The Latest “Right:” Traveling

20 Apr, 2010 by John Hawkins

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One point conservatives have made again and again is that you don’t have any “rights” that someone else has to pay for. That’s why it may be moral for our society to provide health care to people who can’t afford it, but it’s not a “right.” If health care is a “right,” then why not food, water, clothing, or shelter? Once you start going down this path and declaring that other people have to dip into their pockets and pay for your “rights,” there’s no telling where it will lead. If you don’t believe that, just look at the latest “right” in Europe:

The European Union has declared travelling a human right, and is launching a scheme to subsidize vacations with taxpayers’ dollars for those too poor to afford their own trips.

Antonio Tajani, the European Union commissioner for enterprise and industry, proposed a strategy that could cost European taxpayers hundreds of millions of euros a year, The Times of London reports.

“Travelling for tourism today is a right. The way we spend our holidays is a formidable indicator of our quality of life,” Mr. Tajani told a group of ministers at The European Tourism Stakeholders Conference in Madrid on April 15. Mr. Tajani was appointed to his post by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

The plan — just who gets to enjoy the travel package has yet to be determined — would see taxpayers footing some of the vacation bill for seniors, youths between the ages of 18 and 25, disabled people, and families facing “difficult social, financial or personal” circumstances. The disabled and elderly can also be accompanied by one other person. The EU and its taxpayers are slated to fund 30% of the cost of these tours, which could range from youth exploring abandoned factories and power plants in Manchester to retirees taking discount trips to Madrid, all in the name of cultural appreciation.

“The commission is literally considering paying people to go on holiday,” Mats Persson, of pro-reform think-tank Open Europe, told Britain’s News of the World.

Greece is close to defaulting on its debt and Spain, Portugal, Ireland, and Italy aren’t all that far behind. Give it a few more years and even some of the bigger dominoes in Western Europe will be primed to fall. Meanwhile, they’re declaring people have a “right” to take taxpayer subsidized trips to Madrid. If you’re wondering how disconnected the Left can be from reality, both here and in Europe, I think that tells you everything you need to know.

Hat tip to Lucianne for the story.