Difference between revisions of "What Are Rights?"
From Critiques Of Libertarianism
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Every right creates negative duties for all other people, which are often characterized as requiring only "restraint" by the others. As [[Frederic Bastiat]] liked to point out in [[What Is Seen And Unseen]], that overlooks an opportunity cost (for that "restraint"): those other people could benefit from ignoring the duty created by a right. Plenty of people have starved because of the opportunity cost of respecting property rights in land that they could have farmed themselves. | Every right creates negative duties for all other people, which are often characterized as requiring only "restraint" by the others. As [[Frederic Bastiat]] liked to point out in [[What Is Seen And Unseen]], that overlooks an opportunity cost (for that "restraint"): those other people could benefit from ignoring the duty created by a right. Plenty of people have starved because of the opportunity cost of respecting property rights in land that they could have farmed themselves. | ||
== Compound Rights == | == Compound Rights == | ||
| + | Single rights are frequently not very useful. For example, if you have a right to pick a tangerine then you might not have any recourse when somebody else picks the tangerine (unless you also have another right to exclude all others.) There are institutions creating several sets of [http://critiques.us/index.php?title=Bundle_of_Rights bundles of rights] that are commonly useful in society. | ||
| + | === Property === | ||
| + | Property is a specific set of rights that are coercively enforced. See: [http://critiques.us/index.php?title=What_Is_Property%3F#What_are_the_component_rights_of_property.3F What are the component rights of property?] | ||
| + | === Contracts === | ||
| + | Contracts too have bundles of rights such as: | ||
| + | * Rights to purchase a particular product or service | ||
| + | * Rights to resell a product or service | ||
| + | * Rights to be the only seller or buyer | ||
| + | * Rights to delivery and timely payment | ||
| + | * Rights to refunds or repairs | ||
| + | and many others. These rights can vary a great deal and can be explicit in the contract or implicit due to contract law. Enforcement is ultimately through the courts, even if arbitration is specified, because the parties may not abide by the arbitration. | ||
== Positive And Negative Rights? == | == Positive And Negative Rights? == | ||
== Absolute Rights? == | == Absolute Rights? == | ||
