What "rights" do you think it would be useful to have?

[VladK]

The so-called right to not listen is pretty much self-enforced since you don't need to listen to anything any one says. You don't like someone's views, you can walk away, if he follows he's probably breaking some law already that deals with stalking or harassment.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

Representatives, senators and politicians in general are not in such abundant supply that they have unlimited time to listen to each individual constituent. Are you somehow suggesting each politician ought to be available 24/7 and forced to listen to any and every rant any citizen might have? We already have a do nothing congress so think it over. Just how slow should the legislative process be to accomidate this?

[Atheon]

Freedom from right-wingers.

[Hydra009]

Freedom from right-wingers.

aka Canada (not exactly true, but that's how I like to see it)

[SilentFutility]

I'm not here to debate whether or not rights exist. I'm here to discuss what rights should be guaranteed/protected.

For me, I think the converse of free speech is the right not to listen. It's the only way to really make sure that free speech isn't abused. It's also a good counter to the Marxist criticism that "free speech is a bourgeois prejudice." I absolutely believe that freedom of speech should be protected, and I also believe that the freedom of not listening should also be protected.

Isn't "freedom to not listen" as you suggest it covered by freedom of thought?

My own view on the matter is that I would fight for the right of another person to voice their opinion, and I also fully reserve the right to think it's utterly stupid.

[zarus tathra]

I think that 95% of these "rights" we're coming up with are dedicated to supporting "freedom of thought."

[CloneKai]

Freedom to move. Freedom to live wherever you damn want.

No visa.

[zarus tathra]

You've got rights, lots of rights. Sometimes I count them just to make me feel crazy... But right now you've got a piece of glass shoved in a major artery in your arm, right now you're bleeding to death. Right now I'm the only one person in the world who can get you to a hospital in time. -Batman

[VladK]

Freedom from right-wingers.

Ooh! Does that mean we get to have freedom from leftists as well?

Freedom to move. Freedom to live wherever you damn want.

No visa.

That would be a demographic disaster. Borders are a good thing given the world we live in with conflicting cultures, different languages, different interests etc.

[aileron]

I would like all people to have the right to be free from military conscription unless their nation is invaded.

If you're in the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany wants to exterminate your entire population, there's a point to conscription.  If you want to conscript people to fight a discretionary war, eat shit and die.

[Plu]

I would like people to be free of conscription even if their nation is invaded.

If your population isn't lining up to fight off invaders, maybe it's time for your government to be replaced by the invader's, because apparently the population has already decided it'd rather be controlled by them.

That would be a demographic disaster. Borders are a good thing given the world we live in with conflicting cultures, different languages, different interests etc.

Aren't borders also a major cause of conflicting cultures, different languages, different interests, etc?

[aileron]

I would like people to be free of conscription even if their nation is invaded.

If your population isn't lining up to fight off invaders, maybe it's time for your government to be replaced by the invader's, because apparently the population has already decided it'd rather be controlled by them.

Even if the people are happy with their current government and hate the invading government, there's a very high probability they won't line up to fight off invaders without being conscripted:  it's a classic example of a "social trap."

A social trap is when short-term individual gains conflict with long-term social goals.  In a population of millions, the contribution of any one person to defending the nation from invasion is trivial.  An individual's best way to maximize his personal gain is by taking his family somewhere to lie low or flee the nation.  The problem is that if every individual follows his best bet, the whole society loses.

So I see a point conscripting the Soviets to prevent the Nazis from exterminating the whole population (that was their ultimate plan), but I see no justification conscripting Americans to go fight in Vietnam for example.

[zarus tathra]

Also, people talk about how the countries in Africa had their border drawn up without any regard for traditional tribal divisions, with the result being that tribes were divided and half and then "forced" to live in the same country as other ethnicities. What has not been proven, however, is that African countries that are racially homogeneous are actually BETTER than African countries that aren't. Because they aren't really noticeably better.

Look at Japan. They're racially homogeneous, and yet they're still really, really concerned about burakumin, descendents of the "underclass" from the old feudal Japanese caste system. If people didn't have race to bitch about, they'd be tearing each other apart a billion other things.

[VladK]

Aren't borders also a major cause of conflicting cultures, different languages, different interests, etc?

No, actually they're the result. Remember Yugoslavia? They didn't get along so they became multiple countries. Human nature is tribal and messed up like that, but there's nothing we can do about it.