I found wikipedia articles on positive and negative liberties. Now I think the terms are completely loaded, probably written by a socialist, but I think the definitions are fairly accurate. I'm also going to use a slightly different definition than Wikipedia offers because it helps me to think about liberties in this specific way.
A negative liberty is a liberty that we have because there is no authority over us. This is the type of liberty that I prefer, as a rule. For instance,
* Right to free travel
* Right to free association
* Right to free contract
A positive liberty is a liberty that requires the action of another. For instance
* Right to work
* Right to health care
* Right to be safe from firearms
I did some introspection and found a positive liberty I believe in - I was surprised at first. But I do believe that the right to a jury trial is absolutely required for any level of government that involves force.
This is how the American Civil Liberties Union can get away with using Liberty as the name of their cause. For instance, a snippet from ACLU website:
Saying that an effective welfare system must have poverty reduction as its highest priority, the American Civil Liberties Union today warned Congress that welfare reform legislation set for consideration this afternoon in the House is not up to the task and would, in many cases, open doors in the states to significant violations of the core civil liberties of welfare recipients. (
http://www.aclu.org/rightsofthepoor/welfare/13445prs20030213.html)
This makes the ACLU extreme positive libertists, or, in my opinion, a socialist organization.
The Wikipedia articles, for reference:
*
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_liberty *
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_liberty