ABSTRACT
If the demise of the economic systems of the USSR and Eastern Europe has taught us anything, it is that government is best which governs least. The private charity is free to distinguish between the deserving poor—that is, those who are impoverished through no fault of their own—and those who are themselves responsible for their own poverty. Whenever workers are prohibited from organising together, to urge better wages or working conditions, this is a denial of their basic right of freedom of association. Another implication of the freedom to associate is the right to engage in discrimination on the basis of race, sex, sexual preference, ethnicity, intelligence, sense of humour, musical or athletic ability, hair or eye colour or, indeed, anything else under the sun. The critical economic issue with respect to non-renewable resources is the optimum rate of extraction/depletion/use.
