Paul Fiery
1 min readAug 12, 2023

--

In the preceding paragraph you wrote, "No one has the right to steal another's property..." This is a good example of the constant contradiction between negative and positive rights. The positive right to a job requires that someone's property, (perhaps their time, or a space in their classroom or other concrete example of property), is taken or forcibly redirected toward fulfilling that positive right to work, or to education, etc. This contradiction is inescapable. It is why only the so-called negative rights are actual and proper rights. All positive rights conscript some humans to provide such rights to other humans. When we begin to provide such positive rights the public appetite for more of them begins to grow exponentially - until something breaks. No one can simply wish positive rights into existence. To provide them, some force must diminish real "negative" rights. We can't have our "negative rights cake" and eat it too.

--

--

Paul Fiery

Observing. Gathering and curating ideas. Getting ready.