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Originally Posted by halff
"In the U.S. we have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, as defined by our constitutions, state and federal."
Right, the things our government gave to us. That's what I said. Also define the right to pursue happiness, obviously it has limitations otherwise a lot more things would be legal. Same goes for right of liberty, obviously it has its limitations. I would go into further detail on them, but I feel like it's obvious
What obvious is that you don't understand our form of government. Those "things" are what our Founding Fathers reaffirmed belong to us as natural rights, and our constitutions define the basis of lawful limitations on those things for the good of the individual and community.
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"This is limited only by what our governmental representatives choose to take away from us."
They aren't rights if they can be taken away.
LOL. Everything can be taken away, so by your logic rights don't exist. If that is what your point is, then you are simply redefining "rights" to fit your view of things. Rights can taken away in one form or another all the time, all around the world. That doesn't mean they don't exist or aren't protected in other places and times.
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"What you describe is a totalitarian or dictatorial government: your only freedoms are the "privileges" granted by the government."
No, all forms of government govern how you live your life. It just so happens that totalitarian or dictatorial government systems take advantage of their citizens more than our system does.
I think you missed my point: When a govt says that you have no rights and your only freedom is what the govt grants you as a privilege, then that govt is totalitarian. Non-totalitarian govts still govern you, but not all aspects.
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Anyways, I want to play online poker as much as anyone else and I do believe that everyone should be able to play online poker. My point was that the OP is looking for something that cannot be found. While I would like to believe that the US government does not give and take rights at whim, they do.
Ah, so you do agree after all that something can be a right even though it can be taken away. Hopefully the door will never be shut on our right to play online poker, as a pursuit of happiness.