Reply #12: It's the basis of our entire legal system [View All]

[slackmaster]

A lot of people on DU don't seem to grasp the concept. Many of us believe that rights are always granted by someone or some document. That's true in some countries, like Cuba.

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That doesn't mean we're entitled to get anything we want for free (i.e. have someone else pay for it), but it does mean that by default we have the right to own, say, or do anything we please.

Among those things is access to the Web. Until an oppressive government restricts access, we have it and we have a right to it.

If you have to get it from someone else, it isn't a right.

That would apply to health care, wouldn't it? I stitched up a big cut on my leg once. If it hadn't been a holiday weekend, I would gladly have gone to a hospital ER.

And marriage?

I suppose we could all grow our own food and construct our own housing, but that would require a substantial restructuring of society.