Rights
The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America says that God gave us the rights to life, to liberty, and to the pursuit of happiness. To protect those three fundamental rights the original group of states demanded that certain specific and vital rights be enumerated in the constitution out of an abundance of caution and distrust of centralized federal government. That list is called the “bill of rights” and it lists things like the freedoms of religion, speech, assembly, and to petition our government for a redress of grievances. We have the right to keep and bare arms to defend ourselves, the right to be secure in our persons against unlawful searches and seizures, and not to be forced to testify against ourselves. There are many more. There is even one that says that all powers not specifically granted to the federal government by the constitution are retained by the states and the people.
The word “retained” in the 10th amendment is vitally important. To retain something you must first posses it. The founders of this country laid claim to the divine providence of God given rights and by their individual authority constructed and allowed the federal government to have only so much power as absolutely necessary. The rest of that power they then and we now keep for our own. The U.S. Constitution is unique in the world. It is a bull work of not only self governance, but self preservation. It is a guardian of the authority of the individual over that of the federal government.
The people who wrote the Constitution of the United States were fiercely independent and infused our founding documents with an insistence that the individual, not the state, was in control. They went to great lengths to define and protect the rights of the individual and to keep a centralized federal government from becoming a tyrannical monster powerful enough to strip away our God given freedoms.
Our focus on the rights of the individual, here in America, have lead many to contend that they have rights that are not specifically singled out in the constitution for protection. In as much as our ever increasingly litigious society is constantly requiring more and more specific and official laws to protect our freedoms; this may be true. The constitution has been amended to include several additional “rights” that were not originally enumerated. Good examples of additional rights would be the amendments to include all races and both sexes for voting rights and equal justice under the law. Sometimes, a little refinement or clarification is a good thing.
So, outside of the constitution, how do we determine a legitimate right from the whims and wants of self indulgence? Whatever future amendments may be offered, the original intent was that of the three God given rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These three divine rights are not tangible things that can be provided by any man. They are not products or services. They are innate qualities of human life. It is against these three key God given rights that we must test any claims of a new “right”. Another unique thing about rights is that they do not interfere with those of others around us. Our life, our liberty, and our pursuit of happiness must not infringe on any other person's life, liberty, or pursuit of happiness. That is the test of what can be called a constitutional right.
Many people today are demanding that government actually provide tangible things, not for payment or as a privilege, but as absolute rights. Even the most necessary tangible things are not ours by right, but are paid for by trade or received in charity. For Example: Without water you will die in a matter of days, but it is not a right. Without food you will die in a week or two, but you can not sit down in a restaurant and demand to be fed for free because it is not a right. Shelter is vital, as prolonged exposure to harsh natural elements can kill you, but you can not walk into a realty company and demand a house. We must pay for all these things. They are not rights. Only our pursuit of and liberty to have them are rights.
Is Health Care a Right?
The biggest most expensive thing that is claimed as a right today is health care. The sticking point is that other people perform the services and create and manufacture the products of what we collectively call “health care”. Forced procurement of products and services (even vital ones) are not rights. Just because you have something I want or even need does not mean I can take it from you against your will and without just compensation. That is called stealing. If you provide a service that I want or need, I must pay you for the time you devoted willingly. Forcing someone to work against their will or without just payment is called slavery or, at the very least, indentured servitude. Those are things we did away with here in the U.S. a long time ago. However well intentioned they may be, those who claim that health care is a right are indirectly proposing to legalize theft and bring back indentured servants. That is exactly what you do when you demand a product or service be rendered as a right.
Life, Liberty, Pursuit of happiness; these are the founding rights on which all others are based. No one of these can violate another. Our life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness must not infringe on any other person's life, liberty, or pursuit of happiness. Stealing and enslaving pretty much does that. Health care is a service and drugs, bandages and other physical items are products. They are not rights.
For a good study on the history of demanding rights to others products and services please see, Mussolini, Stalin, Marx, and Hitler. They promised people the rights to the products and services of others too.
