{"id":646,"date":"2014-01-26T21:47:00","date_gmt":"2014-01-26T21:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/01\/private-property-tina-and-you-didnt-build-that.html"},"modified":"2014-01-26T21:47:00","modified_gmt":"2014-01-26T21:47:00","slug":"private-property-tina-and-you-didnt-build-that","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/01\/private-property-tina-and-you-didnt-build-that.html","title":{"rendered":"Private Property, “TINA” and “You didn’t build that”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Yet another classic* Jane the Actuary rambling \u201cthinking through an idea\u201d type of post. <\/p>\n

(* If a 6 month old blog could be said to have any \u201cclassic\u201d kind of post.) <\/p>\n

This is something I was thinking through a while back, and wanted to try to set out in a provisional form. <\/p>\n

Fundamentally, there are basic human rights that are considered to be a part of \u201cnatural law\u201d (to use the philosophical\/theological term), such as free speech, freedom of religion, and so forth. But is the right to own private property among them? Consider the eastern Nebraska farm my father owns. He inherited it from his mother, who inherited it from her father, and his father before that was a homesteader. Reportedly remnants of the old sod house were still visible the last time dad was there. And where did he get it from? The U.S. government, who stole\/purchased\/won it from the Indians\/Native Americans fair-and-square, depending on your point of view. And of course, the Indians were not just some monolithic group; various Indian groups lived there at different times, either migrating away or pushing others out. <\/p>\n

Is property ownership a matter of first-come first-served? That doesn\u2019t seem fair for the generations which follow. Or is it a matter of the strongest winning out? Not much better. <\/p>\n

There is no intrinsic reason why any one individual has a right to own a piece of farmland, or a city lot. And at different times and places that\u2019s been reflected in different attitudes toward property ownership: yes, the bit that Indians didn\u2019t make a fuss over white settlers because, after all, no one \u201cowned\u201d the land, in their view. (Though I\u2019d read recently that a bigger element was that the East coast Indian settlements had been devastated by disease in the time period immediately prior to the arrival of the English, so there weren\u2019t reasons for land disputes.) But also the fact that one impediment to development in Africa has been that property-owning laws don\u2019t really point the way towards particular individuals holding clear title over plots of land. <\/p>\n

And this brings me to Margaret Thatcher\u2019s \u201cthere is no alternative\u201d \u2014 the classic phrase she used frequently to persuade her opponents that, for all its flaws, a market economy and economic liberalism is the only economic system that will, in the end, provide growth and development and meet its citizens\u2019 needs, a phrase ultimately abbreviated to \u201cTINA.\u201d\u00a0 See the Wikipedia article<\/a> and a more recent article that David Cameron is reviving this phrase in the U.K.<\/a> for more context. <\/p>\n

Bottom line:\u00a0 TINA means supporting free enterprise, and everything that goes along with it, not because it\u2019s \u201cfair\u201d but because it works, when alternative economic systems don\u2019t, but also requires an acknowledgement that the system is a construct, a way of organizing society and the economy, not a \u201cnatural\u201d and immutable one.<\/p>\n

So where does that get us? <\/p>\n

Not to Elizabeth Warren and Barack Obama\u2019s \u201cYou didn\u2019t build that\u201d formulation. <\/p>\n

You remember that one, right?\u00a0 Wikipedia <\/a>helpfully gives the full quotes:<\/p>\n

First, Warren, in August 2011:<\/p>\n

I hear all this, you know, \u2018Well, this is class warfare, this is whatever.\u2019 No. There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own \u2014 nobody. You built a factory out there? Good for you. But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police-forces and fire-forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn\u2019t have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory \u2014 and hire someone to protect against this \u2014 because of the work the rest of us did. Now look, you built a factory and it turned into something terrific, or a great idea. God bless \u2014 keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is, you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Then, Obama, on July 13, 2012, clearly taking Warren\u2019s notion and putting his own spin on it: <\/p>\n

There are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with me \u2013 because they want to give something back. They know they didn\u2019t \u2013 look, if you\u2019ve been successful, you didn\u2019t get there on your own. You didn\u2019t get there on your own. I\u2019m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart. There are a lot of smart people out there. It must be because I worked harder than everybody else. Let me tell you something \u2013 there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there. (Applause.) <\/p>\n

If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you\u2019ve got a business \u2013 you didn\u2019t build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn\u2019t get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet. <\/p>\n

The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together. There are some things, just like fighting fires, we don\u2019t do on our own. I mean, imagine if everybody had their own fire service. That would be a hard way to organize fighting fires.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Warren\u2019s formulation is one of a \u201csocial contract\u201d \u2014 but she creates a straw man, an opponent who disagrees with basic obligation to support core government services, when her opponents legitimately disagree with her on the subject of the size of that obligation and the consequent taxes. <\/p>\n

