All Posts Tagged With: "negative rights"
The Individual and the Community
Last May sociologist Amitai Etzioni participated in a debate hosted by the Cato Institute in which he argued against the classical-liberal theory as being too atomistic, excessively concerned with selfish individualism, and neglectful of the importance of community. He’s been making this point for 20 years, which is strange for two reasons: First, it isn’t [...]
26Oct2011 | Aeon J. Skoble | 1 comment | ContinuedWhich Strategy Really Ended the Great Depression?
“World War II got us out of the Great Depression.” Many people said that during the war, and some still do today. The quality of American life, however, was precarious during the war. Food was rationed, luxuries removed, taxes high, and work dangerous. A recovery that does not make—as Robert Higgs points out in Depression, [...]
24Aug2011 | Burton W. Folsom Jr. | 6 comments | ContinuedThe Power of Freedom: Uniting Human Rights and Development
Jean-Pierre Chauffour, an economic adviser at the World Bank, constructs a framework within which human rights and economic development are mutually consistent. His book is a response to policymakers and academics who view economic development as a “fundamental right” calling for government intervention; it demonstrates that the policy prescriptions derived from their ideas are counterproductive [...]
20Apr2010 | Rosemary Fike | 0 comments | ContinuedPositive Rights as Means Not Ends
Even though the House passed so-called “health care reform,” the debate over “entitlements” will not be going away. This is especially true if, as I believe, the bill makes things worse not better.
25Mar2010 | Steven Horwitz | 11 comments | ContinuedRights Versus Wishes
Critics of the U.S. health-care system often suggest that we should adopt the single-payer universal systems of other countries. The serious problems encountered by those systems are increasingly documented and well known, such as the long waiting lists, restrictions on physician choice, and rationing in countries such as Canada, Italy, Greece, and the United Kingdom. [...]
1May2008 | Walter E. Williams | 0 comments | ContinuedThe Moral and Cultural Climate of Entrepreneurship
About 40 years ago I learned the following poem. It exemplifies a moral and cultural attitude about not only entrepreneurship, but also the moral purpose of human life itself. Written by Dean Alfange, it is known simply as “My Creed”: I do not choose to be a common man. It is my right to be [...]
1Mar2006 | Douglas B. Rasmussen | 0 comments | ContinuedThe Real Revolution and You
Clear thinking and straight answers can help you to win the real revolution which goes on in the minds of men. Who are the real revolutionaries in the world today? Many would say, “The Communists, of course! Their day-and-night, around-the-world effort is the major revolutionary program of our times!” Others would counter, “No! Revolution means [...]
1Mar2006 | Ivan R. Bierly | 1 comment | ContinuedLife, Liberty, and Retirement Pensions
The right to acquire property is a staple of liberal political theory. But why would anyone bother accumulating property? If my monthly expenses are a thousand dollars, then what use could I possibly have for any monthly income larger than a thousand dollars? I could plausibly reason that if I work harder today, I might [...]
1Sep2005 | Aeon J. Skoble | 1 comment | ContinuedReflections on Self-Responsibility and Libertarianism
Nathaniel Branden is the author of 20 books, including The Art of Living Consciously, Taking Responsibility, and most recently, My Years with Ayn Rand. His Web site is www.nathanielbranden.net. The traditional American values of individualism, self-reliance, self-discipline, and hard work had their roots, in part, in the fact that this country began as a frontier [...]
1Apr2001 | Nathaniel Branden | 3 comments | ContinuedThe Perils of Positive Rights
Tibor Machan is a professor at the Argyros School of Business and Economics, Chapman University. One of the most powerful ideas opposed to the free society is a notion political philosophers call “positive rights.” Sounds good, doesn’t it? What could be wrong with being positive? Sounds like something out of Anthony Robbins or Norman Vincent [...]
1Apr2001 | Tibor R. Machan | 5 comments | ContinuedGreat Britain Finally Makes It to the Eighteenth Century
Norman Barry, a contributing editor of Ideas on Liberty, is professor of social and political theory at the University of Buckingham in the UK. He is the author of An Introduction to Modern Political Theory (St. Martin’s Press). On October 2, 2000, the Human Rights Act came into force in Britain.1 Given that the United [...]
1Feb2001 | Norman Barry | 1 comment | ContinuedRights, Freedom, and Rivalry
Dr. Baird is director of the Smith Center, California State University, Hayward, and this month’s guest editor. The idea for this paper came out of a conversation the author recently had with Dwight Lee of the University of Georgia (see pp. 663-666). A conversation with Dwight Lee is always fruitful. Packaging counts. This maxim of [...]
1Oct1996 | Charles W. Baird | 0 comments | Continued-
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