So, what is Liberty? What is a “human-right”? People say all kinds of things are human-rights. In fact,in many nations, more and more things are becoming human-rights.
Check it out; broadband is a right:
Finland has become the first country in the world to declare broadband Internet access a legal right.
It is a view shared by the United Nations, which is making a big push to deem Internet access a human right.
In June, France’s highest court declared such access a human right. But Finland goes a step further by legally mandating speed.
Because of this, some people argue that anything a body of elected officials declares is a right, really is a right.
But is that right? Can one group of people, voting together because of majority, bribe or force, band together and declare that certain things are Human Rights or that other certain things are not Human Rights?
For example, we in America tend to feel that the right to our own life is a Natural Human Right. However, what if our elected leaders passed a law that said, in effect, that’s not true. The lives of people, or even a select few people, are not their own.
This in fact was the case. It was law. It was passed and violation of that law lead to arrest and punishment, possible incarceration.
So which is it? Is it a Right because it’s legal? Is it NOT a right for the same simple reason?
In the mind of the Leftist, it’s the Law that determines the limits of Natural Human Rights. It is the far left view of government that a body of officials, by fiat, are able to determine what are and what are Natural Rights. And I call bullshit.
Now to be fair, not all of my gentle friends on the Left are always wrong. Many many democrats are in favor of gay marriage for example. And in a similar vein, many of my conservative friends are wrong on this very same issue. No, my claim is not that the Left has it wrong on what is and what is not a Right, my claim is that the Left are wrong about the source of those rights. The liberal says the law is wrong, we should pass laws that extend marriage to more gay and lesbian Americans. My argument is that you can’t legislate Human Rights.
All of this brings up the idea that health care is a Human Right. Which, of course, is utter nonsense. One of the conditions of a Human Right is that it does not restrict the Liberty or Rights of another man. And Health Care clearly violates that condition. For example, you do not have the Right to coerce me to provide my medical expertise for your benefit. I am at full Liberty to provide care or restrict care at my own will. By you forcing me to do this, you are restricting my Liberty as a free man.
And this is being played out in the real world:
The World Health Organisation is developing a code of practice regarding the international recruitment of health-care staff, to be discussed at its general assembly in May. It wants to strike a balance between the human right to health, and the right of health-care professionals to make their own career choices. These are fine principles.
It is my hope that the World Health Organization comes to the conclusion that, in fact, there is no right to health care and that they extend the Liberty of the Caribbean nurse to its natural limit. I doubt, however, they will come to this conclusion.