Text 10948, 66 rader
Skriven 2008-02-11 20:53:25 av Michiel van der Vlist (2:280/5555)
     Kommentar till en text av Jeff Smith (1:14/5)
Ärende: Shootings in USA
========================
Hello Jeff,

On Sunday February 10 2008 09:46, you wrote to Björn Felten:

 BF>>    The same justification they use to deny you the freedom to
 BF>> rape any girl you see and take fancy to or to grab your
 BF>> neighbour's new car when your own is getting old.

 JS>      Umm... Sorry but raping girls isn't what anyone that I know here
 JS> would consider a lost freedom. Course that may be differant in other
 JS> countries but I would hope not. The analogy you are trying to use is
 JS> way off Björn.

I beg to differ. Not having guns is not what *I* consider a lost freedom. That
may have something to do with the fact that I never had that right to begin
with. And you never had the right to rape girls I suspect. But as you note,
that may be different in other countries. It certainly was different in other
times. When man lived in caves and walked around in bear skin, females were
prey as soon as they started to menstruate.

But as we evolved and getting young females pregnent as soon as possible was no
longer needed for the survival of the species it became unfashionable and later
a taboo.

 JS> Raping and stealing are not considered freedoms here. They are
 JS> crimes.

Yet the practise lingered on until a mere two hundred years ago in the "droit
de seigneur"....

 JS> The problem arises when the government starts to lessen people's
 JS> freedoms in an attempt to solve problems.

Societies evolve and rights can not be unlimited. The right of the one is
almost always an intrusion on the right of someone else. Compromises have to be
made and for it to work these compromises have to be laid down in laws.

As societies evolve, the morals and the laws that reflect them change. It is
unavoidable that during the process some perceive that change as a restriction
of their rights.

When I was young there were no speed limits. A 50 km/h speed limit in build up
areas was introduced in the mid fifties IIRC. When I got my driver's license
there still was no general speed limit outside build up areas. I could legally
drive my car as fast as it would go outside city limits.

A general speed limit was introduced around 1970. I could argue that the
government had lessened my freedom and in fact I sort of felt like that at the
time. But now I can see that when the roads got busier and cars got faster, it
was unavoidable. Too many serious accidents. Unlimited speed is just too
dangerous in a crowded country like this one.

Same for guns. There is no need for everyone to have the right to a gun.
Society can function very well without it and people can live in freedom and
happiness without the right to own guns. Just like we can do without the right
to rape and unlimited speed on public roads.

Our society has evolved to the point where we do not need citizens to have
guns. Other societies have not advanced to that point yet. They banned rape,
but still allow guns.


Cheers, Michiel

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