And Obama goes further: \u201cSomeone else made that happen\u201d vs. \u201cyou didn\u2019t do this entirely on your own.\u201d Obama is far more collectivist; in his version, it\u2019s not intelligence or hard work that enables some to get ahead, it\u2019s luck. (Maybe the fact that he got ahead through, indeed, luck and the good fortune of others latching onto him, colors his perception.) He really removes individual achievement entirely \u2014 and I don\u2019t think it\u2019s as simple as misspeaking, though the entire statement feels as clouded as if he\u2019s trying to recall Warren\u2019s lines, and stumbling through them. <\/p>\n

(Incidentally, his line that \u201cgovernment research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet\u201d is a bit flaky as well: government research created the Internet as a part of building up national defense capabilities, without any inkling that it would be so transformative for commerce.) <\/p>\n

In practice, the lines of disagreement generally are as much about what functions best as what\u2019s \u201cfairest\u201d \u2014 is it fair to tax the wealthy disproportionately more, because they can afford it? Yes. Is it unfair to tax the wealthy excessively, to the point where half or more of their marginal earnings are paid to the State? Yes. Does it feel particularly egregious when it\u2019s an individual who has invented, created, started a business, worked long hours, etc., rather than hitting the CEO lottery or the hefty paychecks of pro athletes? Yes. But more importantly \u2014 what\u2019s best for the long-term health of the economy? <\/p>\n

Anyway, the reason why I\u2019m writing this is as a sort of preface to something I want to work out over the next couple days, a sort of \u201cJane the Actuary plays Jane the Futurist.\u201d What happens to our society if current trends intensify and our economy moves into a world we don\u2019t recognize now? <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yet another classic* Jane the Actuary rambling \u201cthinking through an idea\u201d type of post. (* If a 6 month old blog could be said to have any \u201cclassic\u201d kind of post.) This is something I was thinking through a while back, and wanted to try to set out in a provisional form. Fundamentally, there are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nPrivate Property, "TINA" and "You didn't build that"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Yet another classic* Jane the Actuary rambling "thinking through an idea" type of post. (* If a 6 month old blog could be said to have any "classic" kind\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/01\/private-property-tina-and-you-didnt-build-that.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Private Property, "TINA" and "You didn't build that"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Yet another classic* Jane the Actuary rambling "thinking through an idea" type of post. (* If a 6 month old blog could be said to have any "classic" kind\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/01\/private-property-tina-and-you-didnt-build-that.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jane the Actuary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-01-26T21:47:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jane the Actuary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jane the Actuary\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/01\/private-property-tina-and-you-didnt-build-that.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/01\/private-property-tina-and-you-didnt-build-that.html\",\"name\":\"Private Property, \\\"TINA\\\" and \\\"You didn't build that\\\"\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-01-26T21:47:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-01-26T21:47:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a\"},\"description\":\"Yet another classic* Jane the Actuary rambling \\\"thinking through an idea\\\" type of post. (* If a 6 month old blog could be said to have any \\\"classic\\\" kind\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/01\/private-property-tina-and-you-didnt-build-that.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/01\/private-property-tina-and-you-didnt-build-that.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/01\/private-property-tina-and-you-didnt-build-that.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Private Property, “TINA” and “You didn’t build that”\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/\",\"name\":\"Jane the Actuary\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a\",\"name\":\"Jane the Actuary\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jane the Actuary\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/author\/actuaryjane\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Private Property, \"TINA\" and \"You didn't build that\"","description":"Yet another classic* Jane the Actuary rambling \"thinking through an idea\" type of post. (* If a 6 month old blog could be said to have any \"classic\" kind","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/01\/private-property-tina-and-you-didnt-build-that.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Private Property, \"TINA\" and \"You didn't build that\"","og_description":"Yet another classic* Jane the Actuary rambling \"thinking through an idea\" type of post. (* If a 6 month old blog could be said to have any \"classic\" kind","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/01\/private-property-tina-and-you-didnt-build-that.html","og_site_name":"Jane the Actuary","article_published_time":"2014-01-26T21:47:00+00:00","author":"Jane the Actuary","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jane the Actuary","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/01\/private-property-tina-and-you-didnt-build-that.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/01\/private-property-tina-and-you-didnt-build-that.html","name":"Private Property, \"TINA\" and \"You didn't build that\"","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-01-26T21:47:00+00:00","dateModified":"2014-01-26T21:47:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a"},"description":"Yet another classic* Jane the Actuary rambling \"thinking through an idea\" type of post. (* If a 6 month old blog could be said to have any \"classic\" kind","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/01\/private-property-tina-and-you-didnt-build-that.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/01\/private-property-tina-and-you-didnt-build-that.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/01\/private-property-tina-and-you-didnt-build-that.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Private Property, “TINA” and “You didn’t build that”"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/","name":"Jane the Actuary","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a","name":"Jane the Actuary","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jane the Actuary"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/author\/actuaryjane"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2209"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}