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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated

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To: D. Long who wrote (28288)	2/7/2004 7:17:26 AM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (1) of 793843

Every pressure group trots out the word "rights" as a synonym for priveleges bestowed by the State. That's an interesting way to look at it. The framers put a lot of energy into delineating rights and asserting that the state cannot take them away from us. Not the case for privileges. Since the state, as it has evolved, has gotten into the business of doling out privileges, does it not have an obligation to do so evenly? (see column above on Freidman and Hayek; siliconinvestor.com The demand for rights in the United States has become more akin to the demand for special franchises under the medieval monarchies. Good point, but you missed a nuance. When the state does some favor for some person or special interest, then the state is behaving like your medieval monarchy. But when the state creates privileges for the public at large yet excludes a minority from participation, then the state is effectively denying a right, a right it created when it established a blanket privilege. One of our basic rights is, after all, the right to equal treatment under law. The best way to fix this, IMO, is to get the state out of the privilege business. Failing that, then privileges must be available to everyone by virtue of citizenship. The disenfranchised insisting on equal rights to a state-dispensed privilege is not the same as their asking for a special franchise.

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