[ExI] Cephalization, proles--Where is government going?

[Damien Broderick]

On 5/15/2011 10:21 AM, The Avantguardian wrote:

[Rafal:]
>> > If I find my house has been burglarized,*I*
>> >  have to find proof against a specific person, rather than going around
>> >  and demanding that random parties prove they didn't rob me. In modern
>> >  legal theory the burden of proof is usually on the accuser, not on the
>> >  defendant.

> Not quite true, Rafal. If you are burglarized, the*state*  has to find proof of
> the accused's guilt. At most you have to miss a few days of work to testify in
> court against him. And they don't send the bill to you but to the tax payer.

>> >  That wiki post you linked to BTW is full of anecdote and eco-freak
>> >  propaganda, one has to look closely for any grain of truth there.
>> >  Vanadium, yeah, sure.

> Ecofreaks, Rafal? The people you are refering to to simply don't want you to
> piss in their drinking water.

Barbara Lamar comments:

Stuart made an excellent point!

One reason the state goes after the burglar is to protect your right to 
the quiet enjoyment of your property. The state should enforce this same 
property rights against oil & gas producers. Actually, poisoning my 
drinking and irrigation water and releasing H2S and other toxic gases 
into the air 200 feet from my house are far worse than simply stealing 
my jewelry or car; they amount to inflicting grievous bodily harm.

I have direct personal knowledge of oil and gas production, being a 
resident of Texas and having been aware of the damage produced by oil 
and gas drilling since an oil producer poisoned my creek when I was a 
small child and killed a certain species of black catfish forever, far 
as I know. I never again saw this type of catfish, even after the 
drilling was finished and the water was no longer running black.

I know from studying U.S. constitutional law that the reason for 
neglecting individual property rights at the expense of individual land 
owners is that the U.S. supreme court, under pressure from various 
politicians, decided that the "public good" (which, at that time, they 
defined as having transcontinental railroad service) was more important 
than individual property rights. They have since applied this same 
reasoning in many other contexts, including oil & gas production.

Pay attention, Ayn Rand fans: Ayn Rand would cut Rafal to shreds 
(figuratively speaking) for advocating the trampling of individual 
rights in favor of large quasi-governmental corporations. Over the 
course of my life, I have dealt with some of the oil and gas producers 
personally, as the owner of mineral rights and surface rights, and on 
behalf of my clients. I have had, and do have, clients who are oil 
producers. Some of them are good, honest people -- all of my clients are 
good people, as I have reached the point in my life where I do not have 
to take just anyone as a client; many of the oil and gas producers, 
especially management of large corporations, are the equivalent of Orren 
Boyle and James Taggart, not John Galt or Hank Reardon. Unfortunately, 
when the Orren Boyle / James Taggart types get together with Cuffy Miegs 
types of "civil service" people, it's very bad for individual land owners.