Liberalism presumes abundant resources that make hard intergenerational choices avoidable

Evidence

What if the conservation of ecological options for future generations does preclude ways of living desired by the present generation? What if we have passed the period in which increased productivity, technological development, and the opening of new frontiers can be depended upon to offer an escape valve from the reality of ecological fi nitude? What if, instead, we now are faced directly with the environmental claims of the future? Po liti cal theorists often seem to crave Locke’s ecol ogy, where “enough, and as good” natural resources are believed to exist to avoid the necessity of collectively determining resource uses. — Douglas A. Kysar, Regulating from Nowhere, 394

Categorization

• XREF: Kysar’s ‘Locke’s ecology’ critique parallels the eco-justice argument that abundance assumptions mask whose lives get counted — resonates with Soundscape framing of limits. — connects to: Democratic government exists partly to override citizens’ own consumer impatience — Douglas A. Kysar, Regulating from Nowhere: Environmental…, 408; Each generation’s savings for the future remain vulnerable to later raid — Douglas A. Kysar, Regulating from Nowhere: Environmental…, 380