I feel a little weird when people talk about 'rights' that require someone else doing something for us, like 'rights' that require someone else's labor to be fulfilled. I mostly feel my rights are to a *lack* of interference from others - e.g. a right to freely express.
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there's a right to bear arms but not a right to manufacture arms for sale or purchase said arms... so I guess that's the 2nd amendment poophole loophole that seems inline with your reasoning. gotta make yer own arms or nothing.
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I don't think I have a right for anybody else to make arms for me. In line with this, I also have a right to make arms for others, if I want to.
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I have that same initial inclination but do feel like there are grey areas, just like you point out in your later tweet. I wonder if maybe that principle, the non-interference principle as it were, is a starting point but not the end point.
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I'd like non-interference to be placed as higher priority than it is, basically just weight the scales a bit differently when evaluating grey areas. There's probably good philosophical systems I'm not aware of for handling those grey areas with non-interference weighting.
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To guarantee you that freedom, someone else must do some work, whether it's tolerating your opinions, paying taxes to keep society stable, or something else.
Freedom can only be created by restricting something else. You can only make a joint hinge by binding things together.
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There is still a spectrum, though. I have a 'right' to my freedom (free speech), which means I expect society to be okay with use of force to protect that right. I also am okay with paying money for the labor of those who enforce my right, otherwise I'd be violating their rights!
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In political philosophy the two are often called “negative” and “positive” rights. Negative is a right from harm, positive a right to a good or service. “Don’t tread on me” vs “healthcare is a human right.”
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Anyway. As my friend Feeney likes to say, rights are like fairies — made up. Which ones produce the society you want to live in? My neoliberal ass thinks you need both for a “veil of ignorance” worthy society.
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Other people have responded, but I wanna say that I agree this issue isn't clear cut. How loud do you have to shout in public before you're infringing on other people's rights to not have their eardrums hurt?
I still like the original distinction despite the grey areas, tho.
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