And what about Freedom of association.
I am forever bringing that up but not many others do. It's almost like it's the forgotten right.
“never intended to be weighed”. Big word to forget.
Regarding freedom of association, the government decides how to balance one freedom against another. The government has decided that the freedom of some people in some ways is more important than the freedom of other people in other ways.
>To be serious for a moment, according to the negative definition of freedom, the role of the government is to determine the bounds of privacy and of property. Hence, each person is free within the scope of what is theirs and nobody’s freedom imposes upon the freedom of another. Necessarily, a tension arises as to what are the bounds of freedom in public places; e.g., while on public property. While we might suppose that good manners would be sufficient, from time to time we have to deal with those who, often deliberately, offend the sensibilities of others. An example of this would be laws regarding public nudity. The contrast is the positive definition of freedom. In this case, government decide what are people’s rights, and many of these impose obligations onto others. So, a right to health care imposes an obligation onto others to provide that health care. Furthermore, those who hold to the positive theory of freedom tend to expand the definition of the public space and to oppose privacy and property. For example, if the majority wants to be free from anybody thinking forbidden thoughts, then the majority can decide how to monitor people’s thoughts so as to attain that freedom. The positive definition of freedom is totalitarianism. In a democracy, you initially need a majority. But, once you attain a majority, activists within the majority work to gain control, using power over education and the media, as well as rewards and punishments to control “the majority.” Democracy then soon gives way to a ruling elite. Political opposition is either outlawed or elections become shams. As you can see, it is not a good thing to dwell long on where this country is going, especially if you think we are now past the turning point.
Bingo.