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Waste Management Should be Driven by the Market Pricing
A bad idea
You're putting the fate of our environment and ultimately all of our lives in the hands of businessmen. That's never a good idea.
- Blue Linchpin
December 19, 2008 9:13AM
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Hold on
You're saying you trust the government over the market at delivering such a service correct?
- F2XL
December 19, 2008 9:35PM
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Actually
I think the best people to trust this to are the people themselves, not men in offices. As for myself, we turn all organic goods into compost, try to reuse any plastic or paper, and recycle whatever's left (though usually very little is). However, seeing as how people in our country often seem incapable of getting up and doing anything themselves, the government processing recycling seems the next best option. The worst option, however, is turning control of these things over to those whose concern is money and not what's best for the environment or the people. Nothing is stopping them from tossing it while no one's looking--something companies have been doing in China for example, after taking recycled goods from the U.S.
- Blue Linchpin
December 20, 2008 9:34PM
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Agreed with who to trust the most
I agree the people get things done better than bureaucrats.
"The worst option, however, is turning control of these things over to those whose concern is money and not what's best for the environment or the people. Nothing is stopping them from tossing it while no one's looking--something companies have been doing in China for example, after taking recycled goods from the U.S."
Market-based incentives can already exist in order for businesses not to pollute:
http://cei.org/issue/52
http://cei.org/gencon/005 ,04527.cfm
http://cei.org/gencon/019 ,02897.cfm
http://mises.org/story/2855
Also government is currently our biggest polluter (we both may agree on that):
http://www.adti.net/environment/bndunlop_kasten_1000.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akaTQxCKiAI
What happened in China though when companies tried to do the same thing?
- F2XL
December 20, 2008 11:47PM
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China's toxic villages
Here's the best link I can find right now, though was just with a very quick search, should have some information in it.
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/11/video-chinas-ho.html
- Blue Linchpin
December 20, 2008 11:53PM
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On the Current video
All I can see from the video is the fact that China cannot manage all the e-waste it receives from all over the world. Not much about businesses who aren't under government control deciding to pollute the environment.
- F2XL
December 21, 2008 5:21PM
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Eh?
You must have missed it. They don't talk about it much but where all that waste is coming from is U.S. companies trying to save money. And that's a huge problem for me: when businesses put profit over things like consumer and environmental safety, like with the melamine tainted milk. Business just shouldn't be trusted with such things, because profit is NOT more valuable than human life. And while as an ancap I'm sure you'd love for there to be no restrictions on these companies, so they are free to dump the recycling waste while no one's looking, that's not what our environment needs.
Another reason for leaving it to the government instead of businesses (though, again, at-home recycling is best) is very few people are going to want to pay to get their recycling done when they can get away with not doing it. Government doing the recycling is more convenient because we just put it out and don't have to worry about it. And as the environment's health is crucial to our survival as a race (I suggest you take a look at the latest WWF report, by the way), this isn't really something we can do half-ass.
- Blue Linchpin
December 21, 2008 7:08PM
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