Re: End of all Open Source.

From: Olathe (Olathe_at_DALnet.irc)
Date: 12/07/03

  • Next message: Walter Roberson: "Re: End of all Open Source." 
    Date: Sat, 06 Dec 2003 20:03:33 -0600

    Barry Margolin wrote:
    > First of all, only a small part of the US Constitution, mostly the Bill
    > of Rights, tries to limit the government's abilities. Most of the
    > Constitution defines the structure of the government and the republic,
    > and defines some basic processes.
    >
    > Second, the operative words in Olathe's statement are "don't work".
    > Although the Bill of Rights attempts to be very restrictive, it doesn't
    > always work.

    You are correct about that.

    Back when the Constitution was in debate, there were two sides of a
    debate. The Federalists wanted the Constitution to be ratified. The
    Antifederalists didn't. Both sides believed that rights were from
    either the Creator (see The Declaration of Independence) or human reason
    (Rationalist thought). Neither side believed that governments define or
    choose which rights to give people.

    The Antifederalist Papers made the argument that the Bill of Rights
    would actually decrease rights: making an explicit list of certain
    rights would cause people to think that governments (or government
    documents) are what decide what rights people have.

    Looking at how I've heard people in my lifetime talk about rights, I'd
    have to say the Antifederalist Papers were correct. No one talks about
    God-given or natural rights anymore. They only talk about
    Constitutional rights. If Constitutional rights are all we have, then
    all we have is a unwillingly lenient tyranny that can collapse into an
    oppressive one by an amendment or two (or a law or two that the courts
    don't strike down). That doesn't fill me with too much optimism,
    especially considering the PATRIOT act.

    I'd recommend the Antifederalist Papers for reading. At the very least,
    they're interesting.

  • Next message: Walter Roberson: "Re: End of all Open Source."

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