Robert Halfhill wrote: "Access to adequate public transportation is a right. If you think of it in collective terms, we can either collectively provide for adequate transportation for the people living in this city or do it the way we do now, with most people providing for their transportation individually and clogging the streets and polluting the air with a plethora of private automobiles."
How can anything which requires the participation of another individual (or a group of people) be a "right?" Rights are inalienable. That means you possess the same rights whether you are alone in the wilderness, or in the urban core. They don't change with circumstance, and you cannot demand someone else do something to make your rights possible. It can't be a right if you can't do it! It can't be a right if you can't do it yourself! Rights are concepts like freedom of speech, freedom of motion (within your capabilities - you cannot have the right to fly like a bird, for example), freedom to defend ones-self, freedom to choose with whom you associate (that doesn't mean the individuals you choose have to associate with you!). Freedom to make a living, to make transactions with another willing person, etc. Public accomodations cannot be a right. They can't be enjoyed alone in the wilderness. If you go hiking in the mountains, and get tired, and want to catch a train back home, are your rights violated because the national park isn't cris-crossed with tracks? The idea that public transportation is a right is as ridiculous as the notion that I have the right to my neighbor driving me where ever I wish to go! Dan McGrath Longfellow http://www.shegstad.us ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <mpls@mnforum.org> Sent: Friday, November 04, 2005 10:01 PM Subject: Re: [Mpls] Justice Du Jour REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@mnforum.org Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
