Define rights. G'head, but I'm not going to wait for you.
In the United States, we have the Declaration of Independence that enumerates a bunch of rights. The list is not 100% complete, but it is pretty comprehensive. The Constitution adds to the list.
I realize some people believe the DOI is a document that should be considered when legally reviewing rights. The United States Supreme Court disagrees with that and does use the DOI in its opinions and rulings. Unless you sit on the High Court, your opinion is therefore next to worthless.
MILLENIAL DISCUSSION
Let's roll this discussion back a few millennia. The Code of Hammurabi is the oldest detailed written record of laws and codes of behavior we have. May be older ones and likely are, but we don't know about them.
So much of modern western law is based on this code. The Mosaic laws in the Old Testament are echoes of Hammurabi. Hammurabi is pretty intense and has elements of socialism, capitalism, Marxism and other forms of governments and economies. But that is a discussion for another day.
What Ham, Moses, the DOI, Constitution, Magna Carta, etc etc etc have in common is they spell out restrictions on government or those in charge. They all lay out a set of rights individuals have.
WHAT ARE RIGHTS
So what are rights anyway? A right can be something:
You have inherently by simply being human
Granted by the ruling authorities; I am not positive about this, but include it anyway.
A combination of the two above
Inherent
What inherent right do you have as a human being?
There is no universal answer to this. We cannot get a universal answer because some people are dictators, some are slaves and some are individualists. In N. Korea for instance, the subjects there are pretty much property of the current dictator. That people are property of the ruler is an idea that goes back as far as human history is recorded. Feudal Japan is a great example. People under such rulers live on the ruler's sufferance.
In anarchy, such as Somalia, it is every man for himself with warlords popping up and seizing control by force of whatever territory they can control. I've heard it argued that Somalia is a failed state and not anarchy. I can't tell the difference.
Since this is my blog here is my list of inherent rights:
Body autonomy
Yep. That's it. Body autonomy. You have the absolute right to do whatever you want to do to yourself until it impacts someone else without their permission. This means the other person is mentally competent to give permission. If the person is not mentally competent, then someone else needs to be appointed to make the hard decisions.
About that impact...
Physical absolutely. Cannot intentionally hit someone without their permission unless you are defending yourself or someone else. If defense is the issue, end it as fast as possible and lethally if necessary. As for hitting someone outside of defense, lots of people enjoy getting spanked, flogged, etc. That is not my business and it ain't your business unless you are participating.
If what you do impacts someone without their permission, then a sliding scale of retaliation comes into play. Hurt somebody's feelings? Maybe apologize, maybe not. Circumstance dependent, but I do favor sincere apologies. Bump into somebody in a store? Apologize. Run over somebody with a vehicle? Sliding scale again. If you are drunk when you do it, serious jail time.
I hope you get the idea.
It is called being accountable, something this world is seriously lacking.
Granted Rights
So what are granted rights? Voting is a good one. I think anyone of the age of majority should be allowed to vote based on where their home is. The age of majority in the US is 18. Whether it should be lower or higher is another matter.
Convicted felon? Vote. Live in Alabama and want to vote in Georgia? Nope.
Wanna run for office? Meet the residency requirements and age requirements as listed in the Constitution, run. Convicted murderer? Run for office. Let the people decide, not government.
It's again called accountability. It is also called making your own decisions and not relying on the nanny state.
Combination Rights
Republican-form governments are a good combination right. You have the right to elect someone who then operates on your behalf in the government. You are ceding temporary body autonomy and decision making to that elected person who should (and sometimes does) operate in your best interests.
We should have the right to recall these buffoons from office and replace them with someone else. We do have that right and it has happened around the nation. The right of recall should be immediate and go all the way to the President, Congress and the Supreme Court.
This idea also makes me nervous because in the US, the people have a long history of making the wrong decisions. I point you to most any election of your choice for the past few decades and beyond.
Right and Left
In this divided world, those on the right and the left feel there is no room for compromise. Count me on that one. There is no room for compromise if you feel my decision to live my life as I choose without harming another is subject to your oversight.
Government control over you and me and that guy who just ducked around the corner so you won't see him is one area where the Left and Right are in lock step sync. They agree on a lot more, but this is the one point on which all other platforms and policy hang.
My rights are not what you think I should have. My rights are not leftovers to be doled out at your whim. If you feel a need to run my life, then please excuse yourself from it.
