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Entry: The Wrongs of "Rights" Link: http://www.takimag.com/site/article/the_wrongs_of_rights#7662 Post contents: You and I seem to have an equally negative view of human nature. I agree that modern people in the West are by no means immune to barbarism. In fact, I think there's a great deal of barbarism that goes unrecognized in modern societies. It is for this reason that I distrust the state. I recognize Hayek's dictum that "the worst get to the top". I don't trust "the worst" to protect children or do anything else of value. Concentrated power is best avoided. What about the children being slaughtered in the neo-Jacobins' war of conquest in Iraw? What about the children slaughtered by the federales at Waco? What about the children who are abused, molested and even killed in the state's juvenile institutions? What about the children terrorized by the paramilitary police during drug raids on private homes? What about the kids who have been killed in the state's pseudo-military "boot camp" concentration camps? What about the children removed from their families by fanatic do-gooder social service bureaucrats? What about the children with no parents because the folks are in jail for smoking pot or having a unregistered firearm or violating some arcane tax or environmental law? I could continue this list indefinitely. If the state is removed, I'm not sure so local communities are going to rush out to sanction selling children into prostitution. Yes, cultural norms can change according to changing economic situations and so forth. It's an imperfect world. But I find this to be a very unconvincing argument for an overarching state system. I know of no nation whose constitution has as its first article: "The purpose of the state is to protect children from abuse by private individuals." States simply aren't that rosy in my view. Your motives are laudable enough. But I really don't think we're on the same wavelength in our respective understandings of political theory and the nature of the state and its relationship to society at large. I agree to disagree. Sent at: 2008 07 06