To: WSFAlist at keithlynch.net
Date: Mon, 9 Dec 2002 14:43:46 -0500
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Transportation TANSTAAFL
From: ronkean at juno.com
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

On Mon, 9 Dec 2002 08:59:43 -0500 "Strong, Lee" <StrongL at MTMC.ARMY.MIL>
writes:

... fails to explain why public transportation
> supported by coercion is more desirable than private transportation
> services supported by voluntary transactions.  Socialism by the back
door is
> still socialism, and socialism is both morally and economically
inferior
> to free enterprise practiced by moral citizens.
>

Libertarians do indeed want to get government out of the transportation
business, but in practice that is difficult to achieve, in part because
there does not seem to be much public support for a free market in
transportation, beyond the simple sentiment that most Americans have that
they should be free to own whatever type of personal vehicle(s) they
like, and be free to drive that vehicle on public roads, anywhere they
please, anytime they please.

To find free markets in transportation, perhaps surprisingly, one has to
look at third world countries, especially those which are so poor that
the government cannot afford transportation programs and transportation
regulation.  East Africa might be a good example, as well as Afghanistan.
 In such places, swarms of little taxi cabs (some with just 3 wheels) and
jitneys ply the streets picking up and dropping off passengers, and
larger trucks and busses run intercity on an ad hoc basis, the routes,
schedules, and pricing being totally unregulated.  Passengers and
commercial cargo are routinely loaded on the same vehicle, seating is
often a luxury, and in fact many of the passengers are commercial
travelers carrying their wares with them.  Americans would be appalled by
the crowded, dirty, and unsafe conditions prevailing, but those
conditions are a consequence of poverty as opposed to an inherent defect
of free markets.  The market is providing the best value possible for the
little money they are willing and able to pay.

Ron Kean

.

________________________________________________________________
Sign Up for Juno Platinum Internet Access Today
Only $9.95 per month!
Visit www.juno.com