My Rights

Last post I discussed the constitutional basis for the Roe decision, and promised that I would try to compile a list of individual liberties which I believe should be protected by the constitution (against infringement by both the State and Federal government). All of these only apply to citizens (18 and older, both men and women etc.)

1. Right to private property: This is by far and away the most important. No eminent domain, no estate taxes. This would encompass the third amendment.
2. Right to contract: The government should not have the ability to interfere with consensual contracts between two citizens. This includes marriage.
3. Right to consumption: A citizen should have the right to consume anything he chooses. That includes drugs (of all kinds), cigarettes, alcohol etc.
4. Freedom of speech (with limitations along the lines of the Schenck)
5. Freedom of press (severe libel being the only notable exception)
6. No unreasonable searches or seizures.
7. Right to Due process
8. Equal protection under the laws.

These are rights which I would like to see stronger protection for. Obviously many would disagree with me. It will be interesting for some to note that I don’t have any protection for the right to bear arms. That’s because I’ve decided that owning guns should be illegal.

Being fairly classically liberal, I generally argue against most government action by saying that when a government imposes a law it’s because they think that you (and all of the other citizens) are too stupid to take care of yourself (the nanny-state argument). I think people are too stupid to own guns. Period. People blow themselves, their friends, their spouses, their pets away both on accident and on purpose on an astoundingly regular basis.

I think that here in the United States we have given “gun ownership” a pretty fair trial. But we’ve failed. There are too many deaths and crimes facilitated solely by gun ownership that are easily preventable. I feel like I’m a fairly good judge of character and have a decent understanding for human behavior. As a species we’re too greedy and emotional to handle such powerful instruments of death on an individual basis. For the same reason nuclear weapons shouldn’t be spread around the globe were any maniacal leader can get their hands on them, guns shouldn’t be so widely available that everyone in America should be able to own one.

That turned into a kind of rant on guns which I wasn’t expecting, but so it goes.

Update: A wise (and handsome) commenter has noted that I missed a few important rights. 1) The right to assembly. I’m not sure how I let this one slip by. 2) The right to participate in the government. I guess I just thought this would be implied by the nature of the republic, but it’s a good point nonetheless. 3) (and this is where the old man makes the best point) The right to access the internet. This is by far the most important right which the people of the future will relish. The internet is quickly becoming the most powerful tool for social change, and freedom of communication on the internet is a right the importance of which must not be forgotten.