Thursday, September 3, 2009

More, Or Less Of An Absolute Right

I mentioned earlier the limits to any so-called right to suicide in a Rothbardian private property world.
David Beito, at the Independent Institute points out the right to carry is similarly limited:

Both sides have a point but neither can ever be satisfied as long as thoroughfares, parks, and other venues for town halls or rallies continue to be government owned. Under private property, the issue becomes a relatively simple one: the owner decides who can carry guns.

Rights exist within a matrix of other people's rights. The appropriate adjudication of these rights are based on the integrity of the physical space, not on any philosophical or metaphysical construction of the concept of right. I can't see an essence, or ascend into the world of ideal forms, but I can tell whether or not your actions caused someone else property damage, or went against the owner's expressed wishes.

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