Jefferson quote
Posted by kddr22 2 years, 7 months ago to Philosophy
" Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add ' within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrants will. and always so when it violates the rights of the individual."
Tyrants and well-meaning people interpret the limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others in a way that limits everyone's rights. Part of living in a society is someone's exercise of their rights may expose other citizens to some risk or cost. Right now people are fired up on the small risk anti-vaxers present for their neighbors, but almost everything we do has some cost. I often hear it in the context of a political protest: the cleanup and policing cost taxpayers money. It comes up with gun rights presenting the risk that someone will misuse the gun and hurt someone. We mostly ignore that driving cars takes lives because some drivers are bound to have medical events or just get distracted or make an honest error. Part of living in a free society is accepting some risk and cost of other citizens exercising their rights.