Theft at the Public Till
last individuals who make up the audience, we have a special problem on our hands. Such individuals, after all, have personal incentives-from getting a good story to appearing on the nightly news-to claim mad shock early and open. In cases of this type, it is the scandal hunters who may have the most important conflict of interest. The most demoralizing effect of the numerous scandals on our politics is to make us feel perpetually dirty. This is not a feeling that bedevils the entire citizenry. In their capacity as consumers, most people seem to have a bound less appetite for scandal new. In their capacity as citizens, they seem to be able to maintain the view that politics has crooks in it-always did, always will-without concluding that the republic is going to hell in a hand- basket. Those who help set the public agenda show less equanimity: They have placed corruption at the very center of their political concerns and thus permitted scandals to dominate political discourse. We need major thinking changes about our environment and govern- ment’s role in protecting it. For example, rights to air water, and wildlife can be defined and enforced. Historically, property rights held polluters accountable for the damage they caused. The peculiar nature of air, water, and wildlife, however, led to the adoption of statutory laws that preempted common law solutions in most situations. Rising prosperity, greater aware- ness of environmental issues, and technological innovations may be making a return to the property rights strategy possible. Pollution problems occur where rights are not defined and enforced. When things are privately owned, the civil justice system keeps us from invading or damaging them. But when they are owned in common-like air, rivers and lakes, wildlife, and in some cases public lands, we are often driven by competition with others to exploit them quickly and with little regard for their future value. The result is often pollution, unsustainable rates of development, and endangerment of wildlife. Ownership could then lead to better stewardship. We tend to take better care of things we own than of things we only rent or borrow. Ownership brings together the right to use something and the responsibility for changes in the value of the resource. Natural resources are no different from houses
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