orb@whuxl.UUCP (SEVENER) (05/29/85)
> The difference then becomes: Does the government know best how to > plan the wealth allocation? Or do we think each citizen is rational > enough to excersize his/her own market decisions? Perhaps more > meaningfully, do we allow the government to control technology > access, means of production, etc. and sacrifice the freedoms now in > our posession for potential economic growth? > Am I making sense? > > Andrew T. Vare I think this is a valid approach to this sort of question so long as one remains aware of certain key factors. It is false to oppose "complete freedom or control for individuals" versus "government control". In fact one can have a system of numerous small producers who each own capital in which allowing these owners control over their own capital increases overall individual autonomy. On the other hand to allow the same leeway in a system in which a few individuals or corporations control most of the capital is a totally different matter. In this case allowing those few individuals who own capital total control regardless of its effects on people's lives may actually *decrease* overall individual autonomy - the vast majority of individuals who own no capital have no way to control their own destiny. Contrariwise, government policy may actually encourage the distribution of capital and likewise the consequent individual control over that capital. Thus for example government policy which has provided loans to small and medium farmers has allowed these small-scale capitalists to continue to exist and exercise control over their own farms. Another government policy towards agriculture would be to enforce collectivization and a system of production quotas. This takes away control from the collectives themselves and may provide no more power to the ordinary members of the collective if they have no democratic voice in the collective's decisionmaking. Both are government intervention in agriculture but they have very different methods and results. It is critical to avoid the frequent Libertarian mistake of assuming *all* government intervention is exactly the same and poses the same potential problems to individual autonomy. tim sevener whuxl!orb