Welfare is a Moral Requirement for Libertarians—Sometimes (original) (raw)

According to James Sterba libertarians, regardless of their tradition of libertarian thought, are often unaware that two incompatible negative liberties come into conflict when the poor lack the resources to have their most basic nutritional needs met and the rich have more than enough resources to satisfy their basic needs. In this conflict the poor posses a negative liberty to take from the rich to satisfy their most basic nutritional needs and the rich have a negative liberty to use their surplus resources for luxury purposes. When deciding which liberty takes precedence the liberties are mutually exclusive: either the poor will perish or the rich will provide welfare with their surplus resources.