keller@uicsl.UUCP (08/27/84)
#N:uicsl:28100001:000:2434 uicsl!keller Aug 27 13:30:00 1984 Here is another test for libertarians: First, a setting for the questions: In some Central American countries and at other places around the globe there is a very small group of people who own most of the land and control most of the other wealth of the country. In my opinion this is a result of rule by force and not the workings of a free-market system or even a secondary effect of capitalism in the developed nations. The continued existence of some of these regimes is a result of the foreign policies of the USA, the USSR, and other developed nations. There seems to be two paths that such nations take away from their current governments. Frequently the transition is by revolution and just as frequently the revolution changes one form of oppression for another. Rarely there may be an attempt at democracy. Now the questions: Do the current landholders and property owners in these countries have legitimate claims to their property or should a new government confiscate such property and redistribute it? Consider it both abstractly and whether the USA should try to force redistribution in some of the countries we desire to change. This makes me wonder about general criticism of the free-market system claiming that it naturally concentrates great wealth and thus great power in a small group. Should there be some limit on what percentage of a country any one individual can own? Remember that without taxes of any sort a family could build an impressive empire. Maybe they could buy small states. Can you relate inheritance taxes and property taxes to limits to power and discouragements to form strong family structures across the generations. What do you think is the key to the success of a middle class? (Do you even think that the relative distribution of wealth is important?) Can a middle class evolve when wealth is concentrated in a small group? Suppose that the USA had a libertarian foreign policy. What do you see happening around the world? Don't just say that you don't care because we can defend ourselves in any case. I want to know what kind of world you think would evolve around a mismatch in superpower foreign policies. I guess that I am trying to find out what it will take to reform some of the more barbaric governments and what our foreign policy should be to assist in the change. Perhaps I could restate the question as how does the libertarian view spread to other nations. -Shaun