People are always demanding that the rest of us provide them with any number of proclaimed inalienable "rights" -- the right to health care, to cheap education, to well-paid jobs, for compensation for past injustices, to free reproductive services, for the right not to be offended, etc. Unfortunately, these sorts of "rights" demand other people's time, accommodation, and money to make them possible. And no effort is ever enough to fulfill the demands of providing these sorts of "rights". That's because these rights are really privileges and luxuries only possible in wealthy countries.
These new "rights" remind me of my favorite actual real inalienable right -- the right to economic freedom. If I had to choose between freedom of speech or economic freedom, I'd choose economic freedom. Yes, I know, now I'm going to hell. Freedom of speech is everyone's favorite. It's the most popular one and now I'm uncool. Freedom of speech is sooo hot.
Why is economic freedom my favorite? Because my financial choices have a huge impact on my life. My choices reflect what I wear, where I go, which products I prefer, how I dress, what companies I support, what products I'm willing to spend a lot on, which ones I bypass, etc. I am what I buy or don't buy. We all are. A free market is essential to individual freedom.
This is because economic freedom is as much a form of expression as speech. It's speech with real, immediate consequences. Our economic and entrepreneurial choices shape our lives and our society without most of us even being aware we're actually making philosophical choices. We express our opinions and beliefs with each dollar we spend or save. How we use our financial resources is just as important as any opinion or argument we can express in an article, in a book, on a placard, or in a speech.
My next favorite right, right behind the right to spend my husband's money any damn way I wish, is the right to bear arms. Without this right, all the other rights are just "for now"s.
i New York for å bringe et snev av enkel eleganse.
Posted by: Beats By Dre Norge | 09/14/2012 at 02:43 AM