The Privatization of Roads and Highways - Ludwig von Mises Institute

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15 Comment on “Roads, Bridges, Sunlight, and Private Property” * The paper by the two Blocks 1 refers several times to my position. I believe its origin was a brief conversation I had with the two of them several years ago. I have to admit that I do not remember exactly what was said, but I do know what my position on private roads is, and think I can defend myself without much difficulty. There are several items here, one of which is the adoption by way of Rothbard of the “homestead” view of land title held by Locke. In this view, you obtain title to land by occupying land that no one else now owns and mixing your labor with it. The problem with this in the present day world is there is practically no such land available, hence you have to buy. *This chapter first appeared as Gordon Tullock, “Comment on ‘Roads, Bridges, Sunlight and Private Property,’ by Walter Block and Matthew Block,” Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines 7, no. 4 (December 1996): 589–92. 1Walter Block and Matthew Block, “Roads, Bridges, Sunlight and Private Property Rights,” Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines 7, no. 2/3 (June–September 1996): 351–62. 311
312 The Privatization of Roads and Highways If you look back at the chain of title of almost any existing piece of land, you will find that some time in the past there was a forcible disposition of a previous owner, and you are buying the title which descends from that forcible disposition. This is particularly obvious in the case of the United States. It should be pointed out that, in general, the Indian tribes that we displaced had a few generations earlier displaced other Indian tribes. Locke, the actual originator of the argument that you get title by mixing your labor with unowned land wrote the constitution for the colony of South Carolina, which displaced a number of Indians. It was also a slave colony, although apparently Locke didn’t approve of that. But to return to the road problem, perhaps it is easiest to understand if we consider the situation when the railroads were introduced. They would all be built on a long thin piece of land, hence, the railroad charters usually had restrictions on the full title to it. The state governments took over the previous rules for canal and railroads. Basically, there was a general permission for anybody to build another railroad across an existing railroad, normally by condemning a right of way sometimes as a sort of price on the permission to build the railroad. Of course, roads and canals have the same privileges. The extension of this rule to other forms of transportation including pedestrian traffic is obvious. When pipelines and then later electric, high-tension lines came in, they were also given the same privileges. Ultimately, a new and improved technology for moving coal, slurry pipelines, was invented which wasn’t mentioned in existing legislation. The proponents went to Congress to see if they could get the current laws amended. There then followed a vast battle of lobbyists which, unfortunately, the railroads won so that we have no slurry pipelines. No one seems to have tried building a very high bridge or drilling a tunnel under existing railroads, although most pipelines are built underground. The Blocks’ position is one which I run into occasionally from what I call the real, private ownership enthusiasts. They just
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This book is dedicated to my fellow
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vi The Privatization of Roads and H
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viii The Privatization of Roads and
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x The Privatization of Roads and Hi
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Acknowledgments Iwould like to than
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Introduction Most people who read t
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Introduction xvii dealing with obje
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1 Free-Market Transportation: Denat
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Free-Market Transportation: Denatio
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48 The Privatization of Roads and H
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3 Public Goods and Externalities: T
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Public Goods and Externalities: The
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Part II Applications
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6 Road Socialism * What are the bes
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Road Socialism 185 of the state app
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Road Socialism 187 It is in order t
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Road Socialism 189 indicates that v
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Road Socialism 191 vehicle inspecti
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Road Socialism 193 that “The domi
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Road Socialism 195 imaginative and
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Road Socialism 197 2. Perhaps the p
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Road Socialism 199 bouncer, to each
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7 Compromising the Uncompromisable:
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Compromising the Uncompromisable: S
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8 Roads and the Immigration Issue T
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Roads and the Immigration Issue 217
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9 The Motor Vehicle Bureau Newly ar
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The Motor Vehicle Bureau 225 In the
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10 Privatize Public Highways * Acro
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Privatize Public Highways 231 Thoma
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11 Homesteading City Streets: An Ex
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Homesteading City Streets: An Exerc
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20 Aiding and Abetting Road Sociali
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Aiding and Abetting Road Socialism
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Part V Conclusion
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APPENDIX I Annual U.S. Street & Hig
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Appendices 423 It cannot be denied
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