NationStates Jolt Archive

I am a libertarian, I believe in small government, low taxes, and as much liberity as possible. However, I am also a pilot and an aviation fan, a big one I might add. Over the last few days I've been thinking about this, and I am caught between the hard place and the rock.

In a controversial move on March 30, 2003, Mayor Daley ordered private crews to destroy the runway in the middle of the night, bulldozing large Xs into the runway surface. The required notice was not given to the Federal Aviation Administration or the owners of airplanes tied down at the field, and as a result sixteen planes were left stranded at an airport with no operating runway. (They were later allowed to depart from Meigs' 3,000-foot taxiway.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meigs_Field

Now, as a pilot I am outraged by this action by Mayor Daley. However, what got me confused is this part of the destruction of Meigs Field Saga.

In February 2006, the city announced plans to open a heliport on the island.[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meigs_Field

http://64.143.36.15/html/news/news_curr.html#06-02-10_heliport

This is where my pilot side and Libertarian side clash. So what do you Libertarian think? Should Mayor Daley have the right to a private heliport at a cost of a public airport, or is this whole thing wrong?

Mayor Daley sounds like a crackhead to me. Someone should vote him out.

I'm not sure where libertarianism enters into it. It was public land, and the Mayor may well have violated agreements with the owners of the planes parked there.

I am a libertarian, I believe in small government, low taxes, and as much liberity as possible. However, I am also a pilot and an aviation fan, a big one I might add. Over the last few days I've been thinking about this, and I am caught between the hard place and the rock.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meigs_Field

Now, as a pilot I am outraged by this action by Mayor Daley. However, what got me confused is this part of the destruction of Meigs Field Saga.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meigs_Field

http://64.143.36.15/html/news/news_curr.html#06-02-10_heliport

This is where my pilot side and Libertarian side clash. So what do you Libertarian think? Should Mayor Daley have the right to a private heliport at a cost of a public airport, or is this whole thing wrong?

The public sector has no right to make private items- only the private sector can make private items, and that's the way it should stay. He is wrong to make a heliport in its place, as entrepeneurs, not anyone else, are the only ones who can use the private sector and the world of finance and market signals, and thus are the only ones capable of calculating profit, risk, benefit, cost and the proper allocation of resources. Mayor Daley is not an entrepeneur- ergo, Mayor Daley should not be deciding for the private sector. This is not really capitalism, but rather cronyism, as some friend of his must want this heliport without taking the risks that entrepeneurs take, and thus uses the government to get him what he wants- it is not really a private sector act at all but rather a public sector one. The airport should have been kept as is, privatized if need be, but only the private sector should have decided to do such a thing as the demolition of an airport in the place of a heliport. Most likely, seeing as how it is a capital expense that must have returns in order to compensate for the momentary loss, it shouldn't have been so recklessly destroyed but rather have been kept to return the money spent on investment.

Also, I think most people who know about Mayor Daley know he is an idiot and a crook, and emblemizes corruption of government in America. That, too, is a reason he shouldn't have done anything- because it's probably something stupid/corrupt, too. I hope this helped. :)

hmm. yeah im a libertarian too and i dont think he was even alloud to do that if it was private property....but i mean dont they all ready privatize some airports?:confused:

The "good" mayor of Chicago tore up an airfield in the dark of night. Much of the funding for that airfield came from the federal government. The federal government has filed suit against the city of Chicago.

In simplified terms: that airprot was not his to f... up.

Ok, thanks for the post everyone.

Ok, thanks for the post everyone.

You're welcome. :) What did you decide on the issue?

I'm not a Libertarian, but I think that this Mayor guy is corrupt. Bulldozing a public airstrip for a damned private helipad? Thats bullshit.

The public sector has no right to make private items- only the private sector can make private items,
Who says? The libertarian philosophy is to have little to no goverment, therfore there is no "public domain" only unprivatized domain.

This is not really capitalism, but rather cronyism, as some friend of his must want this heliport without taking the risks that entrepeneurs take, and thus uses the government to get him what he wants-
It's no differant then when the goverment subsidies a fruity art-club. They can't all be noble farms or revolutionary buisnesses..

it is not really a private sector act at all but rather a public sector one. The airport should have been kept as is,
Wow, that sounds almost conservative.

Personaly I don't see what all the fuss is about.

You're welcome. :) What did you decide on the issue?

I agree with your viewpoint, government should stay out of the private sector. What Daley did was take away public land just so his friends could have their own personal heliport, and not pay any money for it. So, I can be outraged and against the private heliport and maintain my Libertarian status. :)

Personaly I don't see what all the fuss is about.

Ok, here's what the fuss is all about. According to the FAA regulations, in order to properly close an airport, you have to put up a NOTAM (Notice to Air Men) 30 days in advance. NOTAMs tell pilots what is happening where, and when it's happening. You also have to let FAA know, so that they can make changes in sectional charts and the big green book. Meigs Field was closed at the time Mayor Daley carved X's into the runway. Which means the Tower was closed and the runway lights were off. If a pilot had to make an emergency landing at Meigs when that happened, it could've been a huge disaster since Meigs served anywhere from small single engine props to corperate jets. Also, the airport is Federal Propety, so Mayor Daley did not have any right to destory the airport because it wasn't his.