권리측면에서 본 학교급식 무상추진의 난점

The Philosophical Examinations of the Free School Meal Policy in the Light of Rights-Theories

Recently there have been some critical examinations against the free school meal provision policy which eventually brings to us the detrimental consequences in the various aspects. Despite that, this policy has been popularly supported inside and outside of the school. Moreover, continuing debates by the Pros and the Cons on the topic have not still dissolved the crucial defects involved in the policy. Unlike the case of free compulsory schooling, the policy of free provisions of school meal leads us a state of monopolizing the main economic means such as one in the communist regimes and the state intervention, as well as fortifying and enlarging the tangible and intangible regulations by the government. The danger of monopolization and over-regulation as such has already been examined and shown for the public from the point of views, namely, economics, public finance, and welfare policy. Unfortunately, however, the topic has never been examined in the light of the rights-theories and by means of the jurisprudential arguments. Without this kind argument, we are apt to fall into the rationalization for free school meal provisions, which is mistakenly regarded as and grounded on the universal rights, moral rights, natural rights and the like. But as the paper has closely examined, the policy cannot be easily justified in the light of the universal rights sorts assertion. Amongst several main rights-theories, the entitlement theory has affinity with policy, but the minute scrutinization enables us to show that we are entitled to be treated as equal not because of humans, as the pros asserts, but because of rational beings. The paper has also demonstrated that the claim for free school meal can be seen neither as a claim to be established itself, nor even as a universal right justified. Moreover, the policy violates the Constitution for it obviously overrides the private properties and deteriorates the spontaneous free market mechanism. As shown in the proverb that hard case makes bad law, its following legislations are virtually to be unconstitutional, which leads the state system to a totalitarian one. This also throws light on the crucial point not to be confused between the so-called universal welfare policy and the social safety-net policy, which is the one that the paper on the right-theories base eventually tries to contribute to.