Did you know that the Canadian government has mandated the unbundling of cable channels? If you think this is a pretty darn great idea...then you should really love the Tax Choice Party! This brand new party supports the unbundling of public goods.
If it doesn't make sense to be forced to purchase a bundle of channels...then it makes far less sense to be forced to purchase a bundle of every public good. At least with cable the items in the bundle are all in the same category...television. But with the government the only thing the bundled items have in common is that they are all public goods. It's not like you purchase a bundle of public education...or a bundle of environmental protection...or a bundle of welfare...you purchase a bundle of all the goods in the public sector.
If it makes sense for pacifists to have war put in their shopping carts...then it should also make sense for vegetarians to have steak put in their shopping carts. The latter would certainly make sense to cattle ranchers...just like the former does make sense to the billion dollar "defense" industry.
Once public goods are unbundled...and taxpayers can pick and choose which public goods they put in their shopping carts...then we will learn what the actual demand is for public goods.
Think about it...if we unbundled cable then people would spend their money on the channels that they valued most. Would this information be of any use? Of course! This information would serve as a treasure map for producers...
Consumers: Yoohoo...this is something we really truly value!
Producers: Woohoo...now we know where the gold is, let's rush over there!
Do we want producers to know which public goods we value most? Yes!!! This information will incentivize them to focus their efforts, resources, creativity, talent, skills, brilliance and genius on improving the public goods that are truly important to us.
Can you imagine what would happen to the quality and variety of private goods if we had to purchase all of them in a bundle? It's really easy to imagine because all you have to do is look at the public sector. The lack of quality and variety of public goods is the logical consequence of preventing consumers from shopping for themselves.
We don't exist for public goods...public goods exist for us. Therefore, they should match our preferences. Shopping is the process by which we communicate our preferences and circumstances to producers. If we can't shop for ourselves...then it's a given that the supply of public goods won't match our preferences.
So please like the Tax Choice Party on facebook and encourage your friends and family to do the same.
Now I'm sure that you have some concerns and questions. Honestly at first I thought the idea was outlandish. But the more digging I did, the more sense it started to make. Now it's our current system that seems outlandish. Please check out the pragmatarianism FAQ to see if it addresses any of your concerns/questions.
Even if you aren't 100% sold on the idea...you should like the facebook page just to let the world know that we're really tired of only have two parties to choose from.
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