Proletariat Blog

Counterfeit freedoms

“Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and the right to religious belief and worship…” all were enshrined in the Soviet Constitution. There could be no better example of the difference between the the promises of positive rights and the practical application of them than the 1977 Soviet Constitution.

Far left progressives, like Hugo Chavez and his Hollywood fellow travelers, will give you assurances that you would have more rights under leftist regimes; but in reality such rights would not be worth the paper they’re printed on.

In addition, the Constitution provided for freedom of artistic work, protection of the family, inviolability of the person and home, and the right to privacy. In line with the Marxist-Leninist ideology of the government, the Constitution also granted social and economic rights not provided by constitutions in capitalist bourgeois democracies. Among these were the rights to work, rest and leisure, health protection, care in old age and sickness, housing, education, and cultural benefits. ~en.wikipedia.org

Wow, these ‘basic rights’ which Soviet citizens apparently enjoyed reads like the Democratic Party platform.

• the right to work
• the right to rest and leisure.
• the right to health protection.
• the right to maintenance in old age, in sickness, and in the event of complete or partial disability or loss of the breadwinner.
• the right to education.
• the right to enjoy cultural benefits.
• the rights to housing.

So nice and friendly. But does anyone believe that Soviet citizens actually exercised these rights? Would anyone enjoy these rights in a progressive America?

The left-wing would never ally themselves with oppressive dictatorships. Couldn’t happen here, right? Yet the evidence is abundant that the left-wing is in favor of dictatorship. The latest social revolution is calling and they are making the pilgrimage:

The New Fellow-Travelers
The ‘useful idiot’ A-list flocks to Hugo Chavez
Supermodel Naomi Campbell Meets with Hugo Chavez
Sean Penn Applauds as Venezuela’s Chavez Bashes Bush
Kevin Spacey Meets With Hugo Chavez in Venezuela

Socialism, great in theory or just plain wrong?

The key to understanding why the rhetoric of the left is 180 degrees with reality, why the theory is always the opposite of the practice, is understanding the concept of Positive rights.

Positive rights, like the right to an education, health care, welfare, housing, or what-have-you are rights that indebt others to you rather than making you free from the interference of others. In other words, they do not guarantee individual freedoms they create servitude and obligation.

This is the cornerstone of all liberal and leftist ideology; the left’s counterfeit concept of freedom. Community, in the lexicon of leftism, is about the enforceable obligations of ‘society’ on the individual rather than freedom for the individual. Group rights over individual rights.

Thus individual morality is replaced with collective morality. Individuals lose their freedom and the collective gains power and control. This perversion of the concepts of democracy and community are what make progressive politics such an insidious ideology.

‘Community rights’ are a pale and perverted counterfeit of community built upon individual freedom and free participation. Shifting power and rights from the individual to the group always results in abuses of power.

The difference is this: Negative rights in their very conception require no initiation of force. Positive rights do. Rights are principles for averting conflict so that individuals may live productive lives. Positive rights by their nature create conflict. Negative rights do not. For that reason, positive rights are not rights at all. Rather, they are powers assumed by government.

Many people attracted to the positive-rights program may be motivated by concern for people living in truly appalling conditions. If they understood that those conditions are sustained by the absence of negative rights — specifically, property rights — they might see the error in their thinking. ~fff.org

Democrats, the party of Positive Rights

Candidate Hillary Clinton says that healthcare is a fundamental right. John Edwards is preaching an even more strident and open declaration of leftist ideology; promising to transform our society, a la Hugo Chavez. A post on his blog (“Join the Campaign to change America”) goes so far as to say he would be the, “People’s President,” no doubt of the newly formed People’s Republic of America.

The problem for liberals is that their true agenda is not popular. No one I know, –scratch that–, about two people I know actually want to live in a socialist America. This is why the theory is always 180 degrees from the reality. No one wants to diminish their freedoms for the sake of directives from numerous “People’s Committees.” However, the jostling to be commanding those committees is a fervent one.