Estudios Libertarios. Vol. 1 (2018).
WALTER E. BLOCK*
For the libertarian, there are only negative rights, the right not to be aggressed against,
stolen from, murdered, enslaved, raped, etc. Thus, assault and battery, theft, murder,
kidnapping, rape, are all crime in this philosophical system. Few people would disagree
with this assessment. Yes, there are criminals who engage in such nefarious behavior, but
there are no intellectuals who support it. Of course, this is with the exception of when the
government is guilty of some of these offenses; for example, they refuse to characterize
taxes as robbery, the military draft as enslavement.
In stark contrast to negative rights, there is the positive variety thereof. Here, there is a
so-called right to food, to clothing, to shelter. Some generalize this and call for welfare
“rights.” That is, they maintain it is justified to take money from rich Peter, at the point
of a tax assessors gun, and give it (well, most of it; the bureaucrat is entitled to a share of
the booty, is he not?) to poor Paul. There are even some supposed libertarians who favor
a program called universal basic income, or UBI. In this scheme, every person aged 21
and above would receive a grant of some $13,000 per year, in weekly installments. Some
favor this as a good program per se; the more libertarian supporters of UBI only support
it as a replacement for our present rag bag welfare programs, which heavily enrich
administrators, not so much the poor. There are even some friends of ours on the left who
approve of positive rights to friendship, sexual relations, respect and who knows what all
else.
Sometimes, these positive rights are couched in negative terms. For example, freedom
from fear, freedom from hunger, freedom from being discriminated against. The difficulty
with so-called positive rights, however presented, is that they are really disguised claims
for wealth, sometimes directly, sometimes not. Why not just come out and demand vast
distributions of goods and services, instead of couching such desires in terms of rights
and freedoms? The answer is obvious: it is too blatant to come out honestly and cleanly
in favor of robbing those who are deemed to have too much affluence; people see through
such shenanigans. But rights and freedoms, in contrast, have a good press. Who can
oppose them with a straight face?
Well, the libertarian may do exactly that. No one should be compelled to give anything
to anyone else, against his will. Another of the basic building blocks of this political
philosophy, in addition to the non-aggression principle (NAP) is freedom of association.
All interactions between people should be strictly voluntary. Consider the “right” not to
be discriminated against. Should the baker, the florist, the photographer be legally
required to provide their services at a gay wedding? The positive right not to be
discriminated against by anyone for any reason would imply exactly that.
But the libertarian perspective mandates that all relationships, commercial as well as
personal, should be strictly voluntary. Some commentators support the right of
homosexuals not to be discriminated against but carve out a special exception on the basis
of religion. If the baker, florist, photographer have religious scruples about gay weddings,
then they need not provide their services for this purpose. The libertarian takes a more
radical position: no one, for any reason, should be compelled to associate with anyone
against his will.
How to cite this article?
APA: Block, W. (2018). Negative Rights. Estudios Libertarios, 1, 5-6. Retrieved from
http://www.notaslibertarias.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Article-1_.pdf
Chicago: Block, Walter E. “Negative Rights.” Estudios Libertarios 1 (2018): 5-6.
http://www.notaslibertarias.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Article-1_.pdf.
5-6.
Harvard Anglia: Block, W.E. (2018). Negative Rights. Estudios Libertarios, [online] 1,
pp. 5-6, Available at: http://www.notaslibertarias.com/content/uploads/2018/09/Article-1_.pdf.
*Walter E. Block, Ph.D. Harold E. Wirth Eminent Scholar Endowed Chair and Professor of Economics.
Joseph A. Butt, S.J. College of Business. Loyola University New Orleans, 6363 St. Charles Avenue, Box
15, Miller Hall 318 New Orleans, LA 70118. tel: (504) 864-7934. fax: (504) 864-7970. wblock@loyno.edu.