news@oliven.UUCP (news account) (11/02/84)
[] ------------------------------- >The discussion of rights by danw@oliven.UUCP (danw) is helpful, but I >wish he would go further and tell us *what* negative general rights >libertarians believe in. I think what he's said so far includes some >important points, and was accurate as to what libertarians believe. ________________________________ MORE LIBERTARIAN THEOLOGY All rights imply duties. If you have a right to life, others have a duty not to kill your , (the first would be meaningless without the second). But the duty involved is a NEGATIVE duty: it requires no positive action on the part of those having the duty, only their non-interference with the right (this is sometimes called the "duty of forbearance"). Your right to life does not involve the positive duty of others to support you. The Randian position on rights, and the Libertarian position in general, is that there are NO POSITIVE GENERAL RIGHTS all general rights are negative rights. ________________________________ The term general as used above implies a society wide right, involving all libertarian courts and police powers. With negative general rights this causes no problem. Negative rights tell you what you can't do: don't kill rob, rape , steal , defraud , trespass etc. (all actions involving the initiation of force or fraud ) With positive general rights things begin to get grim. Positive rights are the ones we are aware of from the influences of socialism and fascism. (DO: sign this form , declare that amount , pay that tax ,an endless number of things that require us to stop what we were doing , and take a POSITIVE ACTION to go and do what the government wants us to do) [in this case the individual is the recepant of force, or threat of force] The idea that there can be NO POSITIVE GENERAL RIGHTS in a free society is the basic concept that the Libertarian party is dedicated to promoting. I have been asked to 'go further and tell us *what* negative general rights libertarians believe in.' Libertarians believe that society exists for the sole purpose of preventing the initiation of force and/or fraud against individuals. The libertarian negative general rights are therefore: don't initiate force don't initiate fraud danw