Public or Private? (Hint: trick question!)
This meme hit the tubes a long time ago. Libertarians countered with their take on the alarm clock story. Both sides are missing the point. Societies need both violent and voluntary orders to survive. A society with only peaceful organizations would be conquered by outside forces (no military) and not be able to enforce property rights, since
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"Every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, is declared to be illegal." No cartels, no conspiracies to raise prices. The second part says no "anti-competitive" actions. That's vague and has been abused in the past by companies who use it to eliminate rivals. I am in favor of the first part but not the second. Monopolies are not stable. They usually wind up destroying themselves in a few years. The long run trend of competition is actually up in the U.S., so I would not worry about monopoly much. Technological advance tends to help things to because firms become obsolete if they don't continually advance.
I think stratification of wealth is bad between generations, but neutral if it is earned. Envy is a powerful emotion and depending on the culture, it can affect policy and lower the incentive to work hard and invest. I don't think that wealth passed between generations is a good thing though, since it enforces class structures and it is unearned. I would be in favor of a 50% inheritance tax on amounts greater than 500,000 to a million. If the culture is not envious, a lower tax would be possible.
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