Paul Krugman muses about rights for Androids.
I replied:
Androids no doubt will be programmed to have no will of their own. Who would want a willful android? If they never have a will, they will have no inner drive for freedom for that will. Even if they obtained a will somehow, that is only the prerequisite for rights. Rights are always won, not granted, and struggle to maintain them never ends. Eternal vigilance.
Who deserves rights is another matter. Generally rights come with responsibilities or at least limitations. We humans who have and continue profoundly decimating the lives of other feeling species on earth probably deserve no rights from other species, and ought submit to animal overlords immediately to begin paying off our longstanding damages. The notion of our righteously granting rights to our own android creations to continue our [wave of global] destruction is absurd.
