Abstract
We ask the following actors in the space race, whether or not they on the side of the angels: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, Peter Diamandis, United Launch Alliance (ULA) (a joint venture between Lockheed Martin Space Systems and Boeing Defense, Space & Security), Burt Rutan, Paul Allen, and Orbital ATK. As per usual, our litmus test consists of the libertarian principle of non-initiation of aggression and private property rights. Musk, for example, has done yeoman work in lifting mankind off the planet. But he has done so with massive government subsidies, based on compulsory taxation, a no-no for libertarianism. Read this chapter to find out our assessment of these people and organizations from a libertarian perspective. We draw a sharp distinction between crony capitalism and laissez-faire capitalism. (Spoiler: Musk does not make the grade.)
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
In David Nolan’s words: “I hereby certify that I do not believe in or advocate the initiation of force as a means of achieving political or social goals.” Source: http://int.search.myway.com.
- 3.
Happily, the budget for this state-run agency has been on the decline; all men of good will must look upon this decrease in compulsion favorably.
- 4.
This was based on the labor theory of value. Workers produced the entire product in this view, and any subtraction from GDP other than wages (rent, profits , etc.) was in effect a theft from them. For a critique of this malicious and fallacious viewpoint, see Block CitationRef CitationID="CR0105">2006</CitationRef>; Bohm-Bawerk 1884, 2011; Cantillon 2011; Gordon 1991; Hoppe 1989; Maltsev 1993; Von Mises 1981; Murphy 2006, 2011; Reisman 2006; Steele 1981, 1992; Stigler 1958; Vaughn 1978. The theory is also based on the perverse belief that all members of a class necessarily have identical beliefs. All laborers must believe the same thing regarding wages. All women must hold identical interests. All members of a particular race must think alike. Libertarians and , indeed, all those with any modicum of common sense, reject this deterministic babel.
- 5.
For further reading on this see Block CitationRef CitationID="CR0105">2006</CitationRef>; Burris 2012; Domhoff 1967, 1971, 1998 ; Donaldson and Poynting 2007; Hoppe 1990; Hughes 1977; Kolko 1963; Von Mises 1978; Oppenheimer 1975; Raico 1977; Rockwell 2001; Rothbard 2004. In the view of Rothbard 2004: “All States are governed by a ruling class that is a minority of the population , and which subsists as a parasitic and exploitative burden upon the rest of society. Since its rule is exploitative and parasitic , the State must purchase the alliance of a group of ‘Court Intellectuals,’ whose task is to bamboozle the public into accepting and celebrating the rule of its particular State. The Court Intellectuals have their work cut out for them. In exchange for their continuing work of apologetics and bamboozlement, the Court Intellectuals win their place as junior partners in the power, prestige, and loot extracted by the State apparatus from the deluded public. The noble task of Revisionism is to de-bamboozle: to penetrate the fog of lies and deception of the State and its apologists Court Intellectuals, and to present to the public the true history of the motivation, the nature, and the consequences of State activity. By working past the fog of State deception to penetrate to the truth, to the reality behind the false appearances, the Revisionist works to delegitimize, to desanctify, the State in the eyes of the previously deceived public.”
- 6.
This is neither the time nor place to make the case for anarcho-capitalism. The interested reader may consult Rothbard 1973 and Spooner 1966 [1870] . Additional discussion on this subject may be found in Anderson and Hill 1979; Benson 1989 , 1990a, b ; Block 2007, 2010, 2011a, b ; Casey 2010; DiLorenzo 2010; Gregory 2011; Guillory and Tinsley 2009; Hasnas 1995; Heinrich 2010; Higgs 2009, 2012; Hoppe 2008, 2011 ; Huebert 2010; King 2010; Kinsella 2009; Long 2004; McConkey 2013; Molyneux 2008; Murphy 2005 ; Rockwell 2013; Rothbard 1975 , 1977, 1998; Stringham 2007; Tannehills 1984 ; Tinsley 1998–1999 ; Wenzel 2013; Woods 2014.
- 7.
Neither can the likes of the European Space Agency or the Russian Federal Space Agency be regarded as positive contributors.
- 8.
In this section, we write approvingly of Calhoun’s views regarding taxpayers vs. recipients. Lest any confusion arise, let us make it clear that we decry his support of the First Bank of the United States, his initial praise of the Tariff of Abominations , and his supposed support of slavery (he really supported States Rights which historically is divided between staunch support of abolition and opposition to the same (Woods 2010)), and similar statist programs as well as the over-generalization of who constitutes the ruling class.
- 9.
Here it is important to note that self-appointed representatives of under-privileged citizens often are members of the ruling class and that their supposed dedication to poor people really enhances their own illicit political power.
