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Justice: What's The Right Thing To Do? Chapter 3: Do We Own…

- - - - If you are taxed, you can always choose to work less and pay lower taxes; but if you are forced to
        labor, you have no such choice.
      - Libertarian view: some people like watching sunsets, others like activities that cost money like watching movies. So why should people who watch sunsets be taxed less than those who watch movies?
      - Analogy: a thief breaks in your home and only has enough time to steal a $1,000 TV or $1,000 hidden cash. You would hope that the thief would take the TV because you would have a choice to replace that TV with the cash. However, if the thief takes the money, you would have no choice.
    - - Libertarian view: Maybe true. It's a good reason to convince them to do charity at their own free will, but does not justify for forcing them to give up their money.
      - Analogy: Just because a patient needs one of my kidneys more than I do, it does not mean the doctor has the right to take away one of my kidneys.
    - - Libertarian view: It's true that Jordan couldn't be where he is without other people contributing to the sport. After all, it is a team sport. However, all those people, such as other players and coaches, have been paid for their services. Even though they makes less than Jordan, they voluntarily accepted that. And besides, it does not make any sense to take away his earnings by taxing him because he owes someone.
    - - Libertarian view: Democratic consent is not enough. Suppose Jordan voted against the tax law, but the majority voted in favor of it, Jordan would still have to pay tax. This indicates that as citizens, we would be following any laws as long as the majority voted on it, no matter how unjust. What if the majority voted against freedom of speech? Or voted against a religion?
    - - Jordan is talented in basketball, and he is lucky to be living in a society that rewards people who are good at it. Therefore, the community does nothing wrong when taxing his earnings for the public good.
      - Libertarian view: If Jordan is not entitled to the benefits he gets from his talents, then it means that he does nor own those talents. And if does not own them, then he does not even own himself. So if he does not own himself, then who does?
  - - - Argument for permitting the buying and selling of kidney
        
        t thousands of people die each year waiting for kidney transplant
        
        Free market for kidneys will increase the supply
        
        People in need of money should be free to sell their kidneys if they wish
        
        I own my own body, I should be free to sell my body parts as I please
    - - Save lives
      - Do not imperil the
        life of the seller
  - - - If I enter into a voluntary agreement with someone to help me die, the state has no right to interfere
      - If my life belongs to me, I should be free to give it up
    - - Do not invoke property right
      - But argue in the name of dignity and compassion
        
        ex: terminally ill patients who are suffering
        greatly should be able to hasten their deaths, rather than linger in excruciating pain.
  - - - The idea of justice that follows from it
      - The libertarian principle of self-
        ownership
- - - - Favor taxing the rich to help poor
        
        Overall happiness would increase
        
        The collective utility will go up more than a rich person will go down
    - - Taking money from the rich without their consent is coercive and violates their liberty to do whatever they want with their money
      - Favor unfettered markets and oppose government regulation for human freedom
        
        “Claim is that each of us has a fundamental right to liberty—the right to do whatever we want with the things we own, provided we respect other people’s rights to do the same.” (p.83)
- - - - “Libertarians oppose using the coercive force of law to promote notions of virtue or to express the moral convictions of the majority” (p. 84)
    - - “The libertarian theory of rights rules out any law that requires some people to help others, including taxation for redistribution of wealth” (p. 84)
    - - Libertarians oppose laws to protect people from harming themselves.
        
        Example: Seatbelt laws
- - - - The first ask if the resources you used to make money were legitimately yours in the first place
      - Michael Jordan's Money
        
        What exactly is wrong with taxing Jordan’s earnings?
        
        Seizing the results of Michael’s labor is equivalent to seizing hours from him and directing him to carry on various activities
        
        If the state can force him to labor on its behalf, it essentially asserts a property right in him
        
        The idea of self-ownership
        
        "If I own myself, I must own my labor" (p. 90)
        
        Taxing some of Michael Jordan's 31 million dollars to help the poor is a violation of his rights.
        
        "If I own my labor, I must be entitled to the fruits of my labor" (p. 90)
    - - The second asks if you make money through free exchanges on the market or from gifts voluntarily given to you by others
        
        If the answer is yes, you are entitled to what you have
- - - - Rejection: Neither side had a better bargain position. Each side agreed to get what they wanted. One side did not force the other side. Both sides had equal bargain power. Therefore, it was all voluntary.
    - - Rejection: William, the biological father, and he cannot be buying something that belongs to him. Therefore, it was not baby-selling. The money was paid for the service (the pregnancy) and not the product (the child). In addition, since men can sell their sperm, women should be able to sell their reproductive capacities as well.
- - - - a fee of $300 instead of serving
    - - system a form of class
        discrimination
  - - - Civil war
        
        fills the ranks of the military by requiring all eligible citizens to serve
        
        no benefit and pay too little for the risk of their lives
      - Volunteer army
        
        fills its ranks through the use of the labor market
        
        the job is performed by those who agree to do so in exchange for money and other benefits
- - - - A volunteer army supports the free market, as the military recruits from the labor market and sets competitive pay for people to decide for themselves instead of a draft, draftees paying their replacements, or conscription
    - - “Conscription is slavery, plain and simple. And it was made illegal under the 13th amendment, which prohibits involuntary servitude." (Sandel, 79, quoting Ron Paul, 2007)
  - - - The current U.S. Army is comprised of only 6.5% with college degree, and boasting over 25% of recruits lacking regular HS diploma (Sandel, 82).
      - On the other side of the spectrum, the richest and most privileged demographics that are military-aged are underrepresented in military service.
        
        "Only 2 percent of members of Congress have a [child] serving in the military" (Sandel, 82).
        
        1956 Princeton had 60% of graduates enter the military after graduating, whereas 2006 only 0.8% entered military service. (Sandel, 82)
        
        However, if we create a true, just society where there is no class divide with equal opportunity to education, "no one could complain that the choice to enlist in the military was less than free" (Sandel, 83).
  - - - Similar to jury duty, we all provide service to the community at-large, as a way of distributing work burdens and to prevent things like professional jurors.
      - "According to this objection, hiring soldiers to fight our wars is wrong, not because it’s unfair to the poor but because it allows us to abdicate a civic duty" (Sandel, 85). Fighting for your country should be seen as a patriotic duty, thus fulfilling payment in the form of some glory or fulfillment.
        
        Supported by Rousseau's The Social Contract, in which he states "In a country that is truly free, the citizens do everything with their own arms and nothing by means of money" (Rousseau, 1762).