A common criticism: roads, highways, and other public amenities
Posted by Maphesdus 13 years ago to Philosophy
One of the most common criticisms of Atlas Shrugged and Ayn Rand's ideas in general is that with a government that is limited to only police, military, and courts, there would be no way to build public amenities such as roads, highways, sewer systems, and so forth. Of course that claim is not entirely true, as there could theoretically be a system that provided those things without the need for government, but the problem is that Ayn Rand never described the logistics of such a system, and neither have any of her successors. But if we were to break down the problem and provide a workable solution to this question, I think that we could finally put it to rest, and a major criticism of Objectivism would be overcome. So let's begin:
How it works in the real world:
1) Citizens pay taxes to government.
2) Government uses taxes to hire private contractors.
3) Private contractors build roads, sewers, etc.
How it would work in Ayn Rand's hypothetical world:
1) Citizens pay money to private contractors.
2) Private contractors build roads, sewers, etc.
Two problems that arise in Ayn Rand's hypothetical world:
1) How do private contractors collect payment without a tax system in place?
2) What do you do if a citizen refuses to pay their fair share for the amenities that the contractors provide?
Can anyone think of a workable system that solves the two mentioned problems?
How it works in the real world:
1) Citizens pay taxes to government.
2) Government uses taxes to hire private contractors.
3) Private contractors build roads, sewers, etc.
How it would work in Ayn Rand's hypothetical world:
1) Citizens pay money to private contractors.
2) Private contractors build roads, sewers, etc.
Two problems that arise in Ayn Rand's hypothetical world:
1) How do private contractors collect payment without a tax system in place?
2) What do you do if a citizen refuses to pay their fair share for the amenities that the contractors provide?
Can anyone think of a workable system that solves the two mentioned problems?
these things are easily fixed. separate private entities would be the administrators and determine systems that would be easily maintained. at least their would be a court case before your house was put up for auction for refusing to pay your property taxes. cute cartoon though :)
Like any other service or product, people come together say they need a road they go to the contractor tell them they need a road, contractor tells them how much it will cost, people collect enough to make a down payment or to pay for the cost, or get a loan, whatever they come to agreement on, possibly have a monthly bill sent out to each of the people who wanted the road so they break up the payment.
2) What do you do if a citizen refuses to pay their fair share for the amenities that the contractors provide? "
Company takes them to court for failure to pay, etc.