tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18934603.post113390910513475512..comments2024-02-26T10:25:52.212-08:00Comments on The Radical Libertarian: Cultural supremacism vs the individualAaron Kinneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12059982934663353474noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18934603.post-1135491425538485472005-12-24T22:17:00.000-08:002005-12-24T22:17:00.000-08:00> Therefore, while promoting individualism, we mus...> Therefore, while promoting individualism, we must provide protection for natural capital, as well as for future generations of individuals who will need it to live. <<BR/><BR/>How do you propose doing that?Nielsiohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07868849666498816846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18934603.post-1135188043712288562005-12-21T10:00:00.000-08:002005-12-21T10:00:00.000-08:00You shouldn't overstate the case. Natural capital ...You shouldn't overstate the case. Natural capital is only worth about 15% of the capital in a developed country. Most of it (80-85%, if I remember correctly) is human expertise. So yes, water and forests are essential and vital, but we have to look beyond that also.<BR/><BR/>Personally I think it's better to err into the pro-man, anti-nature side, than the opposite.Francois Tremblayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04760072622693359795noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18934603.post-1135184676106206532005-12-21T09:04:00.000-08:002005-12-21T09:04:00.000-08:00Francois, you are right as usual about the fallacy...Francois, you are right as usual about the fallacy of preserving culture regardless of how primitive or repressive. I have one minor point to argue, and that is what you said about the environment. <BR/><BR/>I know you were only using it as an example. But I think an important distinction need to be made between environmentalism, which is essentially anti-humanism, and the much more important idea of preserving natural capital. <BR/><BR/>Natural Capitalism as espoused by Amory Lovins <I>et al</I> advocates placing a value on the <I>services</I> provided by the environment, on which we all depend. What is the value of having continuously available water and air purification such as that provided by nature? Or what is the value of continued access to raw material stocks that may be finite? His estimate is that Natural Capital is worth around $30 trillion a year. Aside from monetary value, if natural capital is depleted, life ceases to function. So the value is pretty high. Therefore, while promoting individualism, we must provide protection for natural capital, as well as for future generations of individuals who will need it to live. <BR/><BR/>Preserving natural capital also becomes an economic balancing act of weighing the costs of present consumption versus future viability. This is a highly different imperative than traditional environmentalism that is simply ideologically against human domination of the planet.BlackSunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15591731325290405256noreply@blogger.com