I have read the orcas in the Pacific Northwest are somewhat at risk, due to various underlying issues (commercial transport, chinook shortage, etc.). If true, how (or what) would a free society do to preserve them? I'm assuming after a certain distance from shore, the ocean is nobody's property. So unless someone claimed a specific stretch of ocean, it wouldn't be a property rights issue.

    So how would the market figure out how to protect the species, in the absence of charitable contributions?
    There is your answer. You are quickly getting the hang of this libertarian stuff.

  8. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by juleswin View Post
    There is your answer. You are quickly getting the hang of this libertarian stuff.
    Cool but for the matter of this discussion, lets elaborate on that, what if someone decides to put a whole lot of money and time into the effective eradication of orcas for financial gain (or pleasure)? (Think about tiger teeth or rhino horns)

    How would a libertarian society handle that.
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  9. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by luctor-et-emergo View Post
    Yup also MHO, and a fact.

    Edit: Which brings me to an interesting point. Most problems humanity faces, large big problems, are caused by overpopulation. Famine, war, destruction of the natural environment, etc are caused by overpopulation. Things like criminal acts, many of them when looked at carefully can be sourced back to scarcity of sorts caused by overpopulation, I say this carefully as any society will have crimes committed.

    The people who we elect to create a better environment, better known as politicians.. They usually want to increase the population to solve things...

    So yes, a very interesting thought.
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  11. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by luctor-et-emergo View Post
    Cool but for the matter of this discussion, lets elaborate on that, what if someone decides to put a whole lot of money and time into the effective eradication of orcas for financial gain (or pleasure)? (Think about tiger teeth or rhino horns)

    How would a libertarian society handle that.
    Capture a few and breed them in a place like sea world?

  12. #10
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    What will happen to the orcas when the backup power ceases for the cooling of our spent nuclear rods? Then what? This whole planet is rigged to blow in the right situation. The problem with humans is their lack of long-term planning. It's our Achilles heel. From economics to energy, everything is boom/bust, when it's stripped down to it's raw function.
    Last edited by AuH20; 07-10-2018 at 02:07 PM.

  13. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by specsaregood View Post
    First we need to find out whether they are good eating. so how about it @oyarde ? Orca steak worth preserving?
    No , not very good , but your first clue is wealthy white men keep them as pets in a big pool . That is often the first indicator they are not tasty . They do not have an extra large , expensive chicken aviary for viewing by the children for example.
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  14. #12
    It is a dilemma. I had the same question about the redwoods in California. In a purely capitalist society, those trees would have been chopped down for wood and profit. It's not just the tragedy of the commons, either. Simple question about humans plundering natural resources.
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  15. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by luctor-et-emergo View Post
    Cool but for the matter of this discussion, lets elaborate on that, what if someone decides to put a whole lot of money and time into the effective eradication of orcas for financial gain (or pleasure)? (Think about tiger teeth or rhino horns)

    How would a libertarian society handle that.
    A better question would be, how would one protect animals like the blue whale which one cannot hold in captivity? That I do not know. I would say orgs like Green peace but I can imagine that even such a group would have a hard time protecting anything without some form of govt protection.

  16. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by AuH20 View Post
    Reduce population growth with an emphasis on a meritocracy and personal responsibility. IMHO There are too many people on this planet producing waste and consuming vital resources, which leads to the rapid destruction of oceanic life as you outlined.
    Quote Originally Posted by luctor-et-emergo View Post

    Most problems humanity faces, large big problems, are caused by overpopulation. Famine, war, destruction of the natural environment, etc are caused by overpopulation.
    Well...... Communists believe that stuff. Ted Turner says things like that.

    Since when does overpopulation cause famines in a capitalist society? Poor people are fat in capitalist countries. Are there a lot of starving people in Hong Kong? Capitalism creates a horn of plenty. Capitalists tend to believe that humans are the ultimate resource. Human ingenuity solves problems.

    There are no vital resources are humans are eliminating. People have said we were going to run out of oil 100 years ago. Anything that is worth saving will either be saved through charity or through the market. If orcas have value someone will capture them and breed them. Otherwise, why are they so special? Most species go extinct.
    Last edited by Krugminator2; 07-10-2018 at 03:43 PM.

  17. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by jllundqu View Post
    It is a dilemma. I had the same question about the redwoods in California. In a purely capitalist society, those trees would have been chopped down for wood and profit. It's not just the tragedy of the commons, either. Simple question about humans plundering natural resources.
    Isn't that good? There are more trees now in the United States than there were a 100 years.

    If there is a profit to be made, it means those trees have value and are furthering humanity. I don't know anything about those trees but maybe chopping them down is their best use.

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  20. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Krugminator2 View Post
    Well...... Communists believe that stuff. Ted Turner says things like that.

    Since when does overpopulation cause famines in a capitalist society? Poor people are fat in capitalist countries. Are there a lot of starving people in Hong Kong? Capitalism creates a horn of plenty. Capitalists tend to believe that humans are the ultimate resource. Human ingenuity solves problems.

    There are no vital resources are humans are eliminating. People have said we were going to run out of oil 100 years ago. Anything that is worth saving will either be saved through charity or through the market. If orcas have value someone will capture them and breed them. Otherwise, why are they so special? Most species go extinct.
    Socialism and ill-conceived charity have created population growth among those groups where it is least advantageous and restricted the creation and natural distribution of wealth that would fix the problem.

