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| On Property |
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Sidgwick Speaking
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I've talked
with everyone and I think I can summarize what
they think about non-interference rights versus
welfare rights. Here goes:
- I'll start with myself. As a Catholic, I
believe that God created the world for the
good of all humankind. I've said
this before. Our rights have to be derived
from that premise. Every single person has
a right to the basic benefits that flow
from the common use of God's creation. The
American Catholic bishops made this clear
when they declared that "a number of human
rights also concern human welfare and are
of a specifically economic nature. First
among these are the rights to life, food,
clothing, shelter, rest, medical care, and
basic education." [Economic Justice for
All, Section 80] Of
course, if someone is capable of
working, then that person is obliged to
work to transform natural resources into
those things that people can use for
their survival and comfort.
- Dee is 100% behind a set of
non-interference rights, including rights
to religious belief, religious practice,
movement, association, speech, and
self-defense. She is very skeptical about
natural or statutory welfare rights. From
her point of view, as a libertarian, a
welfare right to X is simply a way to make
someone else work to provide you with X.
In other words, welfare rights involve
coercion and exploitation.
- John and Vera are uncertain about
natural welfare rights, but they believe
strongly that there are good reasons for
adopting a set of statutory welfare rights
that would provide for the basic needs of
every citizen. They both believe that if
some persons take exclusive ownership of
natural resources, they must provide some
sort of compensation to those who lose
access to those resources. That obligation
to compensate is built into the
fundamental justification of exclusive
ownership. It could take the form of a
guaranteed income; or it might take the
form of a guarantee that basic needs be
met. In other words, welfare rights can be
justified as a form of compensation for
strong property rights in natural
resources.
- Fred is much more skeptical about
natural welfare rights or statutory
welfare rights. He agrees that in an ideal
world, everyone's basic needs would be
met. But he also believes in limited
government and doesn't want to see a
large, ever-expanding welfare state. On
balance, he believes that government
should only step in to help people in
extreme circumstances. Other than that, he
would encourage private charity to help
those who cannot help themselves.
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