Wednesday, August 20, 2014

My Opinion Isn't (A) Right

I understand the concepts that Jamie Whyte poses, but it doesn't always make things fair.
Take the pedestrian vs. driver incident. A driver can be driving 55mph (the speed limit of that area) down a road, and be following the law. Say there is a tree right next to this road and right as the car reaches the tree, someone jumps into the road from behind it, causing the car to hit it. Let's say that the person was just going to cross the street there (illegally j-walking) and was under the opinion that the coast was all clear. At the same time, the driver was under the opinion that the road was clear as well, because it was until the person came out from behind the tree. The driver, regardless of judge or jury, will be tried and undergo some sort of punishment, whether it be paying fines or going to jail. This innocent person will have their life ruined basically because someone else's opinion of what was going on differed from theirs. When it comes to rights, I believe that there are certain rights whose importance outweighs that of others. Maybe that in itself isn't right, but we can't help it from happening. Here are two rights: the right to one's body, and the right to not harm others. Now in the case of a heavy drug user, let's use heroin for an example, someone might claim that, "I have the right to the pursuit of happiness and heroin makes me happy. By not allowing me to use it, you are impending on my rights." Well that's that, but there's another factor to think of: if that person is causing harm to others, not allowing them the right to the pursuit of happiness. Heroin has been proven to cloud the brain and negatively alter the mind, as well as cause people who are dependent on it to become hostile. If a user got out of hand, they could potentially harm an innocent person, which would impede upon that person's rights. So in this case, it's a matter of which rights are more important: the happiness of one person, or the happiness and safety of many. I agree with Imanie in that we didn't decide our rights, they were written on a piece of paper a few hundred years ago and decided for us. And though the right to our opinion wasn't exactly written up alongside the right to our freedom of speech, I believe it should still be respected. Whether our opinion is widely believed to be "right" or not, we should never just finish a conversation with, "I'm entitled to my opinion." No, not necessarily. That's a fallacy, and if you have to use that in an argument or discussion, chances are you should probably read up on your opinion a little more yourself.

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