Too often government tramples rights of some to help others
by James Simpson

Potomac News
Friday, April 25, 2003

I am writing this column for Prince William County high school students. Unfortunately the information I am about to acquaint you with is not taught in our union controlled government school system. As young adults you are asked to dutifully pledge allegiance to the flag then mislead when it comes to learning about the guiding principles that our founders built this nation upon. It is my hope that those who are in school now can one day reverse the direction that our country is headed and once again set it on a righteous course.

What I hope to convey to you today is the difference between negative rights and positive rights. The former are those rights that the founders of our country believed in when they designed our nation; built upon principles that were in alignment with their Christian beliefs. The latter are erroneous rights that our politicians endorse and promote today.

Recently I have heard politicians espouse the seemingly virtuous concept that they should do what their constituents want, that they "represent the people in their district." This is flawed logic. If a majority of citizens wanted to increase taxes to 100% and live in a communist state, would that be ok? If a majority of voters wanted the laws changed so that rape was no longer a crime, would that be ok? Politicians are unaware of this, but we do not live in a social democracy; we live in a constitutional republic.

It is the duty of our elected representatives to make difficult decisions in times when those they lead would not be strong enough to do so. We don't elect representatives to be beholding to the "majority" but to be beholding to the principles that our society was founded on.

Until a couple years ago I was under the same false impression that our government was supposed to help the less fortunate. In fact, when certain Bible passages are taken out of context it sounds as though this is what Christ taught. However, that is not correct. While Christians are encouraged and expected to be supportive, giving and generous, there is no support for the belief that Jesus encouraged socialism. Charity is to be given through free will. Jesus never wanted man to set up a government that would take from other men the fruits of their labor. Just as God gave us the free will to 'choose' to follow him or not, He also wanted us to 'choose' to give to the less fortunate.

And this is the fundamental difference between negative and positive rights. Negative rights are those rights which do not require that the rights of other be infringed in order for you to exercise your rights. Examples are the right to life and liberty, the right to free speech, the right to associate freely, the right to pursue happiness, and the right to practice whatever religion you believe. By exercising these rights you are not denying others the right to exercise their rights.

Positive rights, on the other hand, do infringe on the rights of others. These are the rights supported by those in government today. They believe it is the right of an individual to force a group to accept them into their organization if they do not wish to associate with the individual. Likewise they believe it is right for folks to pursue happiness through the arts even if it is funded through money confiscated from taxpayers through the threat of force. They even believe it is a right for some people, even if they are truly unfortunate and genuinely in need of assistance, for others to support them.

Politicians cannot see that this is only accomplished through the coercion of an individual to give up, without their consent, the right they have to 'choose' what to do with the fruits of their labor. When you freely trade your life (time and energy) for money, then you should have the right to decide what to do with that money. When one is not permitted by the State to choose what to do with the money they traded for their time and energy, then one is a slave to the State.

As Thomas Jefferson said at his First Inaugural Address on March 4, 1801; "…a wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities."

If you believe that someone has a right to do or have something; first question if that right requires another individual, without their consent, to do something or give up something, to satisfy that right. If it does then it is not a moral right.

James Simpson lives in Lake Ridge and prays that students take this short lesson to heart.