© 2017 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. “… that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among
these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Thomas Jefferson
In 1941 Roosevelt spoke about the four
freedoms considered four rights that should be available to all Americans. They
are: the freedom of speech, freedom to worship God, the freedom from want and
the freedom from fear. The controversy was freedom from want and fear. Is it even
possible to be free of wants and fears?
Later Roosevelt proposed eight
additional rights: the right to a useful and remunerative job. The right to
earn enough money. The right of farmers to have a decent living.
Also, the right of businessmen to
have freedom from unfair competition. The right of every family to a decent
home. The right to adequate medical care along with the right to adequate
protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident and
unemployment.
Finally, there is the right to a
good education. Not any education, a good education.
So, do you have a right to clean
water and air? Do you have a right to transportation? Do you have a right to
retire when you wish? Do you have a right to entertainment?
The problem is that some rights come
with a price tag. Someone must pay, whom will that be? If each of us has the
right to a good education, do we have to pay for it? Is it a right and other
Americans must provide this or medical care regardless of if we pay because it’s
a right?
That is a slippery slope when we
start taking the productive ability of Americans and without compensation
giving their productiveness to other Americans. It is like the notion of a one
hundred percent tax on some people. Sounds like government would get lots of
money but that is not true because if we were taxed at one hundred percent,
taxed such that we received nothing for working, it is likely we would quit.
It’s a convenient talking point that
all Americans have a right to adequate medical care. Do they have that right
without compensation to the people providing the care? Do care professionals
have a right to be compensated? Where is the line?
Usually at a traffic accident, each
of us is obligated to help, but is it a right for injured people? By getting
into an accident do they have the right to compel us to act? Perhaps, or is
that an ordinance rather than a right? Different things when we call that a
right.
Years ago, I was working as a school
photographer and that day set up at an elementary school in Tucumcari, New
Mexico. During the morning, a rough looking hombre walked up to the seat and
before sitting down said to me, “I’ve got a Constitutional Right not to smile.”
I said, “You’ve got it Bud.” He was
happy and looked happy as I took the picture. I understood that he didn’t want
one of those cheesy pictures. He wanted dignity. I was glad to give it to him
but I didn’t think it a Constitutional Right. It was professional.
How do we deal when two people with rights are in conflict?
It is like the question: if one endangered species is eating another endangered
species what should we do? It is tough to decide since if you do not let the
first species eat that species will die. And if you do then the other species
becomes more endangered. It is fundamentally the same issue with rights.
The Income Tax which came about in
1913 takes part of your productivity. It is considered the right of society to
take your productivity. How much of a right is there? Can you take most of someone’s
wages because of the supposed right of redistribution? Very slippery slope.
Maybe we should go back to only three rights.
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