E-Newsletter No. 66 June 2019
When you were growing up, how often were you told that “Driving is a privilege, not a right.” Well, there is some basis to that statement. If you screw up enough times (by speeding, or driving under the influence, etc.) the government can take away that privilege.
So, there is a distinction between privileges and rights. There are also differences between “government-granted” rights and an individual’s unalienable rights that we discussed last month. Through the legislative process, governments can grant (and can take away) certain rights. Many of the instances where rights are being taken away are situations where an individual’s personal property rights (and liberty) are being diminished, oftentimes under the theory of being “for the greater good”. Many people hold the view that government taxation is an attack on personal property rights. (In fact, it was one of the main reasons for the Revolutionary War. But we digress).
During the 2016 presidential election and during the 2018 midterm elections we began to hear a constant refrain from the Left that “healthcare is a right”. Before we go any further, let’s ask a few fundamental questions – – Is food a right? Is shelter a right? Is transportation a right? Is a job a right? Is a guaranteed universal basic income a right? Our Editorial Board has come to the conclusion that many individuals on the Left have lost the ability to distinguish between a personal responsibility and a right.
Here is another way to address this question. If someone wants a “right”, but it requires that someone else must be forced to fulfill that right, do you really have a legitimate right? If healthcare is a right, can the benefit of that “right” be received without coercing someone else to provide that right? This is a slippery socialist slope, and so we need to step back and have a conversation. Unfortunately, the Left wants to finish the government’s takeover of the healthcare industry – it started with Medicare and Medicaid, and then Obamacare, and now the new proposed “Medicare-for-All” solution. But doesn’t that Socialist line of thinking then also apply to food, shelter, transportation, jobs, universal basic income, social security benefits, government provided disability benefits, and / or a whole host of other yet-to-be listed “government-granted” rights? Isn’t it time to halt the spread of socialism (which knows no boundaries) and re-educate our country’s citizens on the difference between personal responsibilities and “rights”?
Alexander Fraser Tytler (a Scottish history professor from the 1700s) once observed “A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy.” Isn’t $22 trillion enough already?
We began last month’s newsletter with the question “Should convicted felons who are currently incarcerated be allowed to vote?” Voting in an election is a right that can be granted by a governing body. In fact, the rules associated with the right to vote are generally specified by the applicable governing body, whether it be a civil society group, a committee, a legislative body, a local municipality, a state, or the federal government. As we all know, former slaves were granted the right to vote via the 15th Amendment, women were granted the right to vote via the 19th Amendment, and eighteen-year-olds were granted the right to vote via the 26th Amendment. So, as you can see, these “government-granted” voting rights can be modified by the applicable governing body, and the question about incarcerated felons is a question that must be answered by We-the-People and the representatives that we elect.
Our Editorial Board is opposed to any form of voter suppression. However, we also feel that there needs to be adequate safeguards to protect the integrity of the voting process. Therefore, we support voter ID laws. If you need a photo ID to get on an airplane or to drive a car, it is not unreasonable to require a photo ID when you vote. We also believe that voting is a right AND a privilege. We believe in personal responsibility, along with a person being held accountable and being subject to the consequences of their actions. We also believe in personal redemption and second chances (once a convicted felon has served their time). And we believe that the current debate about whether convicted, incarcerated felons should be allowed to vote is absurd. That line of thinking can only come from a world view that says you do not have to take any personal responsibility for your actions, and there shouldn’t be any consequences for your criminal act(s).
US Debt Clock – – May 1st – $67,672 per citizen / June 1st – $67,897