Seinfeld y El Buen Samaritano

Mientras me reía de los chistes publicados por Rothbard, me acordé del libro que terminé de leer en el avión volviendo de Shanghái y que recomiendo ampliamente: "Seinfeld and Philosophy: A Book about Everything and Nothing", de William Irwin. Sí, el mismo ñato que publicó varios libros sobre series de TV y sus costados filosóficos (House, Lost, Big Bang Theory, Sopranos, etc., etc.).

Uno de los últimos capítulos está dedicado a nosotros, los libertarios. Priceless. No puedo contar los innumerables "clippings" que le hice a mi Kindle, de tanta frase sublime que merecía ser destacada. Comparto con ustedes -si me permiten- algunas de ellas:

- Those who espouse Good Samaritan laws believe that our obligation to our fellow human beings goes beyond simply staying out of their hair. They believe that we have a duty to render assistance in certain circumstances.

- But what is the extent of this obligation? Everyone agrees that it's a good thing to help people in need. But how much aid are we obligated to give?

- Good Samaritan is a moral ideal, not a moral requirement.

- Supererogatory actions have traditionally been understood in two different ways. On the one hand, they have been considered to be harder to perform than ordinary duties. On the other, they have been considered to be acts "whose performance we praise but whose non-performance we do not condemn".

- Should we legally obligated to be minimally decent Samaritans? Some have argued "No" on the grounds that we can't legislate morality.

Y algunas perlitas de esas que abundan por este blog:

- Government has only three legitimate functions: to provide a system of national defense, to provide a police system, and to provide a court system.

- Spending tax dollars on any other programs violates our right to do what we want with what we own. Libertarians would eliminate all government sponsored aid programs, like welfare and foreign aid, on the grounds that government has no business telling us how we should spend our money.

- Libertarians would also eliminate all "no-victim" crimes because they are a contradiction in terms. Gambling, prostitution, and private drug use are considered no-victim crimes because those who engage in these activities do so of their own free will.

- Any activity that does not violate anyone's rights should not be outlawed. By legalizing no-victim crimes, libertarians believe that they would drastically reduce the crime rate. Police forces would no longer have to spend valuable time and money trying to enforce a misguided morality, and thus they could devote themselves to dealing with real crimes, such as murder, rape, theft, robbery, burglary, battery, fraud, and so on.

Y para terminar, una frase que si bien es de Sartre, bien podrían haber mencionado Jerry, Elaine, George o Kramer: "Hell is other people".

Nico