rwsh@hound.UUCP (R.STUBBLEFIELD) (06/09/85)
Adam, Let me be more clear what it is about Libertarian statements on nuclear power that bothers me. These statements imply that the nuclear power industry is propped up by government intervention and that if you are opposed to nuclear power, you should be opposed to government intervention, hence pro-Libertarian. I disagree with the contents of this argument and its tactics. Weighing all the effects of government intervention (including effects on insurance rates) for the nuclear power industry and comparing them with similar effects on alternative energy sources, I believe that the nuclear power industry would do very well in a laissez-faire market. (For factual material written in a style pleasing to many readers of net.politics, I highly recommend Petr Beckmann's *The Health Hazard of NOT Going Nuclear*, $5.95 from The Golem Press, Box 1342, Boulder, CO 80306) When I look at the anti-nuclear power movement, I do not see potential converts to capitalism; the movement is consistently asking for more government intervention and consistently arguing from collectivist premises. Even it were true that nuclear power is a dangerous evil forced on us by the state, the "no-nukes" make strange allies for a movement that derives its name from liberty. In her article "The Anatomy of Compromise," Ayn Rand formulated three rules on the working of principles in practice: 1. In any *conflict* between two men (or two groups) who hold the *same* basic principles, it is the more consistent one who wins. 2. In any *collaboration* between two men (or two groups) who hold *different* basic principles, it the more evil or irrational one who wins. 3. When opposite basic principles are clearly and openly defined, it works to the advantage of the rational side; when they are *not* clearly defined, but are hidden or evaded, it works to the advantage of the irrational side. [*Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal*, p. 145, $2.95, Palo Alto Book Service, 200 California Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94306] I think these rules are relevant for the above discussion. I find it particularly enlightening to consider their application to the Libertarian movement. Bob Stubblefield ihnp4!hound!rwsh