Chris

My question concerns the comments that have been made by Ayn Rand and Leonard Peikoff about the rights of others not necessarily having to be respected during certain types of emergency situations. Specifically, I wonder what should be done by the government--if anything--in response to individuals who have refused to acknowledge liberty rights of others due to their encountering emergency situations themselves. If someone--for example--were to refuse to respect those liberties of others which he would normally have to respect as rights out of a realistic expectation that something catasrophic might occur if he were not to infringe upon such liberties, then what--if anything--should the government be able to do as a responss to such forceful behavior, and why? I myself wonder if ANYTHING could be a moral action for the government to take against such an indivudual,IF it is indeed true that one must not neccessarily respect the normally applicable rights of others in certain situations. (If the person has done nothing morally wrong in initiating force against others, then I don't know if any MORAL actions could be taken by the government against such a presumably innocent person.)