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In reply to the discussion: Are we allowed to express a libertarian view point here [View all]Ocelot II
(130,755 posts)It goes into the ground and into bodies of water, where it picks up pollutants. Do you think government should regulate polluting industries so they don't dump poisons into the water? Cities take water from rivers or lakes and purify it, removing sewage so we can drink it without getting cholera. We pay for this - not for the water so much itself, but for the service of purifying it and making it safe. Would you rather just drink the "free" water that falls from the sky into a lake and take your chances with giardia, cholera or heavy metal poisoning?
What about those fish? Do you object to paying the state for a fishing license so it has funds for conservation and environmental protection, to ensure that there will be more fish? Do you object to limits on the number of fish you can catch or how you can catch them so there will be enough fish in the future, for you and all the animals who live on them, or will you just take as many as you can catch in a net and hope that other people aren't doing the same?
You wouldn't have clean water or safe fish to eat (if any at all) without regulation. The libertarian position opposes that sort of regulation. Just ask any CEO of a chemical company.