The Progress of Liberty

I offer the thirteenth part of my response to Mr. Jetton’s critique of my essay, “How to Privatize the Roads: The Mechanisms and Benefits of Road Privatization.”

While Mr. Jetton does not oppose road privatization per se, he does write, “I have other higher priorities for changing government.”

Mr. Steve Wolfer seconds Mr. Jetton’s opinion: “I don’t see much purpose in discussing the privatization of roads when what we need to do is correct the monetary system, rein in an out of control congress, fix the broken party system, get government spending massively reduced, free the educational systems…. and a few other items that I’d give a higher priority.”

I grant the validity of perceiving some objectives for change to be more important than others and prioritizing among them. I do not consider either Mr. Jetton’s or Mr. Wolfer’s ordering of priorities to be undesirable or wrong in any way. As a matter of fact, if they achieved their priorities first, I think that we would all be better off and living in a freer society.

But even if one agrees with them that road privatization is not the first proposal that should be implemented, there is still substantial merit in discussing it and its advantages. Many opponents of free markets often dismiss the case for them by dismissing its proponents as “those lunatics who want to privatize the roads.” Unless coherent arguments can be made for why privatizing the roads is indeed desirable, opponents of free markets will continue to unjustifiably use the road privatization position as a straw man in attacking the entire free-market program. While we might not be willing to privatize roads first, we need to win the theoretical debate regarding the desirability of road privatization if we are to convince many people of the merits of the free-market position as a whole.

Moreover, it is important to distinguish between setting goals and accomplishing them in a stepwise fashion. It is desirable to understand at least somewhat the direction in which we desire to move and the outcomes which we hope to accomplish, before we deliberate on how and in what order we must get there. Both are undeniably important, but either one without the other will not accomplish tangible results. In my essay, I tried not only to outline the desirability of road privatization but also how the privatization might be accomplished in the status quo. If and when the opportunity to accomplish it in practice arises, proponents of road privatization need to be ready to defend it and implement it competently.

Finally, to address the question of priorities, I am in favor of the “taking all you can get” approach with regard to liberalization of the economy. The objectives Mr. Jetton and Mr. Wolfer have are undeniably desirable, but they also have substantial and vigilant opposition. Road privatization is a fringe issue and might, at least in some places, be snuck in without attracting much notice from the statist establishment.

In my essay,“Working on the Fringes: How to Create Effective Political, Cultural, and Intellectual Change,” I argue that it may be wise to try to win on issues that are not perceived in highly polarized terms or engaged in by substantial portions of the public. For instance, I write that “Most people’s hostility to utility deregulation, repeal of environmental laws, and private space flight is not nearly so great as their opposition to Social Security privatization, open immigration, and the abolition of welfare would be. The former are fringe issues; they do not occupy the mainstream’s attention at present — which means that whoever does focus attention on them will automatically have the upper hand.“ I believe road privatization to be a fringe issue whose proponents can win if they make a sufficiently persuasive case.

Sincerely,
Gennady Stolyarov II

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