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Preserving Our Heritage
Advocates of historic preservation talk about preserving our heritage. They claim that the way to do this is to protect old buildings, usually through ordinances and other regulations. But a discussion of the issue must consider the full context, and that means a careful examination of what constitutes our heritage. Heritage refers to that which…
When “Rights” are Wrong, Part 1
Gresham’s Law holds that “bad” money drives out “good” money. For example, if legal tender laws declare that a one ounce brass coin and a one ounce gold coin are both worth $10, the more valuable gold coin will disappear from circulation. While Gresham’s law pertains to economics, the same principle applies to rights. When…
Fighting Zoning in Hobbs
This post is the fourth in a series. About twelve years after zoning was defeated in Houston, I was contacted by two businessmen in Hobbs, New Mexico. The city council was considering a zoning ordinance, and they wanted me to help defeat the proposal. They had found the pamphlet that my friend and I had…
Productiveness and the Pilgrims
Productiveness is the virtue of creating the material values that life requires. The first Thanksgiving was an implicit celebration of this virtue. It was a celebration that almost didn’t occur. The Pilgrims’ first years in America were filled with suffering. And this isn’t surprising, for land was owned and farmed in common–there was no private…
A Walk in a Private Park
This is an excerpt from Individual Rights and Government Wrongs. To meet budget shortfalls, a growing number of municipalities and state governments are considering some form of privatization for their parks. These proposals are usually met with indignant opposition. Private companies, it is claimed, would despoil the parks by building condos on the rim of…