[247] in libertarians
liberals support civil liberties?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (hhuang@MIT.EDU)
Mon Sep 26 10:25:51 1994
From: hhuang@MIT.EDU
Date: Mon, 26 Sep 1994 10:22:31 -0400
To: libertarians@MIT.EDU
Were it only that most U.S. liberals were in fact
predominantly in favor of civil liberties. But consider the following
examples of regulations many left-liberal folks support:
Discrimination law (subsumes harassment law):
infringement on freedom of association
Speech codes/anti-porn ordinances:
infringement of speech and expression
FDA regulations:
infringements on speech, drug liberty, and general freedom to
do with one's body what one wishes
Consumer protection:
infringement on speech and general right to buy what you want
Anti-NAFTA/eminent domain:
infringement on the right of businesses to leave the country
Gun control:
infringement on right to bear arms
Immigration control (a welfare state defaults to anti-immigration
measures; California is a prime example):
infringement on freedom of emigration
Then, there are strange cases associated with the Clinton
Administration such as:
Favoring going to war over Bosnia (and Haiti)
Anti-smoking propaganda
Waco (if the Branch Davidians had been a leftist commune, we'd
never hear the end of it)
Clipper chip
I once heard of a distinction that I liked -- a liberal
obliges, a conservative prohibits:
A liberal says, "You are obligated to do this."
A conservative says, "You are prohibited from doing that."
You might wonder, "Well, what's the difference? Either way,
laws are being passed that curtail your liberty." That's precisely
the point.
-Han
