Justice: What's The Right Thing To Do? Episode 05: "HIRED GUNS"

Locke’s idea of government by consent –natural rights are limits on government that even the majority cannot override, but... Democratically elected government has the right to tax people, with consent, not require consent of each individual – requires “prior” act of consent to join the society – to take on the obligation. Once you take on that obligation, you agree to be bound by the majority.

Right to life? Conscription? Isn’t self-possession violated if the government can, through coercive legislation and enforcement powers, say you must risk your life to fight in Iraq? Does the govt have right to do that (according to Locke)? YES – all that matters is that the political authority not be arbitrary. A sergeant can command a soldier to go up to a canon where he is sure to die. General can condemn soldier to death for not following an order; but they can’t take his money...

CONSENT is very powerful – it binds you to be bound by the majority (in non-arbitrary decisions). Even though everyone has individual rights that limit government – it is only limited in that it needs to govern by generally applicable laws (it can’t be arbitrary).

Why is consent such a powerful moral instrument, creating political authority, and the obligation to obey?

Look at concrete case of military conscription – does this violate natural right to life?

Ways to increase recruitment

1.       Increase pay and benefits

2.       Shift to system of military conscription (draft)

3.       Outsource (hire mercenaries)

Case study: US Civil war – draft existed, but could pay someone to take one’s place

·         Putting dollar value on life?

·         You have the right and choice to accept, or not? --- Arbitrary?

·         Coercion?  Someone of lower income is being coerced to enter military... Disproportionate to one segment of society... à similar to increase in pay/benefits?

·         Patriotism? Makes a good soldier? Better than mercenary? Does the “volunteer army” (“paid army”) join strictly out of patriotism? ... i.e., lets Market allocates positions according to people’s preferences and willingness to serve for a particular wage? Isn’t this a mercenary army?

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Objections to Consent in terms of market exchange – in allocation of military service:

1.       argument about coercion – unfairness and inequality

2.       bound up with patriotism and civic obligation – perhaps should not allocate duties and rights by the Market

What need to know to assess these objections?

1.       For (1.) Need to ask: What inequalities in the background and conditions of society undermine the choices people make to buy and sell their labor?

2.       To address the patriotism and civic obligation argument need to ask: What are the obligations of civil society and citizenship? Is military service one of them, or not? What is source of political obligation? Is it consent, or are there certain obligations that we have, even without consent for living and sharing within a certain society?

 

Part II: MOTHERHOOD: FOR SALE

Investigate role of Markets in the realm of human reproduction and procreation.

Case of Infertility clinics: ... appeals for “egg donors”... ad for “intelligent, athletic, 5´10”, high score on college entrance exam & no medical problems.”  How much do you think the person looking for this donor was willing to pay? $50,000  ... Ads for sperm donors...

Commercial sperm bank, for profit, pays donors – college students: http://www.spermbank.com/

$900 / month – 3x /week + periodical incentives... accept fewer than 5% of donors who apply, ...       Ideal: 6’ tall, college degree, brown eyes, blonde hair & dimples... = what Market wants

Moral question of whether eggs and sperm should be sold for money.

Commercial surrogate motherhood – Baby M: Couple goes to fertility clinic make deal with wife of sanitation worker to be artificially inseminated, to bear and give birth to their child. BUT the surrogate mother decides to keep the baby.

Would it be right to enforce contract? Or not?

+ Binding, voluntary contract/promise – a deal is a deal.

--Contract entered into without having relevant information – tainted consent: coercion/lack of info

+Child has no inalienable right to her biological mother, adoption and surrogacy are both acceptable tradeoffs; voluntary agreement – no coercion – a deal is a deal.

--Biological Mother’s bond to child is stronger than contract – by Nature

--Market forces should not be involved in human reproduction àdehumanizing – buying someone’s biological/natural right = baby selling; undeniable emotional bond

0 Bond between father & child (spermbank) can’t be compared to bond between mother and child (surrogacy)

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-          Lower Court Decision: Contract is enforceable – market valid – price set – bargain reached

-          New Jersey Supreme Court: Contract is NOT enforceable – 1. joint custody to father, but surrogate mother can decide upon visitation rights. – UNINFORMED CONSENT   2. This is the sale of a mother’s right to her child. The profit motive governs this transaction. Despite contract, there are some things in a civil society that money can’t buy.

Is it dehumanizing to make child-bearing a market transaction?

Converts a woman’s labor into a form of alienated labor (Elizabeth Anderson). Certain goods should not be treated as open to use or to profit; certain goods are properly valued in ways other than use. What are other ways of valuing and treating goods that should not be open to use:  respect, appreciation, love honor, awe and sanctity = many modes of evaluation, BEYOND USE, and certain goods are not properly valued if they are treated simply as objects of use.

How determine which modes are fitting in each situation?  Goodman: Fatherhood is something you do, NOT something you donate.

Ponder whether there are certain goods that money shouldn’t buy, not just because of tainted consent, but also perhaps because certain goods are properly valued in a way HIGHER than mere use.