Veil of Ignorance

John Rawls, in his book A Theory of Justice, makes a great argument for the the "veil of ignorance" litmus test for public policy.  Here is how someone smarter than I defines it:

"The veil of ignorance is a very elegant proposal to determine what social structures are just, put forward by John Rawls. The veil of ignorance principle says that a rule, or society, is just if it is a rule, or society, that would be agreed upon by everyone even if they were in a state of ignorance about their position within society is. For example, a law that gave half the people all the money wouldn’t be agreed upon because people wouldn’t know whether they would be among the half that got the money, and so the law is revealed to be unjust."

This is simple enough.  It has been used many times by the left to substantiate "safety nets".  I do not want to talk about these safety nets here, but I do want you to know that part of the ideology on the left comes from Rawls' veil of ignorance.

Arguments can be made that behind this veil of ignorance we would want equality, equal opportunity, wealth distribution, low taxes, high taxes,  a justice system, or a myriad of other public policies.

One argument can not be made behind the veil of ignorance.  Behind this veil of ignorance we would never want to give our biological mothers the opportunity to kill us before we even had a shot to be born at all.

Abortion makes no sense, even behind a veil of ignorance.

On liberty...

"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." -- Benjamin Franklin

I think most agree with this today, mainly because I see it used for different purposes in different posts on a weekly basis.  But we are so very quick to give up our liberties in order to be safe from certain things that could harm us. Whether it be terrorists, corporations, or even our own actions, we all let fear rule our ideas by allowing government to limit our privacy, limit our options and limit our own actions.

The Patriot Act allows my own government to spy on its citizens. My government has no right to gather information on me. My government has no right to tap my phones and monitor my bandwidth. If I trade my personal privacy for some short-term safety, I deserve neither one.

My crony capitalist government has no right to limit my choices. It has no right to promote legal monopolies. It has no right to stifle trade. It has no right to try and protect me from my free transactions. If I trade my economic options for short-term safety from predatory corporations I do not deserve options nor safety.

My "nanny state" government has gone too far. My government has no right to decide who I can marry. It has no right to decide if I make too much nor if I make too little. It has no right to decide who deserves the spoils of my hard work nor my families hard work. If I give up the rights to my own actions to momentarily protect me from my own decisions I deserve neither rights nor safety.

The funny thing is that the platforms for both parties uphold liberty in some forms but spit on it in others.

Republicans believe we should be free to make our own decisions and to use our own property in our own way. The conservative screams for the essential freedoms except when it comes to terrorism and marriage.   They will gladly give up essential freedoms for short-term safety in these situations. They deserve neither one.

Democrats believe that we have the right to marry who we want and that we have the right live privately. The liberal screams for our freedoms except when it comes to mean capitalists and economic disparity. They will gladly give up essential freedoms for short-term safety in these situations. They deserve neither one.

These are just a few examples and nothing in great detail.  There are many more examples of this hypocrisy.  I just wonder if we will ever fully realize the damage we are causing by allowing our liberty to be defined with each new election cycle?  Liberty is all or nothing, there is no balance to be found.

Here is my vomit for the week.