An important question that a libertarian faces is that of government subsidized science and arts. Recently, for example, the US govt reduced its funding to the NSF (National Science Foundation). Could such activities be completely funded by the private sector? Hardcore libertarians\/objectivists like Don Boudreaux, Ayn Rand, et al believe they can be. Worse, they believe it should<\/i> be.<\/p>\n
I do not.
\nWhat’s more I believe that libertarians who argue otherwise are not able to conceive the very thing that has given them this prosperity and this leisure to speculate.
\n
\nHumanity has progressed quite a lot since its cavemen days. And one thing that has always characterized the steps of progress is that it was always by a miniscule few. The average human today does not deserve a fully automated rover on Mars, or the billion transistor micro-processor chip.<\/p>\n
But such things require the leisure to think, to speculate, to research, to pursue long term goals with no short term gains. Such things require a “patron” with very large resources. In the European Imperial times, it were the Kings, Queens and various trusts and societies funded by nobles. And in modern times, it is the much reviled “government” funded by the very same average man who I said did not “deserve” the mechanism that is driving the printer on which he is printing his tax-form.<\/p>\n
Some entities do not have benefits that are readily tangible, they cannot be converted into assets which can be traded. This is not a fault of the entity itself, it is a fault of the trading system<\/i>! The average-man whom I’m maligning above, not only cannot create the billion-transistor chip, he cannot understand or appreciate the importance of the various steps of zero gain that lead to its creation. Benefits of cryptography may be obvious to the fellow, but not the benefits of hundreds of years of number theory!<\/p>\n
Now what the libertarians want is laughable – inspite of this “trading-lacuna”, they want such entities – I am talking of scientific research and refined arts here – to be monetarized. I want the reader to grasp the magnitude of the issue – we are talking about the very bulwark of human progress here. <\/p>\n
To put things in perspective – observe that humanity is basically divided into two sections: one that is engaged in creation – the scientists and artists and so on who make creative progress – and one that is engaged in subsistence and sustains the societal-structure that enables the former to achieve creative progress. And the current “trading systems” are by their very inception and definition geared towards the operations of the subsistence section.<\/p>\n
As even Ayn Rand recognizes in her works, it is the creative section on which humanity depends for its survival. And for future progress. Thus, to demand that the creative section should submit its goods – which define human progress – completely<\/i> to a system designed and tailored for goods of the subsistence section, which would thus necessarily shortchange the former – is suicide for the whole of humanity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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