I am trying to write a book, or at least a bunch of more articles, applying private property rights to the oceans, lakes, rivers and other bodies of water. The difficulty I’m having is that while I’m pretty much plugged in to the Lockean-Rothbardian vision of private property on the basis of which I attempt to analyze this material, and make the case for privatization, as I do more and more research into this topic, I realize I’m woefully ignorant of a large list of concepts, topics, issues, etc.
Here is a list of some of those about which I am ignorant: aquifer, bayou, dikes, drought, estuaries, evaporation, fish and whale migration patterns, flood plain, fracking, geology, ground water, hydrogeology, Karst, levees, marsh, mudslides, oil pools, oyster beds, poldering, rain, reefs, riparian rights, rivers that change course, sea level rising or falling, sinkholes, spillway, storms, swamps (wetlands, nowadays; thanks to political correctness, swamps no longer exist), underground pools, tidal basin, tidal wave, tides, tornadoes, travertine lids, underground streams, water currents, water table.
So, I thought I’d search around for a co author or two. But, I’m not even sure of what type of specialist I need; here are some possibilities: oceanographer, geologist, gynecologist, meteorologist, climatologist, proctologist, hydrologist. Does anyone know anyone who combines two very different backgrounds: the Rothbardian political philosophy, and one or more of these scientific expertises, and might be willing to work with a weirdo like me?
If you are such, or know of such a person, please send me your cv and take a look at this article, with a view toward giving me your assessment of how a system of private ownership might handle this issue, because those are the sorts of challenges I think I face in this venture: Alvarez, Lizette. 2013. “In South Florida, a Polluted Bubble Ready to Burst.” New York Times, September 8
