United Liberty
natural rights
Rights and the Health Care Debate
Sat, 08/29/2009 - 2:04pm | posted by Matt Wittlief
A few days ago, we discussed the concepts of insurance and public utilities. In order to advance the discussion on the health care debate, it is important to analyze the proper role of the state in the provision of health care. We’ll start with a discussion on rights.
The concept of rights is complex and, unfortunately, somewhat subjective. Western philosophy and political theory have struggled with the concept for centuries. Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines rights as “qualities (as adherence to duty or obedience to a lawful authority) that together constitute the ideal of moral propriety or merit moral approval.” That is a mouthful and doesn’t help much. It is fair to say that the concept of rights is subject to broad interpretation and can be applied to many things. Thus, it is important to explore different types of rights - especially as it pertains to those which should be granted and/or protected by the state.
The English monarchy established one of the first and most influential documents which pertained to the relationship between rights and the state. This document is the famous Magna Carta which established that the King was bound by the law and that free men had certain rights which could not be violated by the monarch. This laid the groundwork for future constitutional law and an expanded discussion of rights during the Age of Enlightenment.
World Government and The Consent of the Governed
Wed, 12/10/2008 - 6:48am | posted by Dr. Charles Kennedy
An interesting commentary entitled “And now for a world government” appears on Gideon Rachman’s blog on the web site of the Financial Times in London. He begins by saying:
“I have never believed that there is a secret United Nations plot to take over the U.S. I have never seen black helicopters hovering in the sky above Montana. But, for the first time in my life, I think the formation of some sort of world government is plausible.”
Cubans distrust communism, desire property rights
Sat, 12/05/2009 - 1:54pm | posted by Jason Pye
A poll conducted by the International Republican Institute shows that Cubans don’t trust their government and would overwhelming support economic reforms, including exercising their natural right to private property (emphasis mine):
A year-and-a-half after Gen. Raúl Castro assumed the presidency of Cuba, more than four in five citizens on the island (82 percent) do not believe things are going well, according to a recent survey sponsored by the International Republican Institute (IRI). The survey, which was fielded on the island last summer, showed a vast majority of Cubans would vote for fundamental political change (75 percent) and economic change (86 percent) if given the opportunity.
“The data reveals Cubans’ strong dissatisfaction towards its leadership and their indisputable preferences for political and economic change,” said Lorne Craner, President of IRI.
Other significant findings from the IRI survey:
Quote of the Day: Rights and health care
Sun, 10/25/2009 - 4:55pm | posted by Jason Pye
“Genuine rights are negative, in the sense that they demand only that each of us refrains from harassing others. Because each unit of health care requires labor and resources for its production, no one can have a ‘right’ to health-care in the same way that she can have a right to speak freely or to worship the God of her choice. Enforcing Jones’s ‘right’ to health care necessarily means forcing Smith to work to produce this health care. A political ‘right’ that cannot even in principle exist without the confiscation of persons’ labor and property is no right at all; it’s a wrong.” - Don Boudreaux
Judget Napolitano explains natural rights
Sat, 10/10/2009 - 1:31pm | posted by Jason Pye
Judge Andrew Napolitano, host of Freedom Watch, explains natural rights and why the USA PATRIOT Act violates our natural right to privacy (video is in three parts):
