Ariadne's Thread on Justice
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Moral Rights

John - Property Rights(Click here to continue on the main path)

Dee Speaking
Libertarians differ about the exact rights that people have. But just to give you an idea of what we have in mind, let me offer the following list:
  • The right not to be harmed by others
  • The right not to be interfered with in one's beliefs and actions unless we are harming others
  • The right to acquire, use, and dispose of property
  • The right to reach voluntary agreements with others. And by 'voluntary' I mean that no violence and no threats of violence are brought to bear on the people making the agreement
  • The right to have our rights protected by our government
  • The right to compensation when our rights are violated
Each of these rights would require a lot of interpretation in order to be applicable to daily life. But I think you get the idea. They are essentially negative rights or "non-interference" rights. They do not demand that others provide us with the products of their labor; but they do demand that each of us be allowed to work and contract with others.

For libertarians, the main role of the state is to protect individual rights. It is certainly not to maximize happiness or reduce unemployment by spending a lot of money on government projects.
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