Who will look after the public interest?
The only common interests amongst all men is the equal protection of individual rights, i.e. all rational men do wish not to be murdered, i.e. all rational men wish to be left free to enter and compete in any market they choose to, i.e. all men wish to not have their property looted from them, etc. This is the only proper meaning of the public interest. This is not what is meant by those who claim to support the “public interest”; what they do subscribe to is the unequal protection of rights, by granting government privileges to one group (who is certified as the “public”) at the expense of another group (who is not the “public”). The so-called “public interest” is a myth, there are only the differing, often contradictory, interests of various individuals. Any attempt by the government to implement a ‘public interest’ can be but arbitrary, leading to a civil-war of lobbying pressure groups. Recommended Links: NoLobby.
