Thursday, October 7, 2010

On Tuesday, I argued...

...that it was in everyone's interest to see that his neighbor had fire protection. What if, for example, the fire spread to your home? Well, apparently that wasn't a problem with that fire in Tennessee:

This fire went on for hours because garden hoses just wouldn't put it out. It wasn't until that fire spread to a neighbor's property, that anyone would respond.

Turns out, the neighbor had paid the fee.

Kevin Williamson, of the National Review, asks:

What if there are two house fires on different sides of town — one owned by a fee-payer, the other by a free rider — and only one truck to respond?

Wouldn't you be unfairly punished if you lived next door to the free rider?

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