On Feb 5, 5:15=A0pm, "steve" wrote:
> On =A05-Feb-2010, moviePig wrote:
>
> > Sure, we all *feel* the difference when the king's retainers ride to
> > your hut and force you to throw money over your neighbor's fence. =A0Bu=
t
> > that emotion registers less strongly when the government merely
> > dispenses our taxes in furtherance of 'principle' (which we're all
> > presumed "obviously" to support). =A0E.g., consider how you feel about
> > your tax dollars flowing into Haiti. =A0Then, consider that (equally
> > "obviously" to many) we want *all* our citizens to be healthy.
> > (That's included under 'life'... which precedes 'liberty' and 'the
> > pursuit of happiness'.)
>
> You guys crack me up. =A0The right to life, like any right that isnt desi=
gned
> to control or contravene an exercize of govt power (like the right to due
> process or to vote), confers no duty on anyone to act. =A0Rather it confe=
rs
> only the duty NOT to act so as to deny you that right. =A0So the right to=
life
> doesnt compel me to support your life, only that I cannot wantonly take i=
t.
> I dont have to feed you if you are starving, but I cant steal your food o=
r
> prevent you from eating or procuring food in whatever way you choose, so
> long as you do not violate my rights in the process. =A0This is the class=
ic
> theory of negative liberty (an unfortunate term in its connotation).
> Positive liberty (the theory you guys are blithely trumpeting as
> universal..far from it) is impossible to define and to limit. =A0It becom=
es
> whatever its proponents are willing to stomach or to press on others. =A0=
It
> makes us all slaves to the less fortunate, in theory. =A0In practice, it =
makes
> us all slaves to the govt.
I suppose some might even call universal health-care a Declaration of
*De*pendence,. But in quoting the famous phrase, I invoke only the
adjacent notion of "self-evident" goals. So, rest easy. (Still, I'd
wonder why a government dedicated to *preserving* certain things --
e.g., by keeping its hands of yours -- might not reasonably be
expected to *promote* them, as well.)
--
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