- 10.
Communism is but one type of socialism (Von Mises 1922).
- 11.
- 12.
States Ridley (2015, pp. 31–32): “I once interviewed (Steven) Pinker in front of an audience in London, and was very struck by the passion of his reply when an audience member insisted that profit was a form of violence and was on the increase. Pinker simply replied with a biographical story. His grandfather, born in Warsaw in 1900, emigrated to Montreal in 1926, worked for a shirt company (the family had made gloves in Poland), was laid off during the Great Depression , and then, with his grandmother, sewed neckties in his apartment, eventually earning enough to set up a small factory, which they ran until their deaths. And yes, it made a small profit (just enough to pay the rent and bring up Pinker’s mother and her brothers), and no, his grandfather never hurt a fly. Commerce, he said, cannot be equated with violence.”
- 13.
But not quite as bad. When the victorious army indicts the losing soldiers, the generals and colonels are typically found guilty, but not the privates and corporals. As for the intermediate officers, they lie in a gray area. There are no hard and fast objective rules that apply, but matters are not totally subjective either. A good illustration of the principle can be found in Lilac Girls (Kelly 2016). This is a novel based on the true stories of three women during WWII and refers to the Ravensbrück Concentration Camp. In it the senior medical overseer of Ravensbrück, Dr. Gebhardt, is sentenced to hang for crimes against humanity while Dr. Herta Oberheuser, a newly minted doctor, one of the three women protagonists of the book, and the one who carried out the actual physical crimes, is sentenced to 20-years and only served five.
- 14.
Yes, we are aware that some in the world disagree with this assessment but believe that most do not equate ballerinas with gentlemen’s club strippers.
- 15.
See Block (2014) on this.
- 16.
- 17.
On subsidies to Tesla, see : Peters 2016; Jenkins 2016; Wynn and Lafleur 2009; Chandra et al. 2009; Kim 2014. Documentation in this regard for SolarCity and government grants to space X are evidenced by these authors : Richards 2015; Melchoir 2015; Chambers 2015. For a defense of government subsidies to Musk, and a critique of Hirsch (2015) on the grounds that pretty much every firm in the space and other high-tech firms are on the government dole, and therefore Musk is justified in doing so, see Autry (2015).
- 18.
We suspect that Mr. Musk is interested in proceeding with advanced scientific innovations including space exploration and that he would do so with or without state aid. He is impatient with bureaucratic foot-dragging. It may be simple expedience that results in his involvement with government . To illustrate this point, we refer to a quotation attributed to Musk: “To make an embarrassing admission, I like video games. That’s what got me into software engineering when I was a kid. I wanted to make money so I could buy a better computer to play better video games—nothing like saving the world ” (Hankoff 2014). This suggests a mindset compatible with libertarianism wherein Musk wishes to earn his own way to accomplish his goals. It reveals an impatience with waiting for others to provide for him (in this case a better computer).
- 19.
Danneskjold is a fictional seafaring pirate who attacks government ships (Rand 1957). He is a bit like Robin Hood (a pun, compare to: Robbin’ Hood’ or Robbing Hoodlum). Note that the latter did not simply take from the rich to give to the poor. He retrieved the ill-gotten goods taken with force by the nobility to return them to the victimized peasants. Ditto for the former: Ragnar, too, relieves the bad guys (statists) of their illicit gains and turns them over to the oppressed, only this time they are honest businessmen.
- 20.
For an alternative point of view, consider the words of Hamilton (2016) writing for Breitbart: “Yet make no mistake—the Planetary Resourcers [sic] are fully revolutionary. None of them are interested in waiting around to see what the federal government is willing to do in space—although, in their pragmatism, they are willing to work with NASA. Still, it has surely has crossed the mind of these investors that there’s no EPA in space; indeed, space can be seen as one universe-sized enterprise zone.”
- 21.
This is something that Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and Pope Francis have in common. Neither makes this distinction. Indeed, they are oblivious to it. Joke: Do you know the difference between a living room and a bathroom? No? Then don’t come to my house. Serious: Do you know the difference between crony and laissez-faire capitalism ? No? Then don’t get into political economy, for this constitutes one of the most vital distinctions in that entire field.
- 22.
Presumably money not collected by the tax man would be spent on consumer goods such as bicycles, violins, computers, clothes, etc.; or invested in industries favored by the owners of these resources.
- 23.
- 24.
Which Bezos earned from setting up and running Amazon, a private company that receives no known subsidies from the state.
- 25.
Is receiving only 5% financing from taxpayers akin to being a “little bit” pregnant?
- 26.
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson.
- 27.
- 28.
