We have been working our way through a series of lectures mainly centered on economics by Ron Nash. The one we listened to yesterday was a guest lecturer who is a law professor from Mexico City. His point was simply this: For every right there is a corresponding duty. That is to say, for every right you have (i.e. the right to life) someone else (in this case everyone else) has the duty not to take your life. You can see this work in other examples; property, liberty, etc. In essence, each right, or law, has a negative effect on your freedom. The vast majority of people would gladly limit their own freedom to protect against murder and theft but the relationship gets sticky the deeper you delve into the theory. This country has thousands of laws and hundreds of politicians passing laws almost daily to make a more "equitable society." Laws at the federal, state and local levels, tax laws, civil rights, entitlements galore, each of which limit the freedom of every individual not protected under those rights. In the next day or two a new right and law will be signed enforcing everyone to obtain health insurance or face fines, basically a tax on breathing. The system is fraught with contradiction which is most evident with the issue of abortion.
It is really a simple, intuitive idea that I'm ashamed to say I had not properly comprehended. The Constitution originally only guaranteed the rights of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Really that should have been enough. Now we've signed away our own liberty in the name of fairness.
1 comment:
the idea of 'rights' is an interesting one. they certainly have emotional appeal, but im not persuaded that one can substantiate their existence with any intellectual rigor.
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