Rights and Goods

The title is the title of a book by Virginia Held. I borrowed it from a library after reading a chapter by her in another book. See my June 26 blog post. The subtitle – Justifying Social Action – made me skeptical, but I read some anyway. What a disappointment.

“The teachings that students and citizens absorb frequently extol rather than question egoism: the liberal tradition asserts that government is justified only if it serves individual self-interest; the myth of Adam Smith, on which capitalism and market economies rest, asserts that if all pursue their own selfish interest, this will add up to what is best for everyone; the novels of Ayn Rand and the theories of libertarians carry the excesses of egoism to new heights of popularity.  … But trust and cooperation cannot be built on egoism” (p. 63).

I see; her idea of egoism is being a predator. So I disagree. Trade with mutual benefit is built on all three, especially trade of money for work.

I nevertheless read chapter 10 – Property and Economic Activity. “The orthodox Western scheme of property rights and interests is by no means the most plausible that could be maintained on moral grounds. It’s most obvious deficiency is the lack of a built-in requirement that those with a surfeit share with those unable to obtain what they need.  The most acceptable way of achieving such sharing is through taxation and redistribution, but if individuals would satisfy the obligation by voluntary contributions, governmental involvement would only be necessary as a last resort” (p. 182).    

She’s a cheerleader for statists. They are never satisfied with the situation and always demand more government control, i.e. coercion.  She continues: 

“It is as legitimate to use the powers of government to assure that this obligation is met as it is to use the powers of government to assure that obligations of noninterference are met. In denying this, libertarians distort the reality of property and coercion and then draw moral conclusions from their myths.” (p. 182).  

 

This book returns to the stacks long before its due date.