TheAncientGreek takes the leftist side in asserting a right to welfare
Um, to quote TheAncientGeek, "there is a massive difference between maybe getting getting charitable support that keeps you alive and having a right to welfare" -- I think you misunderstand him.
But still, how is the right to welfare a right "over things that don't exist yet" and how is the right to be not taxed (more or less) a right that "make[s] it easy to ignore others' suffering"?
The first is the right to support and the matching duty falls onto the government. It could be (see Saudi Arabia) that it can provide this support without taking money out of any individuals' pockets. The second is basically a property right and has nothing to do with the ease of ignoring suffering.
Perhaps I do misunderstand him. I took his "massive difference" comparison to mean that he doesn't believe charity is sufficient, and he would prefer welfare to be considered a right.
In the long term, the government is just a conduit - it matches and enforces transfers, it doesn't generate anything itself. The case of states that can sell resources is perhaps an exception for some time periods, but doesn't generalize in the way most people think of rights independent of local or temporal situations.
In any case, a right to support directly requires SOMEONE to provide that support, doesn't it? If everyone is allowed to choose not to provide that support, the suffering must be accepted.
If it's worth saying, but not worth its own post (even in Discussion), then it goes here.
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