Tuesday, March 19, 2024

These Are My People.

January 20, 2017 by  
Filed under Business, News, Opinion, Politics, Weekly Columns

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(ThyBlackMan.com) You have the moral right to associate with anyone you would like to, and the moral right to not associate with those you find undesirable. No one may force you into associations you don’t desire, or forbid you to associate with others at your discretion. We’re not just talking about physical association here; the right to privacy also comes from this fundamental right, as well as the right of security of your personal information.

If you don’t want to associate with someone, you most likely also don’t want that someone to have access to personal and private information about you. You also have the right to refuse entry to your property to anyone, including agents of the government. If you’re a business owner or service provider, the right to decide what services or products you provide and the conditions under which you provide them are also derived from this right.

Since this is a universal right possessed by every human being, you must not try to force an unwanted association on others, or try to prevent a desired association. As with so many things, it comes down to the Golden Rule. If you wouldn’t like someone to do something to you, you shouldn’t do it to them. When others attempt to force someone to associate with others they don’t want to or to prevent them from associating with others they do want to, it is your responsibility to support those being targeted. This includes both individuals and businesses—businesses may not be forced to provide products or services they don’t wish to provide, or prohibited from providing products or services they wish to.

You must support such businesses’ right to choose how to operate even if you disagree with their decisions about these products or services. This doesn’t mean you must patronize those businesses yourself if they violate your principles, only that you must support their right to operate as they desire. This is similar to the old saying, “I disagree with what you say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.” You can disagree with their decision, but you have to defend their right to make the decision.

Individuals and businesses may not be forced to provide information they don’t wish to provide unless required to by formal legal proceedings. You must support these individuals and businesses if they refuse to do so. The right to privacy is just another form of the right of association if you think about it. Associating with others involves sharing with them, sharing your location, your information, your efforts in whatever you decide to do. Deciding not to associate with someone means that you may also be deciding not to share information with them or to assist them in whatever they’re doing. This is basically what privacy means.

It all boils down to three rules I tell people are my political philosophy:

  1. I’m not bothering anyone.
  2. It’s none of your business.
  3. Leave me alone!

And of course, the complements of these:

  1. He’s not bothering anyone.
  2. What he’s doing isn’t my business.
  3. Leave him alone!

Staff Writer; Douglas Loss


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