The Two Way Street

All during this healthcare debate, we've heard all about rights. You have the right to this, no you don't, etc., etc.

This leads us to the conclusion that a refresher on rights is needed.

A right is a freedom granted to you at birth that cannot be taken away from you. These include life, liberty, property, equality. Most of things in our Declaration of Independence and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man. While these rights have been codified into laws in various western democracies, it is understood that these rights do not come from government and cannot be taken away by government.

These are in opposition to liberties and freedoms that are created and regulated by government in accordance with the founding documents of the civil society.

One thing that is not a right is healthcare. It is a service provided just like any other and like many other necessities of life, if a person decides that they need it, then they must be the sole force of its acquisition.

This again brings us to the nature of rights.

Another word you could use for rights is responsibilities. While it is agreed that no government has the right to take any of these away the role of the individual is often overlooked.

Part of the deal is that if nobody has the right to deprive you of these rights, you also have no right to voluntarily forfeit these rights. They are not simply a gift given to you that can be used casually when the individual feels the proper motivations. Human rights are yours and always stay yours. They are your only real obligation on this earth but if you decide to abandon your rights in the hope that others will cover you, then you have violated the civil society and natural law.

Many times, people who would voluntarily give up their rights either to another person or government are worse than the tyrant who would take them by force because tyrants are often easy to identify while your own neighbors may cease to be self sustaining which damages both them and you, them by diminishing the value of their self and you by taxing you with added responsibility which takes away from your own ability to exercise your personal rights.

This healthcare debate, along with any other big government program, are a violation of your rights by the fact that they deprive you of your liberty to make the decisions you would like and by separating you from the products of your labor further diminishing your liberty and access to private property.

Supporters of this socialized plan would make this exchange in order to provide a service to people that can't afford it or choose not to buy it. In doing so, they have turned an economic issue into a social one. While they may be driven by their own set of morality or standards, this decision is not an individual one. If this group of people were simply organizing to collect money for the uninsured the problem would be avoided as participation would be voluntary and communal in nature. The problem could even be avoided if the focus was on the City or State level instead of the Nation. That would fall in line with the 10th amendment regulating federalism as well as be a more communal decision as these localities are small and the governments much more responsive and accountable. However, healthcare supporters would authorize a national governmental power to enforce this policy over an entire nation for generations to come. No human being has the right to abandon their rights or the civil society, even if voluntarily or with the best intentions and they most certainly have no right to deprive those of us who disagree of our rights.

This is the wonderful part of this country, the realization that some things are just out of the scope of government control. While we all enjoy those rights and wax on and on about them endlessly, there is also an assumed responsibility that comes with birth that if nobody interferes with your rights you will be the sole responsible entity for them and your own existence.