What About My Rights?
Secret Restaurant Recipes
Recipes that really work - don't be fooled by imitators.
Author: Jan Larson Dr. Walter Williams wrote a recent commentary entitled "Bogus
Rights" [1] in which he discussed the difference between a true
"right," such as the right of free speech and bogus rights such as
the "right" to medical care.
There is little question that in our society more and more things
are viewed as rights to which all are entitled versus things that
must be earned.
As Dr. Williams mentioned, true rights are things that exist
simultaneously among all and do not impose an obligation upon
others. Anything that violates either of these two restrictions is
not a "right" at all.
The first ten amendments to the U. S. Constitution define the
"Bill of Rights." These do meet the definition of rights. As we
were taught in school (at least I was, I don't know if this is true
today) with rights come responsibilities.
We all have the right to speak freely (but not the right to be
heard). We have the right to bear arms (but not the right to shoot
anyone with whom we disagree) and as stated in the Declaration
of Independence, we have the right to pursue happiness (but not
necessarily to be happy).
As more things are viewed as rights, although they do not satisfy
the above definition, they not only serve to move the country
into socialistic mediocrity, but the true value of those things is
lost.
There is little question that the best health care in the world is
right here in the United States but we constantly hear about a
health care crisis. Why? It is because access to health care, not
just basic health care, but rather the most advanced (and
expensive) treatments and procedures is viewed as being a right
and since it is not today readily available to everyone we have a
"crisis." If one can't pay for expensive and heroic medical
procedures but instead must rely on someone else (the taxpayer)
to pay, then access to those procedures certainly isn't a right.
Many view the expectation of living a comfortable retirement
(via Social Security) as a right, but for those that receive far
more in payments than they ever paid into the system, their
"right" comes only at the expense of others. My father paid into
the Social Security system his entire working life, but died
before collecting a dime. So much for his rights.
Nowhere is it written that anyone has the right not to be
offended, but on many college campuses, speech codes confer
such rights at the expense of constitutionally protected free
speech. Political correctness in everyday life implies a right to
not be offended, but again, this right only comes at the expense
of restricting someone else from calling a spade a spade because
someone's feelings may be bruised.
Ironically the same liberals that howl at the notion that their
privacy rights are being violated if the government is listening in
on their conversations with al Qaeda are the same that will
attempt to silence the right of dissent via campus speech codes.
There are some (mostly politicians) that claim that Americans
have a right to a good-paying job, to "affordable" housing and to
prescription drugs. Nonsense. None of these things are rights.
In a free society, the job you have, the home in which you live
and the prescription drugs you take are up to you, or at least they
should be.
We are all born with basic rights the right to life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness. We have the right to a speedy trial and
the right against self-incrimination. We have the right to own
property and to speak freely. But our rights end when the
obligations of others begin and as such, our true rights are few.
As America moves ever more toward a socialistic, entitlement-
minded society, despite overwhelming historical evidence of the
failures of such societies, we will eventually learn that costs and
obligations of many of these so-called rights are very high
indeed.
Copyright ©2006 Jan A. Larson All rights reserved.
Jan A. Larson publishes a weekly commentary, "What is the
Deal?" at the Pie of Knowledge
OpinionEditorials, American Daily, ChronWatch, The
Conservative Voice, Capitol Hill Coffee House and NewsBull.
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