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Isn't it a privilege to fly? Not a right. It's not like an airplane is some public government arena. It's the property of the airlines, just so happens that you
by tonycoco 14y ago
Isn't it a privilege to fly? Not a right. It's not like an airplane is some public government arena. It's the property of the airlines, just so happens that you have to be cleared by the government to fly. Don't they have the right to refuse service to a customer, especially if that customer is making employees and other customers uneasy. I'm sure if you went into a McDonald's and were wearing some suspicious clothing or start spouting off ridiculous speeches, they'd ask you kindly to leave and tell you that you were not a welcome customer any longer. In fact, I've seen it happen.
There are places for expression and "Free Speech"... maybe sitting next to the 13 year old or grandmother (or any other paying customer) who's flying for the first time in his/her life wearing some silly t-shirt about bombs and anti-government banter isn't the right place for it.
- jack-r-abbit 14y agoBut don't you think it would be a little bit of an overreaction if McDonalds threw you out simply for wearing a "Meat is Murder" t-shirt?
- tonycoco 14y agoNo, but what about a "Bombs in McDonalds are cool." t-shirt? Context. Context. That is all.
- jack-r-abbit 14y agoHuh? His shirt didn't say anything remotely like "bombs on the airplane are cool"... anymore than his second shirt said "I'm going to poop on this plane's drink cart".
- mindslight 14y agoAs air travel has matured into infrastructure that is generally depended upon, flying has become a right. Especially a return trip. Failure to see this is a deficiency with the narrow "base primitive" view of rights.
- robotresearcher 14y agoShould airline travel be available to all, irrespective of their ability to pay? If not, then it can't be a right, since rights can not be denied based on ability to pay.
- mindslight 14y agoOkay, kindly perform whatever formalization is necessary to interpret my statement in your alluded-to framework (factor out payment, s/right/unrestriction/, $whatever), then get back to me.
- ebrenes 14y agoIf I don't pay for food, I die. If I don't pay for medicines, I die. Does this then imply I don't have a right to live, because "rights cannot be denied based on the ability to pay"? That I don't have a right to property, because if I don't pay my debts my belongings can be confiscated and sold at auction? I have a right to appoint my own counsel, but the government won't pay for the counsel I appoint. In order to use that right I have to be able to afford the lawyer I want. US citizens have a right to run for elected office, but clearly that's not provided free of charge! Rights are not irrespective or independent of my ability to pay. And if something is a right does not mean I get it for free.
- anigbrowl 14y agoflying has become a right I think you need to lay out your argument in greater detail than you have done so far.
- mindslight 14y agoSociety has evolved to the point where many people are regularly traveling long distances. Flying itself has become an integral part of this travel, to the point that driving or taking the train across the country is seen as adventurous. Flight transport is a commodity provided by many carriers in a mature market. The economics of and reliance on this market may change in the future, but as it stands, this commodity is relied upon by the modern world. To say that carriers should be able to selectively revoke this abstraction and deny travel to specific individuals is to give them the power to force arbitrary rules on anyone who relies on this infrastructure. This would make all rights subject to the whims of the airlines.