While there have been several diaries already about Senator Ron Wyden's filibuster, I would like to offer a unique perspective on the debate over oil royalties and public land management. At first glance few would suspect a libertarian, even a libertarian Democrat, to support Ron Wyden's agenda of requiring the collection of oil royalties from federal leases in the Gulf of Mexico. In discussing my support of Senator Ron Wyden, I hope to introduce the readers of DailyKos to the specific form of libertarianism known as geolibertarianism.
Most know that libertarianism is devoted to the defense of private property rights. While many libertarians never evolve beyond a primitive "Mine!" view of private property, others look for a more developed philosophy of property rights. John Locke, one of the first 'classical liberals' who inspires libertarians today, rested his theory of property rights on the principle of self-ownership. Self-ownership implies that the individual retains property rights over themselves. While Locke, like other classical liberals, had a flawed view of slavery, today's liberals and libertarians both believe strongly in self-ownership, which implies a strong agenda of civil liberties and social freedom. Liberals and libertarians largely part ways in the discussion of property rights. Locke's theory of self-ownership implies that ownership extends to the fruit of one's labor. Today's libertarians view this ownership as an inalienable natural right, which often causes conflict with liberal desires to govern for the common good.
It is on the issue of property rights that geolibertarians part ways from more traditional libertarians, who we often refer to as 'royalist libertarians' or 'vulgar libertarians.' In many ways we are very similar to liberals. John Locke stated his belief that mixing one's labor with natural resources created private property out of what had been a commons. Part of this opinion rested on his belief that the environment was rich and abundant; taking from the commons did not diminish what was available for others. In today's world we have seen the product of this tragedy of the commons: misuse and exploitation.
Geolibertarians believe that we have a more modern update to Locke's original theories on private property. The Earth is a finite resource that begins as a commons. Each and every individual has an equal claim to the natural commons. But taking from the commons reduces the claim that other individuals have. There is not an infinite number of fish in the sea. Not only does exploitation of the natural commons steal from the present generation, it denies future generations any opportunity in the future. They are born into a society in which all of nature is already owned. Royalist libertarians defend the right to life, yet these individuals are born into a society in which they have no place on which to live and making a living without becoming slaves to wage labor. There is no option of "Live Free or Die" only "Work or Die."
While the royalist libertarians have their own cult idols like Ayn Rand, geolibertarians tend to focus on the work of Henry George. Henry George, a 19th Century economist, advocated a single tax on land as the best tax. His influence extends to today's geolibertarians who have expanded his single land tax to a host of other taxes on the use of natural resources. We believe that individuals and corporations should not be free to take from the commons and steal the claim to the natural commons that others have.
Many geolibertarians also relate this tax system based on natural resources to support for a Citizen's Dividend. In Alaska, oil royalties are collected and distributed to all citizens of the state. Ideally, geolibertarians believe that the revenue from a broad natural resources based tax system should be redistributed to every individual in accordance with their equal claim to the Earth.
A discussion of a Citizen's Dividend tied to taxes on the use of natural resources can also be found in Peter Barnes's book "Who Owns the Sky?" Barnes suggests a carbon emissions program based on tradable permits. These permits would be auctioned off and the revenue used to fund a dividend given to all Americans. He discusses other similar proposals that parallel the geolibertarian goal of protecting and nurturing our common assets like the Earth. Charles Murray's new book "In our Hands" also advocates a program that would resemble a Citizen's Dividend, although he does not discuss the financing in depth. The New American Foundation is also an advocate of the protection of the commons through innovative new policies.
Senator Ron Wyden today stood up to protect the American public's claim to our shared natural resources. Private corporations should not be free to loot our natural commons. I was not surprised to learn that it was Senator Wyden who was willing to make such a passionate defense. Previously at my blog Freedom Democrats, I produced a Scorecard of the Senate to determine support for libertarian policies. Ron Wyden received a score of 80% on social issues, which was not surprising given that most Democrats are outstanding defenders of civil liberties and social freedom. More surprising, perhaps, was his score of 53.33% on economic issues. While this may seem low, it was actually one of the highest scores on economic issues dealing with balanced budgets and opposition to corporate welfare. He was in fact one of only two Senators, the other being Russ Feingold, to receive the label "libertarian" for the purposes of the scorecard.
I strongly believe that there's a possibility for geolibertarian ideals to offer new ideas to the Democratic Party. If you are interested you might want to follow the blog Freedom Democrats or join the Democratic Freedom Caucus, a grassroots organization of libertarian Democrats. I welcome any and all questions you may have. Thanks.