I'm
really glad that you brought this up. This is one of the most important divides in modern political philosophy. There is hardly anything more important or more contentious.
The people we call conservatives today tend to favor smaller government, freer markets, and negative rights. The people we call liberals tend to favor a government with a broader scope, more regulation of markets, and
positive rights. That may be an overgeneralization, but it contains a lot of truth.
As a libertarian, I believe strongly in individual rights. But the rights I support are negative rights. I just don't see how someone else can be morally obligated to supply me with something (health care, for example) just because I exist. But it seems to me that that is just what the theory of positive rights is saying.
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