“Conflict is a reliable way to know whether or not you're a leftist. As Steven Brust says, the way to distinguish a leftist is to ask "What's more important, human rights, or property rights?" If you answer "Property rights are human right," you're not a leftist. Leftists don't necessarily oppose all property rights - they just think they're less important than human rights.”
@rberger@pluralistic
I got excused from a jury panel because I said I would not convict a homeless person (the defendant) for existing somewhere that happened to be owned by someone else (trespassing).
@msbellows@rberger You are not disagreeing; rather, you're commenting without following the link, whereupon you would have discovered that this is in no way incompatible with the thesis.
It's the difference between property rights as an instrument for achieving human rights and property rights as a human right.
The property right to be secure in your home - whether that's an encampment or a luxury condo - delivers the human right of shelter.
But when the fire department needs to drag its hoses through your home, your property right is sidelined to serve others' human right not to burn to death.
@pluralistic@rberger I still disagree, though, simply because there's doesn't appear to be an invite bright line. Does taking someone's yacht violate a "human right"? I'm inclined to say no. Is taking away a scared child's familiar teddy bear? Yes.
Is it OK to take away a scared child's familiar teddy bear if it's carrying a contagion that threatens the health of everyone else, even if that child is immune?
Yes. Property rights are sometimes a means to achieve human rights, but property rights aren't human rights.
@pluralistic@rberger And the same can be said of free speech, and religious practice, and free travel, and marriage choice, and every other human right. All can be constrained when they come into conflict with another right.