legal right overshadows moral right?

This post is a slightly toned-down version of my thoughts.

In Germany, the worker's union for the train drivers has announced a 4 day total strike in their demands for greater salary. In previous strikes they have chosen to strike for a certain time in the day (but with long lasting consequences) - however, things still worked. In this upcoming strike many local trains (or regional trains) will not be running.

Granted, in germany, the worker unions are allowed to strike, even with arbitaration. The right to strike seems to be a granted facet of the law here. The question is, given their position and rights, would it be morally right to involve millions of commuters in their strike?

This, as it seems to me, has very little difference in spirit as compared to the such of terrorism. My colleague would beg to differ, saying that they are exercising their right - but in the eyes of the terrorists, they have their own god-given right to inflict pain, death and terror, even if it involves innocents: the ends justify the means.

as i implied in the blog post title, there is a question of whether the "legal right" (even if its dubious) takes a higher standing than a moral right. If moral rights can be compromised and deemed to be flexible, then what is there to stop every other group from pointing to the case example and deciding that they could be free to exploit the moral right to gain a greater good for themselves?

The question may be both academic and philosophical in nature, but the issues underlying are real: are we living in a world where moral rights are disdained?

the older side of things..

In the weeks of silence, I've somehow managed to become an uncle. My sister gave birth to an adorable little baby girl whose smile charmed everyone who sees her.

(I'm biased, of course)

the change of status brings a sober reminder of life, of death, of taxes (rebates), of diapers, of sleepless nights - thankfully, most of these will befall my sister!

but it does remind me that I'm not getting any younger. ouch.

oops i did it again

bought too much stuff. now the fridge looks like an illegal squatters cramped full of (what would normally be) yummy food.. except that its just simply too .. full..

mental note to self: don't do shopping for the next 3 weeks.