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"SAND DOLLARS"
A Libertarian Outlook
by Gerald Schneider, Ph.D.
Byron G. Norton bemoaned exploitation of "sand dollars" in a
Washington Post Magazine article in June of 1986. Sand dollars
are sea urchins whose flat disklike skeletons imprinted with
"starfish" designs are collectable.
The article concerned a girl, about 8, gathering live sand
dollars at a beach for her mom. Her mother would bleach the sand
dollars, turn them into decorative items, and sell extras to
craft stores.
"Commercialism"
Upset by this "commercialism"--trading live animals for
craft projects--Norton wrote: "No industrial operation can be
expected to exercise self-restraint when there are profits to be
made. The family was only transforming sand dollars into
monetary dollars."
He went on to say of the little girl: "As a novitiate in the
order of capitalism, she was already acting as if sand dollars
were merely commodities." Norton also implied that commercialism
of nature leads to overharvesting of species and endangerment of
their future survival.
A Problem of Ownership
But Norton was wrong! Capitalism and commercialism are not
at fault when it comes to catastrophic abuse of nature.
Ownership of natural resources and nature is the problem.
The beach involved in his story was government "owned," and
belonged to no one in particular and to everyone. It received
the same lack of public respect I described for the Chesapeake
Bay in another article.
Government ownership produces little incentive for exercise
of self-restraint in the use of the beach's (or nature's)
treasures. Ecologist Garrett Hardin called this dilemma "the
tragedy of the commons" in his 1968 essay with that title.
Economists would say that this is what happens when external
costs are not internalized.
Private Ownership is Better
If the beach were privately owned, for example, by some
naturalist organization, preservation would be practiced.
If sand dollars helped attract people to the beach, private
owners with commercial interests would protect sand dollars from
overharvest. It would be to the private, commercial owner's
advantage to ensure sustained yield of sand dollars. She would
want to keep the public coming back for more year after year.
Getting beaches away from government and into private
ownership by persons who value sand dollars for their own sake or
for the sake of ecology should be the conservationist's goal.
Ditto for all of nature and natural resources.
Study the Record
People still unconvinced about the superiority of private
over government ownership of the environment should study the
record. Just compare land and water bodies owned by
environmental organizations (e.g. The Nature Conservancy) to
federal government property.
Federal government agencies, "pork barrel" politicians, and
timber and livestock interests shape environmental policies on
"public" (federal government) property. These special interests
are referred to as the "iron triangle" by land economist, John
Baden. He has documented how these interests combine to cause
Americans to "subsidize the destruction of their environment."
Reprinted from THE WHEATON NEWS of Wheaton, Maryland, Sept.
3, 1987. For a one year subscription to Mr. Schneider's biweekly
"Libertarian Outlook" column, send $15 to: Gerald Schneider, 8750
Georgia Ave., Suite 1410-B, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Copyright
1987 Gerald Schneider, Ph.D.
(This is the text of one of a series of eight topical Libertarian
outreach leaflets produced by the Libertarian Party of Skagit
County, WA. The leaflets have a panel with National LP member-
ship information, with a space for other LP groups to stamp their
own address and phone number. Samples and a bulk price list/
order form are available from: Libertarian Party of Skagit
County, P.O. Box 512, Anacortes, WA 98221.)