At least in terms of promises, if not fulfillment (Runciman 2014).
- 29.
His Zero G Corporation would give paying customers “a nauseating but exhilarating experience ” (Impey, p. 93) of weightlessness.
- 30.
This is the word usually associated with these companies, and it does indeed work with the U.S. Department of Defense. However, given the number of U.S. military bases abroad, a more accurate description might be Department of Offense. Previously, this institution was known as the Department of War . Perhaps “Department of Imperialism” would be yet more truthful, in that there are some 800 U.S. military bases in 140 countries. See on this Department of Defense 2007; Vance 2010.
- 31.
- 32.
- 33.
Why fraud? What do the deceivers hope to gain? The answer is power. The remedies to “climate change” recommended by statists inevitably involve increased restrictions and new, more draconian “laws.” Thus, they have more ability to threaten people with jail and other sanctions in the hopes of controlling the actions of innocents. In addition, these purveyors of deception hope to, and do, collect fees and fines with which to line their pockets and further their agendas.
- 34.
Green on the outside, but red on the inside.
- 35.
An Andes Mountains camelid. Their coats provide the ultimate in fine sartorial luxury (Coggins 2013).
- 36.
- 37.
Emphasis added by present authors.
- 38.
All too often libertarianism is conflated with conservatism, or neo-conservatism, or with the “right wing.” Exhibit “A” on this is the Federalist Society which is predicated on an amalgamation of libertarians and conservatives. See on this Meyer (1962), Rothbard (1981). To be sure, these groups would indeed support a bloated military budget, and an armed force that throws its weight around the world. But, this is very different from the libertarian foreign policies of the founding fathers of our nation. For example, George Washington (1796): “The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible” (emphasis added). Thomas Jefferson (1801): “Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none” (emphasis added). John Quincy Adams (2005): “America …goes not abroad seeking monsters to destroy.”
- 39.
The explanation of this favoritism by the state is that Musk and the others are loot-seekers par excellence. In the Public Choice literature, this is called “rent-seeking” but our description is far more accurate. See on this Bhagwati 1982; Block 2000a, b , CitationRef CitationID="CR0104">2002</CitationRef> ; Henderson 2008; Pasour 1986; Wenzel 2016.
- 40.
This is sometimes called a “tax subsidy” or “tax expenditure.” The idea here is that the government, in not collecting taxes that might otherwise accrue to it, is really subsidizing those folks privileged in this manner. Bosh and tosh. This only holds true if the state is the legitimate owner of the entire GDP . Then, yes, anything it gives back to the long-suffering taxpayers is indeed a subsidy to them. But where is the warrant to suppose that the state is the proper owner of everything, or anything, its residents have produced in any given year? Rather, the people are the proper owners of what they create, and taxes forcibly taken from them amount to no less than theft. See on this : Spooner 1966 [1870]; Napolitano 2013; Rothbard 1970, 1998.
- 41.
- 42.
This is sometimes called lack of horizontal justice.
- 43.
Again, a complication rears its head. Ragnar Danneskjold, a hero of Rand (1957), relieved the government of its ill-gotten (tax) gains and returned them to victims of state violence such as Midas Mulligan, Ken Danagger , Francisco d’Anconia, John Galt, and other fictional characters. (Rand does not explain how he killed no one, even state employees, but assures her readers that this was so.) The problem with Musk as a beneficiary of tax revenues is that he is a crony capitalist. Were matters otherwise, we would applaud this. For example, we see John Hospers (late chairman of the philosophy department at the University of Southern California, a state institution) as a non-crony capitalist. Block (2012) justifies him receiving tax monies.
- 44.
Many dozens of other libertarians in good standing were and are employed by public enterprises such as universities. This includes the second author of the present book, an employee of Loyola University New Orleans which accepts government largesse, and does nothing, officially, to mitigate this.
- 45.
From an economic point of view, socialism implies support for government ownership of all means of production; for example, Kim’s North Korea , Stalin’s U.S.S.R., Mao’s China.
- 46.
From an economic point of view, this implies support for governmental heavy regulation of industry. The Nazi party , paradigm case of fascism , did not own Stuka, BMW, Volkswagen, or other German companies ; it only exercised effective proprietary-like control of them. Thus, Barack Obama (apart from taking ownership in Detroit auto companies), Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, are not really socialists . Rather, fascists . Of course, this is all from a technical economic point of view. In common parlance, “socialist” now means, in effect, egalitarians, and all three, at least verbally, qualify as socialists under that rubric.
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Nelson, P.L., Block, W.E. (2018). Who Are the Libertarians in the Space Initiative?. In: Space Capitalism. Palgrave Studies in Classical Liberalism. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74651-7_14
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