You Have the Right to Learn About Rights

Editors Note:

In the past I have been asked to expand on the concept of rights. The following article is excellent in its brevity and clarity in a way I would be unable to improve upon. The links at the conclusion of the article are portals to further exploration of the topic.

Since I have not secured the permission to republish it here in it's entirety I have linked to it. I apologize for the inconvenience. 


 "Despite the centrality of rights in American history, it’s readily apparent today that Americans are of widely different views on what a right is, how many we have, where rights come from, or why we have any in the first place." - Lawrence W Reed

Image credit: Flickr-Ted Mielczarek | CC BY 2.0 

That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety." George Mason, in the Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776)

“Rights” are in the news these days perhaps as much as they were in George Mason’s time. As a score of politicians prepares to announce their 2020 campaigns for President of the United States, we can expect “rights” to be in the news every day, as they are promised to us one after another. “You have a right” to this or that and “If elected, I’ll make sure you get it” will soon be monotonous refrains.
Please read the rest here.