by Dobby » Fri Dec 28, 2012 4:50 pm
I'd argue that rights should be down to the very basics, such as the right to life. In a democracy, the right to vote without intimidation etc etc. No ifs, no buts, everyone should be guaranteed those rights, no questions asked. Free speech is a good one and I'm an advocate of free speech, even so imo the debate should be, should this be a right, not this is a right with restrictions. You can either say what you want or you can't, simple. This can be controlled by democracy anyway, if the right to vote is a right. If a government denies you certain apsects of you're free speech, you vote for someone else. Rights need to be scaled back hugely, in a previous thread I declared 'privacy' should be a right, but thinking about it, maybe it shouldn't.
Anything else can be sorted by laws, not rights. If you are able to chop and change a right, then who says I can't chop and change the right to life. It becomes a dangerous and slippery slope.