Saturday, September 05, 2009

Freedom to Choose

Here's a great thought experiment on personal choice from the blog Meteuphoric. People regularly claim that selling organs is like stealing organs, sweatshops are like slavery, euthanasia is like murder, and [legal] prostitution is like abuse. However, the former is freely chosen and the latter is coerced. Even if the choice is not the one society prefers, it is the preference of the individual. Most importantly, those who want to prevent the first, must do so out of coercion of the second. I see this as a debate between competing freedoms. Some want the freedom to choose their individual preference and others want the freedom to live in a world without where that preference doesn't exist.

Here's an unrelated, but equally interesting post about whether we should care about the interests of people who could exist, but don't.

12 comments:

  1. This is one of my biggest problems with libertarian thought: the idea that in all situations people freely choose sweat shops, selling organs, prostitution, etc - when in reality the desperate situations which the poor find themselves in make these hobson's choices.

    I personally don't see this as a debate between competing freedoms. A society which outlaws prostitution is a society which allows less freedom than one which does not outlaw it. But to many (me included), this is a sacrifice we'll take.

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  2. This is one of my biggest problems with non-libertarian thought: people in these terrible situations do have options (and more than just the two Hobson choices). You can live in rural China and farm for 14 hours a day or move to the city and work in a factory for 12. Admittedly these are both desperate options, but that doesn't mean one isn't better than the other. To take away one of them will surely make them and their children worse off.

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  3. I agree, if you take away farming/working in a factory. I don't agree, if you take away prostitution/selling organs/slavery.

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  4. But you must admit there are plenty of situation where some sells an organ to put capital into their new business. I don't like the idea of hindering mutually beneficial trade just because it's not always mutually beneficial.

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  5. There are plenty of situations where someone sells an organ to put capital into their new business? No, I don't think I have to admit that.

    I like the idea of hindering supposedly mutually beneficial trade if it means poor people don't sell their kidneys.

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  6. Are you willing to say there are zero benefits to organ sales?

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  7. No. I'm willing to say that I believe the benefits of legalizing organ sales do not outweigh the disadvantages to a society.

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  8. Okay, then it's just a measurement problem. I'll give you that. I'm just not sure which option gives the maximum benefit, so I'd rather just let people do what they want.

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  9. The one that gives them the maximum benefit is the one where the poor don't become organ farms for the rich.

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  10. How do you know that? What I hear is that this makes you uncomfortable (and understandably so) and this is reason enough to not allow people to participate in mutually beneficial trade.

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  11. I have said nothing here about how uncomfortable or comfortable this makes me, and have never said we should outlaw selling organs because it's gross.

    What I have said is we should not allow organ sales because they allow the poor to be taken advantage of. This is the opinion held by the American people and doctors at the American medical association. That is not to say it makes it right, but it is to say it's not an unreasonable, illogical, personal, or emotional argument.

    I'm sorry, I've made the poor decision again of taking on a passionate argument publicly instead of privately. Email/call me if you'd like to talk more.

    Peace, Justin.

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  12. Perhaps I should tend more towards interesting explainations of the world around us and less on the Founding Fathers being terrorists. I always appreciate yours and all comments. Thanks for reading.

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You are the reason why I do not write privately. I would love to hear your thoughts, whether you agree or not.