Posts
Right? . . . No.
Op-Ed in NY Times by Mark Bittman, 2/25/14
Hallelujah. What a
relief to see a progressive thinker raise the issue of what is and is not a “right.”
Bittman expresses a desire to recast old dilemmas in a new
suit of clothes. For example, instead of
saying, “do companies have the right to sell junk food,” he wants to recast the
questions as, “do children have the right to eat healthy food?” Other flashpoints he wants to transform:
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From “does a citizen have the right to . . .”
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To “does a citizen have a right to”
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Smoke cigarettes
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Breathe clean air
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Consume intoxicating beverages with elevated alcohol levels
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Shop in a marketplace free from products that are nearly certain to
be abused by the consumer.
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Own and carry firearms
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Live in a safe neighborhood
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Make individual decisions about what drugs are beneficial to health
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Shop for drugs and medicine, confident that those posing hazards to
health have been banned from the marketplace.
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Drive an automobile that fits the consumer’s preferences but that others
consider inappropriate for public safety or environmental impact
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Live in a society where the people, through their government, have banned
vehicles that pollute the environment and are a general safety threat.
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I applaud the fact that he is raising awareness of the
ethical issue implicit in self-interested marketing practices of certain
corporations. I deplore the way that
food and beverage companies, in some cases, behave like drug pushers in
tempting consumers to buy their junk food products. However, Mr. Bittman has a diction problem
that troubles me.
In our society we have rights
conferred by the Constitution. Further,
we have agreements among ourselves called laws that create entitlements. We have agreed
to abide by certain laws even though the intent of the law is not to preserve a
right enumerated in the Constitution.
For example, we agree that I cannot operate a beauty salon unless I am a
licensed cosmetologist.
We have created these entitlements by expressing our
preferences through our elected government.
It is very important, however, to distinguish between a right and an entitlement.
Rights are in the Constitution. Laws or
entitlements can only exist if the judicial system determines that they do not
contravene rights in the Constitution.
If a majority of us wanted all balloons to be green, and the judiciary
did not find that it violated constitutional rights, then henceforth, we would
be able to enforce the existence of only green balloons. The
right to green balloons is not preserved in the Constitution, yet it would be
an entitlement enforceable by penalties or rights limitations.
My diction problem with Mr. Bittman is that he elevates his
desire for certain conditions in the society to the status of a right. He wants the government to limit the sale of
polluting automobiles so that he can be confident that his environment is
healthy. I agree with his desires, but I
do not believe that I have a right to a clean environment that is enshrined in
the Constitution. I will vigorously
agitate for legislative reform to accomplish this purpose, but I am trying to persuade
my fellow citizens to agree with me so that we can enact a law creating this
entitlement.
What is the big deal in making a distinction between a right
and a legislated entitlement? After all,
we can amend the Constitution just like we can modify laws. The big deal is that the rights in the
Constitution prevail regardless of the popular vote in any given election. It is important when we make a list of the
rights that trump the results of a plebiscite.
Mr. Bittman, you and I agree on a great deal, but we deeply
disagree on the tactic of re-framing the debate in terms of what is and is not a
right. I see why you do this: you find your opponents’ defense of their “rights”
a pretty tough nut to crack. You do
noble work by raising awareness of corporate misbehavior with their
manipulative marketing and distribution tactics. There are other ways to solve those problems
besides creating new expectations of rights.
