Friday, October 09, 2009
Bill of Rights
I'm not sure what evils an Australian Bill of Rights is trying to prevent.
We have good laws concerning discrimination and industrial relations. No-one in Australia suffers because some 'right', currently not covered by legislation, is being denied to them. We have freedom of speech, controlled only by the laws of libel and slander (and capitalist media). We have freedom of religion,controlled by public opinion and statutory law preventing the public sacrifice of virgins or bulls and anti-discrimination legislation. What more do we need?
I am reminded of the signs that sprang up in the 1960's and 70's proclaiming various local government areas to be 'nuclear-free zones'. I was never sure what they meant. Clearly the local councils hadn't banned all nuclei from their areas. No-one had proposed building a nuclear power plant in any of their jurisdictions. Even Liverpool, NSW, had signs like these. Liverpool now has a flourishing Nuclear Medicine department in its hospital. The signs just made people feel better for taking a stand against some unspecified nuclear horror. The Bill of Rights is much the same. An expression of wanting things to be better in some undefined way, but not actually doing anything.
There are only legislated rights. There is not an eternal, society-free sets of rights, somewhere in the ether waiting to be applied to everybody.
On a different matter.
A Muslim school trustee talking about the Christian church next door.
"Its a mega-church, quite big actually". Obviously!
We have good laws concerning discrimination and industrial relations. No-one in Australia suffers because some 'right', currently not covered by legislation, is being denied to them. We have freedom of speech, controlled only by the laws of libel and slander (and capitalist media). We have freedom of religion,controlled by public opinion and statutory law preventing the public sacrifice of virgins or bulls and anti-discrimination legislation. What more do we need?
I am reminded of the signs that sprang up in the 1960's and 70's proclaiming various local government areas to be 'nuclear-free zones'. I was never sure what they meant. Clearly the local councils hadn't banned all nuclei from their areas. No-one had proposed building a nuclear power plant in any of their jurisdictions. Even Liverpool, NSW, had signs like these. Liverpool now has a flourishing Nuclear Medicine department in its hospital. The signs just made people feel better for taking a stand against some unspecified nuclear horror. The Bill of Rights is much the same. An expression of wanting things to be better in some undefined way, but not actually doing anything.
There are only legislated rights. There is not an eternal, society-free sets of rights, somewhere in the ether waiting to be applied to everybody.
On a different matter.
A Muslim school trustee talking about the Christian church next door.
"Its a mega-church, quite big actually". Obviously!
Labels: Rights
