Re: Historical comparisons

Any system of privilege requires government sanction to work. The
question we have to ask is,the system of privlege beneficial to society
or not? Is the system of privilege fair or unfair?

The US patent office grants letters of patent to provide a monopoly for
an inventor of a new product or process for a limited period of time.
This is a privilege. But I don't judge it to be an unfair one, since
it allows the creator of wealth to capture a portion of that wealth for
himself. This benefits society because this encourages people to
create new things that enrich our lives. Its sort of like granting an
artist the right to own his artwork, which can be worth far more than
the time and material put into it.

Slavery is an example of an unfair system of privelige, where those who
benefit from the privilege of slave ownership do so at a tremendous
cost to those who are enslaved. This is an unfair privilege and
actually impoverishes society since the creativity and productivity of
those enslaved are so diminished.

Granting rights of ownership of resources to those who discover and
develop new resources unknown prior to their discovery and development
- works the way patent law works. I can see an argument being made
that these should be limited in time to 20 years or so - but granting
ownership rights to those who take the trouble to discover and develop
resources seems to me to be a fair granting of rights. It also seems
to me since it encourages people to go out and develop resources that
otherwise wouldn't be developed efficiently, it seems to me to be a
good thing for society. So, I support it.

So, I think if there were an international body set up to grant
ownership rights to off-world resources, you would see lots of money
flowing into off-world development and ultimately, you would see goods
and materials flowing down from the skies to enrich all life on Earth.
The current restriction on ownership of celestial bodies has blocked
this sort of development and I think it should change sooner rather
than later.

.

Relevant Pages

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  • Re: Historical comparisons
    ... question we have to ask is,the system of privlege beneficial to society ... Privilege is unfair by definition, so it's hard to see how it can ever ... it allows the creator of wealth to capture a portion of that wealth for ... resources seems to me to be a fair granting of rights. ...
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  • Re: Historical comparisons
    ... If a free and open and diverse and robust market exists in the buying ... And even if it were free, how do you figure it creates privilege? ... even if there were gold lying freely on the ground ... You assert that natural resources are the property of everyone. ...
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    ... a corporation is a privilege not a right. ... relieved of his gains for 'the good of society'. ... I trust the boardrooms of IBM and Shell - you know, PRIVATE ... gripping the levers of power, rather than those of a small cadre. ...
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