A Question of Rights

It came up in conversation today about rights and the limit of rights.  A few of my colleagues think that rights are unlimited and may be expressed at will. I hold that people have only three rights from birth, the right to life, the right to freedom, and the right to pursue happiness.  Any other rights are the benefit of the government under which you live. They may be revoked by that government. These rights are also not available to non-citizens even though they may reside under the jurisdiction of that government.  Should a government grant all people the same rights and privileges as  its citizens, then the value of citizenship is diluted leaving the citizens to question why they possess the burden of responsibilities and no additional rights. But I digress and will discuss the dilution of citizenship later.

As I go about my life, I have the right to do damn near anything that I want.  That does not mean that I do anywhere close to the things that I can…common sense, courtesy (look it up if you don’t know what that means) and respect for the rights of others all weight in on my decisions. What gets my hackles up is when someone insists that they have the right to do something that interferes with my rights, and then scream that I am denying them their rights if I complain to them. Whose rights take precedent?   This is a question I ponder daily. Let me know if you have the answer.

I’ll continue this discussion tomorrow …