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Entry: The Wrongs of "Rights" Link: http://www.takimag.com/site/article/the_wrongs_of_rights#7723 Post contents: Adriana, This is what an anarchist comrade of mine by the name of Nick Manley has to say about this. I concur almost completely: > That's a very interesting discussion you had there. I was thinking the same > thing that you did when it comes to "how do you protect the rights of > children entirely in an anarchy?". Well, the historical record shows that > states and other large powerful institutions are capable of doing great harm > to children. In other words, even in a stateless society populated by mostly > humane people, you might have some abuse going on somewhere on the planet. > > Such a state of affairs is horrifically tragic but history shows that some > of the most predatory people tend to rise to the top of statist systems. The > American principles of limited government and individualism -- though not > equally applied due to the treatment of various minorities throughout > American history -- have been severely tarnished in the last 200 years or > so. > > Maybe the best chance for the idea of liberal democracy -- in terms of > everyone having an equal right to run their own lives rather than mass > democratic statism -- or liberal individualism is in a decentralist system > where the statist esque conservatives don't have a chance to seize a massive > state to promote their agenda. > > Frankly, in my ideal left-libertarian influenced community, the abuse of > children would be something taken very seriously. I've actually become very > interested in the idea of trying to open a free school in the tradition of > the anarchistic modern school movement. > > And this interest in a culture of genuine respect for children is only one > of many other cultural concerns I have. My leftist libertarianism is very > much a cultural outlook as much as it is a political or economic one. I am > not sure if I'd entirely dismiss the proposition of liberation actions > directed at > say people physically abusing children in the neighboring community or > something. > > On the other hand, that might be far too akin to the idea of invading Iraq > to promote secularism, human rights, and so forth. And I don't really want > to live in a world with constant warfare between different individuals, > communities, or nations. > > But if done left-libertarian commando style then that might be ok. One of my > objections to the Iraq war was that some of the weapons used were in no way > capable of being pinpointed accurately and that an imperialist occupation > followed. If the CIA had simply tried to kidnap Saddam to stand trial before > an international tribunal or something, then it would have been less of a > big deal for me, though I don't see how that would necessarily produce much > positive change in Iraqi society/culture or even the Iraqi state. The Baath > regime could just appoint another brutal head honcho. > > So; perhaps, it's best to let cultural change come of its own accord rather > than employing violence to make idealistic cultural ideas universalized. The > Iraq war has certainly shown that removing a tyranny in a given territory > does not necessarily mean that all trace of cultural conservative tyranny > will be rid of. > > Sent at: 2008 07 08