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Politics : About that Cuban boy, Elian -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim S who wrote (3599)	4/29/2000 7:19:00 PM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9127

>>In sum, I don't agree with your willingness to grant such powers to a state, a religion, or any other entity that may wish to repress the exercise of those rights<< Jim, I'm not sure where you're going with this, but I enjoy debating with you, too, so I'll forge ahead and I'll await further clues from you. If you think that I'm expressing a willingness to grant power over me to anyone or anything, my communication skills must be sorely lacking, indeed. I hate power. I don't want power over anyone, but I especially don't want anyone to have power over me. I know I'm fortunate to have the freedom to live my life as I choose and I want that to continue. So I participate in the social contract by granting others the same respect that I expect from them, supporting the institutions that enable my freedom, and, in general, do what I can to make my part of the world the kind of place that others will have an interest in supporting, as well. If others don't support it, then it will fail, and I risk being squashed like a bug. I don't grant any entity the power to squash me like a bug--I simply acknowledge the reality that it exists (in the form of thugs, bigots, iconoclasts, megalomaniacs, tyrants, the greedy, etc.) and I'd better do all I can to nurture the social contract that allows our way of life. A big part of that way of life comes from the Constitution. I show my appreciation for my rights by not stomping on anyone else's and for standing up whenever I can for the rights of others. >>those "rights" exist as a matter of the NATURE of the animal under consideration. They can be repressed or overcome, but they will always be continually tested until they CAN be exercised. << What you're calling a "right," I would call an "instinct." Only when consummation of the instinct is assured does it become a right. >>This may appear to be the granting of a privilege, when in fact it is only an acknowledgment of something that cannot be prevented.<< Surely you don't think that security of one's person and property cannot be prevented! It can be prevented by anyone with a bigger stick and the "instinct" to take your stuff away from you. If you look up the word "right" in the kind of thesaurus that is organized by concept, you will find it listed, in the context that we are using the word, under the title "authorization" along with words like privilege, prerogative, due, and franchise. There is an implication here that a right is not something you have in a vacuum, it requires the cooperation of a second party, at a minimum. I'm not sure we're disagreeing on anything other than semantics. Karen P.S. Do you still doubt I'm a libertarian (small l)? >