Human rights’ are a fine thing, but how can we make ourselves sure that our rights do not expand at the expense of the rights of others. A society with unlimited rights is incapable of standing to adversity. If we do not wish to be ruled by a coercive authority, then each of us must rein himself in…A stable society is achieved not by balancing opposing forces but by conscious self-limitation: by the principle that we are always duty-bound to defer to the sense of moral justice.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
If you accept the premise that individuals rights can impose burdens on others, individually or en masse, then the concept of unlimited rights becomes unlimited burdens.
Yes. Except in theory, where anything is possible, it’s hard to completely isolate your neighbors from the effects of your actions. The example I’ve heard cited is if you manufacture something that produces toxins on your property and it poisons the ground water then your neighbors will be affected too.
Or in a town, if the rest of the neighborhood is tidy and your place looks like the zombie apocalypse has taken hold, out of repair, overgrown and all, it lowers their property values – often by a considerable amount.
The prime example is the supposed rights of the homeless to sleep on streets and in parks, defecating like wild animals all over, tossing used needles about and in general harassing and threatening the residents who pay big taxes to maintain the parks and sidewalks.
That’s certainly topical. I understand the Supreme Court found that one in the Constitution. It makes you pause and wonder if this is a kind of joke on us.
Yes, a kind of joke, a malignant joke that no one laughs at.
Definitely.