    In a free and natural society population wouldn't be a problem.
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  21. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by kona View Post
    So how would the market figure out how to protect the species, in the absence of charitable contributions?
    Throw the liberals overboard?
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  22. #19
    Seriously, a libertarian solution is to find out why populations are dwindling. Clearly a lot of ocean life is gone due to overfishing, mainly by the Japanese. Japan has almost no arable land. If a way could be found to help it find inexpensive food sources the demand for fish would drop enough for the ocean populations to regulate themselves.
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  23. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by euphemia View Post
    Seriously, a libertarian solution is to find out why populations are dwindling. Clearly a lot of ocean life is gone due to overfishing, mainly by the Japanese. Japan has almost no arable land. If a way could be found to help it find inexpensive food sources the demand for fish would drop enough for the ocean populations to regulate themselves.
    Another point is this, even the japanese would want to conserve the fish population because if the over fish, there wont be any fishes for them to eat. Essentially its in the Japanese self interest not to bring their fish delicacy to extinction.

  24. #21
    you would be able to secure funding or pay for it yourself and protect your own little pod without forcing anyone else to participate in it, or steal other people's money to pay for it...I believe they call that a win-win
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  25. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by Krugminator2 View Post
    Well...... Communists believe that stuff. Ted Turner says things like that.

    Since when does overpopulation cause famines in a capitalist society? Poor people are fat in capitalist countries. Are there a lot of starving people in Hong Kong? Capitalism creates a horn of plenty. Capitalists tend to believe that humans are the ultimate resource. Human ingenuity solves problems.

    There are no vital resources are humans are eliminating. People have said we were going to run out of oil 100 years ago. Anything that is worth saving will either be saved through charity or through the market. If orcas have value someone will capture them and breed them. Otherwise, why are they so special? Most species go extinct.
    The masses are both a danger to our environment as well as our personal liberty. I wasn't always in the Malthusian camp, until recently. Technology has refined the modern oligarchical state to such a degree that the multitudes can maintain the status quo, by continuing the endless misuse of resources and capital. They need to just die off naturally as opposed to some murder program or eugenic initiative.


    Imagine what the US would look like without Medicare, Medicaid and a host of other useless programs, which are delaying the inevitable?
    Last edited by AuH20; 07-10-2018 at 05:29 PM.

  26. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by juleswin View Post
    Another point is this, even the japanese would want to conserve the fish population because if the over fish, there wont be any fishes for them to eat. Essentially its in the Japanese self interest not to bring their fish delicacy to extinction.
    They overfish everywhere. Somalia had a very sustainable life as a fishing culture until the Japanese overfished the area and depleted the population.
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  27. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by kona View Post
    I have read the orcas in the Pacific Northwest are somewhat at risk, due to various underlying issues (commercial transport, chinook shortage, etc.). If true, how (or what) would a free society do to preserve them? I'm assuming after a certain distance from shore, the ocean is nobody's property. So unless someone claimed a specific stretch of ocean, it wouldn't be a property rights issue.

    So how would the market figure out how to protect the species, in the absence of charitable contributions?
    To answer, it's of value to examine how it's down now. This is a framework that can apply for many similar situations...

    1. There is some identification of a problem. Scientist / researchers ID that some human behavior is causing a long term issue.
    2. There is campaign to grow awareness of the problem, people debate the research and the real impact of the issue.
    3. Coalitions are built to set a policy to fix the problem.
    4. Laws get past, people get notified.
    5. Funds are used to enforce the law.
    6. Forced is used to make violators comply with the law.
    7. If too many people disagree with the law a war of sorts breaks out.

    Here's a similar framework for a free society:
    1. (same)
    2. (same)
    3. Coalitions are built to draft a public decree to address the problem.
    4. The decree is made public, and people get notified.
    5. People that feel strongly about the decree fund the enforcement of the decree.
    6. (same)
    7. (same)

    Some key differences...
    In a non-free society a powerful few can make laws that have strong opposition.
    In a non-free society you are forced to fund enforcement of laws that you disagree with.

    A common argument against the free society approach is that powerful warlord could take control. This is true, but it's no different than a state based approach where the will of powerful states can crush the opposition of the weak/poor. This happens all the time. The key difference in this case is that it's harder to oppose a corrupt state.

    In the end, it all comes down to a few key points:
    - Government power structures will be more powerful than a power structure that people can easily opt out of.
    - The bigger power structures you create the more desirable it will be for someone to corrupt it. Power leads to corruption.
    - People have to seek knowledge to make informed decisions.
    - People have to learn to get along and make compromises where others feel strongly on something.
    - People have to show compassion to others.

    Consider a case where some people are "over" consuming a resource, but it's needed to feed families. Stepping in and forcing them to stop becomes a bad solution without working making sure their families are feed as a better long-term plan is worked out. Knowledge. Compromise. Compassion. Basic human traits that don't require a state.
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  29. #25
    Quote Originally Posted by phill4paul View Post
    I'd ride one armed with a .50 caliber machine gun and a duffle bag of M72's!



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