The 3L Philosophy, even when widely adopted, is not perfect
The Legal Principle is not perfect
- No legal framework applies perfectly to 100% of all factual circumstances. The question is not whether it is perfect, but whether it is the best of all the options.
Grey Areas
Access to the commons
- Respecting private property rights gives the owner exclusive control over that property, giving access to only those invited.
- This does not prevent people permitting access, or even donating that property to charities for the public use. The UK’s National Trust comprises vast areas of land, most of which was donated by private owners. The Aspirational Values are the key addition to a respect of property rights, allowing maximum peace and prosperity for all.
- Without ownership via private property, there is no steward whose incentives are fully aligned with the care over that property. The ‘tragedy of the commons’ is a well-understood phenomenon where the lack of a private steward leads to over-exploitation of the resources.
Nothing lasts forever
- All mountains eventually turn to dust. The 3L Movement will not last forever, either because a better system is developed, or because it becomes corrupted by unreasonable interpretations of the Legal Principle, or both.
- America’s Founding Fathers created a system that led to the most prosperous and free nation on earth (albeit far from perfect), but time proved fatal to their vision of freedom - the USA grew into a bureaucratic empire replete with unjust laws. A deep and widespread understanding of the 3L Philosophy is the best defense against repeating the mistakes of history.
- The question is not whether the 3L Philosophy is perfect, but whether it is the best foundation for peace between all of the word’s diverse peoples. We remain open to better ideas. Until then, we’re all in!