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All,
I just read this column. It's a very clear description of what
rights gov't has.
You'd think *I* wrote it. It's pretty much exactly what
I've been saying for awhile now.
Seems WW subscribes to the same rights standard that I do.
Jon
"We hear so much about "rights" – a right to this and a right to that.
People say they have a right to decent housing, a right to adequate health care, food and
a decent job, and more recently, senior citizens have a right to prescription drugs. In a
free society, do people have these rights? Let's look at it.
At least in the standard historical usage of the term, a right is something that exists
simultaneously among people. A right confers no obligation on another. For example, the
right to free speech is something we all possess. My right to free speech imposes no
obligation upon another except that of non-interference. Similarly, I have a right to
travel freely. That right imposes no obligation upon another except that of
non-interference.
Contrast those rights to the supposed right to decent housing or medical care. Those
supposed rights do confer obligations upon others. There is no Santa Claus or Tooth Fairy.
If you don't have money to pay for decent housing or medical services, and the government
gives you a right to those services, where do you think the money comes from?
If you said "From some other American," go to the head of the class. Your right
to decent housing and medical care requires that some other American have less of
something else, namely diminished rights to his earnings.
Let's apply this bogus concept of rights to free speech and the right to travel freely. If
we were to apply it to my right to free speech, my free speech rights would confer
financial obligations on others to supply me with an auditorium, microphone and audience.
My right to travel freely would require that others provide me with airplane tickets and
hotel accommodations. Most Americans, I would imagine, would tell me, "Williams, yes
you have rights to free speech and travel rights, but I'm not obligated to pay for
them!"
As human beings, we all have certain unalienable rights. Of the rights we possess, we have
a right to delegate to government. For example, we all have a right to defend ourselves
against predators. Since we possess that right, we can delegate it to government. In other
words, we can say to government, "We have the right to defend ourselves, but for a
more orderly society, we give you the authority to defend us."
By contrast, I don't possess the right to take your earnings for any reason. Since I have
no such right, I cannot delegate it to government. If I did take your earnings for housing
and medical services, it would rightfully be described as an act of theft. When government
does it, it's still theft – the only difference is that it's legalized theft
sanctioned by a majority vote.
If you're a Christian, or simply a moral human being, you should be against these
so-called rights. After all, when God gave Moses the Eighth Commandment, "Thou shalt
not steal," I'm sure that he didn't mean thou shalt not steal unless there is a
majority vote in Congress. Moreover, I'm sure that if you were to have a heart-to-heart
conversation with God and asked him, "God, is it OK to be a recipient of stolen
property, property that Congress has taken from another American?" I'm guessing He'd
say that being a recipient of stolen property is also sinful.
Decent housing, good medical care and decent jobs are not rights at all, at least not in a
free society – they're wishes. As such, I'd agree with most Americans because I also
wish that everyone had decent housing, a high paying job and good medical care.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WorldNetDaily contributor Walter E. Williams is the John M. Olin Distinguished Professor
of Economics at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.
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