The ONLY rights you have are those agreed upon by the society/government you live in. How can you possibly believe that if there was no government at all, when a person is born, they would have property rights--even to their own body? God (if there is one or more) obviously does not care how you are treated or their would never have been slavery or dictators, so your rights surely cannot be said to come from heaven.
Did you have to give your parents permission to change your diapers? No, the only rights you had as a baby were the ones given you by your parent(s). Children are governed (for better or worse) by their parents. The state rarely gets involved. You can be assaulted (spanked, slapped, hit), you can be imprisoned (grounded) and, unless it is horrifyingly cruel, the state lets your family govern your rights and behavior.
"Rights" only evolve from socially constructed realities.
There is and always has been government in human groups. Starting with the family, then the tribe and all the way to the UN. Your pretense that we do not need government is just that, a pretense that makes no sense. YOU are a part of the government. And you, like our whole country and the rest of the countries in the world, get the government you accept. Pretending we can get along without government makes you appear unaware of how your life is connected to the rest of ours.
You seem to be having mucho fun pretending you have THE solution to human problems. Maybe you are smarter than all the rest of us. But I'll bet the Russian metal in my head that you don't really know squat about either the origins of human nature or the complexities of social interaction.
Gotta agree with Gene, you are not born with rights, they come from government. I disagree with his frustrated remark that you are so fucking stupid, but I understand how he gets there. I have come to believe you were raised in a very isolated ideological educational environment and have come by your beliefs honestly--you have no real world experience with the big ideas you so righteously espouse so you do not understand how unworkable they are. You were born an American citizen. You were born with more legally enforce human rights than 99.99% of the people who have lived their lives on earth--and all thanks to the evolution of government/social institutions.
This thread has gone to 6 pages and doesn't seem to have an end in sight. The broken record has been displayed. It does give us all a topic to argue over. But, we're not trying to discuss anything. We are just talking back and forth with no intention to alter or compromise any of our premises. I'm declaring this a stalemate. It's getting boring. Good night!
Comments
Did you have to give your parents permission to change your diapers? No, the only rights you had as a baby were the ones given you by your parent(s). Children are governed (for better or worse) by their parents. The state rarely gets involved. You can be assaulted (spanked, slapped, hit), you can be imprisoned (grounded) and, unless it is horrifyingly cruel, the state lets your family govern your rights and behavior.
"Rights" only evolve from socially constructed realities.
There is and always has been government in human groups. Starting with the family, then the tribe and all the way to the UN. Your pretense that we do not need government is just that, a pretense that makes no sense. YOU are a part of the government. And you, like our whole country and the rest of the countries in the world, get the government you accept. Pretending we can get along without government makes you appear unaware of how your life is connected to the rest of ours.
You seem to be having mucho fun pretending you have THE solution to human problems. Maybe you are smarter than all the rest of us. But I'll bet the Russian metal in my head that you don't really know squat about either the origins of human nature or the complexities of social interaction.
Gotta agree with Gene, you are not born with rights, they come from government. I disagree with his frustrated remark that you are so fucking stupid, but I understand how he gets there. I have come to believe you were raised in a very isolated ideological educational environment and have come by your beliefs honestly--you have no real world experience with the big ideas you so righteously espouse so you do not understand how unworkable they are. You were born an American citizen. You were born with more legally enforce human rights than 99.99% of the people who have lived their lives on earth--and all thanks to the evolution of government/social institutions.
It does give us all a topic to argue over. But, we're not trying to discuss anything. We are just talking back and forth
with no intention to alter or compromise any of our premises. I'm declaring this a stalemate. It's getting boring.
Good night!