Question

Suppose you work for a refrigerator manufacturing company that has a factory in a small rural Nebraska town. The refrigerator plant is the town's primary source of income. The company has placed you in charge of investigating the firm's decision to move the factory to Mexico. If the company moves its manufacturing to Mexico, it can produce refrigerators at a much lower cost. Explain what a modern rights theorist would consider under these circumstances.

Student's responses will vary. A modern rights theorist would determine whether anyone's rights are negatively affected by an alternative. If several rights are affected, the rights theorist will determine which right is more important or trumps the other rights, and choose the alternative that respects the most important right. For example, if the alternative is to move to Mexico, the Nebraska employees, among others, are negatively affected. Yet if the manufacturing plant does not move, potential employees in Mexico are harmed. Are these equal rights or is it more important to retain a job one already has than to be deprived of a job one has never had? Are other rights at work here, and how are they ranked? Is it more important to maintain manufacturing production in the firm's home country for national security and trade balance reasons than to provide cheaper refrigerators for the firm's customers? Does the right of all citizens to live in a global economy that spreads wealth worldwide and promotes international harmony prevail over all other rights?

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