I go over the concept of "negative externalities" and how it is dealt with in a free market.Catch behind-the-scenes posts and help choose my next video topic at: If you want to become a more philosophical thinker for liberty and stand out from the crowd, pick up Philosophical Voluntaryism. It will equip you with the fundamental reasoning tools needed to maximize your potential and guide you toward a peaceful and prosperous life through the consistent application of Voluntaryist ethical principles.(affiliate)Dealing with Negative Externalities in a Free Market“Negative externalities” is an economic concept that is often used to describe actions people take in productive creation that may lead to harmful consequences for others without consequence for the actor.For example, a factory with a smokestack that shoots soot in the air which then settles onto houses is a common visualization of “negative externalities,” especially, when looking at historical complaints about early industrialization.People may also think of things like dumping toxic waste chemicals, or polluting rivers with plastics, with an unscrupulous company getting away with it.To understand the root problem though, we must first root ourselves in property rights.When people have clearly defined property rights, then the question of whether any activity is definitively harmful becomes clear.Assigning responsibility for harm requires that one party has a duty to not harm others, and another party has property that has a negative right to be free of harm through intrusion.Harm, in libertarian terms, means that someone’s property rights are violated by physical intrusion through trespass, and that trespass may lead to damage of one’s body or outer property in either hurting function or rightful occupation.To help you understand this, think about an unowned tree in a wild forest.If a tree is not owned, then carving your name into the tree with a pocket knife cannot be said to be a harm because no one owns the tree and, thus, you have a
