Issue 11 What are RIGHTS? feb,15,2013

The title says it all, enjoy :)

                                                       

                                                                    What are RIGHTS?

            In order to understand where some of my ideas and thoughts come from, we must first define rights?  We will also define what is not a right.  Let us begin.

            Who thinks education is a right?  Who thinks health care is a right?  Who thinks the freedom of speech is a right?  You probably answered the questions in your self, but you probably only got the answer to the last question correct.  That correct answer is the freedom of speech is indeed a right.  The other two are in fact privileges.  You’re probably thinking I’m out of my mind here but I ask you to bear with me a little longer.

            A right, to my knowledge and research via our founding documents and classical philosophers, cannot be purchased, sold, given, provided or bartered by anyone.  Whether you have your own definition of what a right is I will tell you this, a right cannot in actuality be defined.  However, we can say what is not a right: which is anything that has to be purchased, given, or provided by another person.  Therefore what ever has to be purchased, given or provided is a privilege. 

            Let us take health care as an example.  Health care must be purchased and provided by someone else so it is a privilege and not a right.  However, you do have the right to stay healthy.  I bet some are thinking what’s the difference?  Simple really, unlike health care, your staying healthy does not need to be purchased or given to you.  You can do it all on your own under your own strength and will.  It is as simple as exercising, eating healthy and keeping up good hygiene.  In other words you can take care of yourself.  What is also a right in this scenario is your ability to seek out health care and contract with a doctor to help get better.  Contracts are a property right which you can establish with anyone.  In this case you are contracting with a doctor to heal you in exchange for money, but the money given and the health care received in exchange is not a right, they are the terms of the contract.

            How about education?  Education has to be purchased, given or provided to you.  What about public schools you ask?  Nope, they were never free, nor shall they ever for their services are purchased through our tax dollars.  You pay for education via taxes whether you have kids in school our not, to aid in other children going to school.  Therefore it is not a right but another privilege.  You do however have a right to learn.  Your right to learn is practiced everyday.  When you read a book or an essay (even this one) you are learning.  When you watch television or looking things up on the computer, you are learning.  Going to a museum, talking a tour while on vacation, talking to your friends about "what is a right?" is all an expression of the right to learn.  Interesting right?

            The final example of what is not a right is one of America’s favorite social welfare programs, Social Security.  Wait, don’t close the book yet, hear me out! Please.  If you have been following the logic of what is not a right, then you might have an understanding of why I’m saying Social Security is a privilege.  It is, for one, provided by the government.  The government owns and operates the program and decides how much in benefits you will get in return.  Some of you are saying this is B.S. right now while saying but that is my money.  Sorry, but the Supreme Court back in 1937 ruled in three separate cases that your contributions to Social Security are in fact a tax.  The cases are Helvering vs. Davis, Steward Machine Co. vs. Davis, and Carmichael vs. Southern Coal & Coke and Gulf States Paper.  So for one it is a tax, as the government cannot take your money unless it is either taxed or donated.  You can argue that it is a contract, and a contract is a right which is itself a form of property.  However, the terms and conditions of that contract are not in your favor.  In 1960 the Supreme Court heard a case known as Flemming vs. Nester.  In summary it says that due to a clause in the Social Security legislation, Congress can alter benefits and the qualifications to receive those benefits.  Remember, the contract itself is a right, not what is being given, or in this case exchanged.  It is for this reason that President Ronald Reagan could alter benefits and adjust the retirement age to slowly increase to age 67.  Don’t believe me?  Then go look at the official Social Security website to get the truth.  Although, you may also get information you may not want to hear. 

            Thank you for getting this far and I promise that the majority of everything else I write will be less controversial.  We now understand what a right is not and have a good understanding of what a right is.  Regardless of whether you believe our rights come from God, nature or man kind, it is important to know what our rights are and how to differentiate them from a privilege. 

 

If you have any questions or comments feel free to post them in the comments section and I will do my best to answer them to your satisfaction.