Does our society need to balance rights with increased responsibility?

Answer 1

Increased responsibility!? What society do you live in? I'm pretty sure they took the word "responsibility" out of the dictionary this year (it was replaced with ginormous). Once Hilary is elected they will remove "accountability" and "personal" also.

Answer 2

rights, if they mean anything, are not responsibilities. i have them in virtue of being a person, not in exchange for being a good person who always does what he's told.

if you're referring to the competing interests of public good and individual rights? then again--if rights mean what we talk about them meaning, we can't infringe upon them without being unjust.

given the following thought experiment:
a trolley is on a set of tracks and it loses its brakes. you are standing on a platform, next to an obese man. a person of his size is the only thing that can stop the trolley from certain doom. killing the fat man will save 15 people.

if people have rights, it's wrong to push the fat man. if not? then it's a pure cost/benefit analysis.

so to balance public good against individual freedom, you have to give up on inalienable rights. that would be against the declaration of independence, but hey, it's not like jefferson was perfect.

Answer 3

Yes. People need to take responsibility for their lives and stop having a victim or entitlement mentality. There are people truly in need, and of course, they deserve help, but you need to be willing to do what it takes to succeed.

Answer 4

no...we're balanced just fine

Answer 5

YES!!!