Antone's Nightclub
Notion of Rights Includes Obligations
RECEIVED Tue., Aug. 4, 2009
Dear Editor,
More intellectual conservatives have long attacked the notion of rights held by the left, the sort of rights that include a right to health care. Conservatives claim this sort of thing might be a social good but cannot be a right because it puts an obligation on another party to provide this right. Under closer inspection however, many commonly accepted rights also rest on an obligation from another to provide said right. The right to own property rests on a structure of police, courts, laws, and a punishment regime. Without these, one is left with the "law of the jungle," a person holding what they can defend. A law on contracts is only good if there is an arena to resolve conflicts (courts, binding arbitration, etc.); otherwise a weaker party could never count on "the sanctity of contracts.” A right to free speech depends on an independent forum (courts) to enforce the First Amendment when challenged. I say the entire notion of rights includes obligations from all of us and to all of us. The rest of the Western world acknowledges the existence of economic and social (health care) rights. We can argue on the specifics, but to claim that the right to health care is fundamentally different from a right to own property is wrong.
More intellectual conservatives have long attacked the notion of rights held by the left, the sort of rights that include a right to health care. Conservatives claim this sort of thing might be a social good but cannot be a right because it puts an obligation on another party to provide this right. Under closer inspection however, many commonly accepted rights also rest on an obligation from another to provide said right. The right to own property rests on a structure of police, courts, laws, and a punishment regime. Without these, one is left with the "law of the jungle," a person holding what they can defend. A law on contracts is only good if there is an arena to resolve conflicts (courts, binding arbitration, etc.); otherwise a weaker party could never count on "the sanctity of contracts.” A right to free speech depends on an independent forum (courts) to enforce the First Amendment when challenged. I say the entire notion of rights includes obligations from all of us and to all of us. The rest of the Western world acknowledges the existence of economic and social (health care) rights. We can argue on the specifics, but to claim that the right to health care is fundamentally different from a right to own property is wrong.
Tom Cuddy