Question

At what point does the common goods of society limit your rights?
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Answer 1

Answer:

Such a “common good” violates my rights in its very nature.

Consider there is no “common”. There is no “average person”, there is no one answer that works for everyone.

As Bernie Sanders said, “Nobody needs 23 different kinds of deodorant!” And he’s right, for himself. What about those 22 other people? What about 350 million other people? What about 7 billion other people?

Reality is variety, different people want and need different things. Because of this reality, people invented markets where individuals come together to meet each other’s wants and needs voluntarily, cooperatively.

Without coercion, every seller must offer goods and services which consumers want, at a price which those same consumers are both willing and able to pay. People must be persuaded to buy every single time, and any bad actor quickly finds himself isolated and alone, at best.

Yet through all this, no matter how beneficial markets may be for everyone involved, each individual has a different outcome, because individuals are different.

Many people who talk about a “common good” see this variety of outcome and consider it a bad thing. Sure, they have every right to think that way, but the moment they advocate coercion against others justified by that variety, they are violating everyone else’s rights.

Good people recognize life’s infinite variety means some people, through no fault of their own, end up in the gutter. It happens. The solution is, again, voluntary cooperation through what is called “charity”.

Answer 2

Answer:

Such a “common good” violates my rights in its very nature.

Consider there is no “common”. There is no “average person”, there is no one answer that works for everyone.As Bernie Sanders said, “Nobody needs 23 different kinds of deodorant!” And he’s right, for himself. What about those 22 other people? What about 350 million other people? What about 7 billion other people?Reality is variety, different people want and need different things. Because of this reality, people invented markets where individuals come together to meet each other’s wants and needs voluntarily, cooperatively.