Governments, just like persons, acquire debts. Although wealthy nations like the United States typically meet their financial obligations, not all nations are so fortunate or conscientious. Such countries, which chafing under the backbreaking debt of prior regimes, are often left with two options: devote massive portions of already impoverished national budgets to make interest payments (to say nothing of repaying the principal); or repudiate the debts as incurred by an illegitimate predecessor. I’m interested in a philosophical question: when, as an ethical matter, is a government liable for the debts of its predecessors? My answer is fairly simple: a government is liable for the debt of a previous government if and only if the present regime is the same state as that which incurred the debt.
Author Archives: Felix York
Concur: Purchasing Wrongful Behavior
Garbanzo paints a disturbing picture that mixes fears of totalitarianism with macabre, almost vampyric, imagery. I do agree with Garbanzo’s broader position, but not for the reasons he cites. At least on a general level, malefactors, whether adults or children, should not be able to select their punishments from a set of options.
Dissent: Inputs Predict Outputs
Bill overstates his point; how legislators spend our money may be more important than how they spend their time or how their campaigns are financed, but that does not mean that this additional information is irrelevant. Quite the contrary—transparency oftentimes uniquely illuminates an official’s political propensities.
Essay: The Ethics of Giving to Beggars
I believe the practice of giving to beggars should be viewed favorably but not demanded. The act edifies the donor as well as affirming the personhood and autonomy of the donee. Though this position is typically met with two related objections–first, that the money could be better spent; and second, that the recipient is likely to spend the money improperly–neither is compelling.