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You missed my point. I was not painting an ‘ideal’ system, I was saying that having choices is far better than mandating. That competition is one of the most powerful mechanisms in the natural world. It’s pretty much common sense; who the fuck wants to be dictated to by big brother as opposed to having the freedom of choice?
The Hippocratic Oath? LOL Are you really pulling out an ancient relic like that? Right out of the gate we can say that ‘do no harm’ most certainly includes no ‘use of the knife’. And last I heard, only 14% of modern versions of the oaths prohibit euthanasia. And what about abortions? Bottom line is that the Oath is largely inadequate to address the relativities of today’s medical science. I think this doctor pretty much sums it up. Dr. David Graham in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association (12/13/00) wrote, "The original oath is redolent of a convenant, a solemn and binding treaty. By contrast, many modern oaths have a bland, generalized air of 'best wishes' about them, being near-meaningless formalities devoid of any influence on how medicine is truly practiced."
Personal property rights vs. community use is a tough topic. In fact it is a very hot topic where I live here I the mountains of North Carolina. If I buy the entire mountain top and decide to build a monster house right on top of the mountain, is it my right to do so? People in the valley aren’t so sure, they make their living via tourism and having undeveloped mountains is a big part of their income and livelihood. But now instead of a beautiful mountain sitting there they get to see my house. But the truth is that we really don’t ‘own’ any land/resource, we all die and it doesn’t come with us. Even if you own a piece or real estate today you only need to look closely at the title to see that you really don’t ‘own’ it. For example, the gas or power company has ‘utility easement’. In other words, they can do whatever the fuck they want to access and service their stuff on your property. If you have a beautiful tree on your property but they think it is a problem to their lines, they can come cut it down if they want.
In terms of the pipeline, ideally all parties will negotiate a satisfactory contract for use of the property. (I had a gas company contact me and I cut a very sweet deal for them to put a pipeline across some property I owned.) I would imagine that this occurs in the vast majority of situations. Of course the media will find some little old lady out of 50,000 property owners who feels she is being strong armed to make a big deal out of. If push comes to shove, I would side with the property owner in those cases, but they might live to regret that fight. I know of one house here in town which fought a large new shopping center; refusing to sell out even though they were being offered many times market value for their small lot and house. That house now sits right in the middle of about 7 acres of parking lot, with a big fence surrounding it, and about 6 commercial dumpsters lining their property. But by God they are still there. So contrary to what the media would have you believe, people are offered over market value for their property and in the majority of cases this is more than enough for them to sell.
Eph
The Hippocratic Oath? LOL Are you really pulling out an ancient relic like that? Right out of the gate we can say that ‘do no harm’ most certainly includes no ‘use of the knife’. And last I heard, only 14% of modern versions of the oaths prohibit euthanasia. And what about abortions? Bottom line is that the Oath is largely inadequate to address the relativities of today’s medical science. I think this doctor pretty much sums it up. Dr. David Graham in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association (12/13/00) wrote, "The original oath is redolent of a convenant, a solemn and binding treaty. By contrast, many modern oaths have a bland, generalized air of 'best wishes' about them, being near-meaningless formalities devoid of any influence on how medicine is truly practiced."
Personal property rights vs. community use is a tough topic. In fact it is a very hot topic where I live here I the mountains of North Carolina. If I buy the entire mountain top and decide to build a monster house right on top of the mountain, is it my right to do so? People in the valley aren’t so sure, they make their living via tourism and having undeveloped mountains is a big part of their income and livelihood. But now instead of a beautiful mountain sitting there they get to see my house. But the truth is that we really don’t ‘own’ any land/resource, we all die and it doesn’t come with us. Even if you own a piece or real estate today you only need to look closely at the title to see that you really don’t ‘own’ it. For example, the gas or power company has ‘utility easement’. In other words, they can do whatever the fuck they want to access and service their stuff on your property. If you have a beautiful tree on your property but they think it is a problem to their lines, they can come cut it down if they want.
In terms of the pipeline, ideally all parties will negotiate a satisfactory contract for use of the property. (I had a gas company contact me and I cut a very sweet deal for them to put a pipeline across some property I owned.) I would imagine that this occurs in the vast majority of situations. Of course the media will find some little old lady out of 50,000 property owners who feels she is being strong armed to make a big deal out of. If push comes to shove, I would side with the property owner in those cases, but they might live to regret that fight. I know of one house here in town which fought a large new shopping center; refusing to sell out even though they were being offered many times market value for their small lot and house. That house now sits right in the middle of about 7 acres of parking lot, with a big fence surrounding it, and about 6 commercial dumpsters lining their property. But by God they are still there. So contrary to what the media would have you believe, people are offered over market value for their property and in the majority of cases this is more than enough for them to sell.
Eph
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