People need to read

Thanks to Don Boudreaux at Cafe Hayek I have been blessed with the ability to read a passionate debate between a free trader and a protectionalist. I will admit I have some bias here; I am really into the whole free trade thing. I found one mistake that the protectionalist made that made me sick.

In the third blog, Scott Lincicome (free trader) wrote:

"inalienable," rights (as expressed in the Declaration of Independence)

Notice he mentioned the Founders idea of inalienable rights and where to find it (Declaration of Independence). One would think this is really easy to find now, but Ian Fletcher (protectionalist) replied:

I see no mention in the Constitution of the "inalienable rights" to which you refer.

Really? Well that is surprising. I should examine this phenomenon. I find no mention of Hamlet in Macbeth. Nor do I find any mention of Count Dracula in Frankenstein. Wait there is no mention of the starship Enterprise in any of the Star Wars movies. What is wrong with all this?

Oh yeah I am looking for something in the wrong place. Maybe you should look for those in alienable rights in...I don't know...maybe THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE where he said it was! Let me quote the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights,

I could be wrong though maybe Mr. Fletcher was being facetious because the Founders used "unalienable" instead of "inalienable." I do not believe he was, but the moral of the story is read what is sent to you fully!

The links to the blogs: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3