These
rights and privileges are mine:
I may think as I
please. What I hold in my mind belongs entirely to me.
I may speak and
write as I please, so long as I do not interfere with the rights of others to
do the same. However, the promotion of unwarranted
and unjustified hatred, promoted by propaganda and overt lies should not be tolerated
in a society where Liberty from Tyranny is sought. Truth should be our primary goal, as without
it no viable decision can be made...
I have the right to
vote. By my vote I choose the public officers who are really my servants. No corporation conglomerate, banking
consortium, or international government should be allowed to influence,
pressure, coerce, or select any elected official, and no dual citizen should
ever be allowed to hold public office. When we allow any of this, our country
no longer belongs to we the people.
I have the right to
choose my work, and to seek any job for which my experience and ability have
fitted me. No person should be chosen by government mandate, be it race or
creed, over those more qualified. Integration
or segregation should be chosen entirely by the individual, as the promotion of
conscious awareness should not be influenced by government, and yet, all
individuals, including myself, are protected by our Bill of Rights and our
Constitution...
I have the right to
try to improve my lot through various means, but those decisions and
repercussions are my responsibility only. Government has no jurisdiction to bail
me out...
I have the right to
a prompt trial by jury if I should be accused of a crime, with due process
according to our Democratic Republic based on Constitutional Law.
I may seek justice
in the courts where I have equal rights with others.
I have the privilege
of sharing in the benefits of many of the natural resources of my country, but
I have no right to any of them. At the end of this essay I will explain why...
I may educate my
children in free schools, government run, or choose to educate my children in
any way I deem fit, including home school, private or parochial. However, there
should be some form of universal or common criteria and testing as a gauge of accomplishment,
for participation in the market place. If that form of education does not
ascribe to the general description of what a formal edification is, a free
market should not be mandated to hire them.
I have the right to
worship as I think best, so long as I do not inhibit others of a differing mindset
to do the same. Faith is very precious
and personal, and no religion should demean or make demands on another faith...
unless however, that faith threatens me
personally, or my ability to worship as I see fit. Respect for the differences of faiths are
universal in a free and open society, and those who cannot coexist extracted.
I have the right to
"life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." These are great aspirations,
but in no way are they guaranteed, and though rights and privileges can be held
accountable by law... happenstance, chance,
accidents and coincidences can thwart a positive outcome, and so cannot be assured.
I am responsible for my decisions, and
no one but me accountable for my mistakes, or an accident.
Author's
note: It is good to contemplate the
difference between what is held as a right, and what is defined as a privilege.
Different mindsets can ascribe the origin
of a right fundamentally, but most will agree that it is not granted my men,
their laws, or even a mandate. People of faith seem to agree that it is God
given, and others that it is universal, natural, and fundamental to what we
ascribe as human. An assessment of privilege, however, takes another road, and
I think most all will agree that it originates from civilization, or society,
and yet, not always considered of the highest order, as promoted by morals and
ethics. An example of rights might be freedom
of speech, and a privilege akin to having a driver's license... sure, it is our
duty to learn these things, to discuss, debate, and ponder them to the point of truth. Sometimes in our society, however, we seem to
mix up these two concepts, and the ongoing abortion debate is a case in point.
Is having an abortion a right, or a privilege? If one cannot draw the line on
where a life begins, isn't it immoral to guess? And so, that particular
law, protecting the mother's right to choose, is not ascribed by morals and
ethics, but by man-made mandate.
"Life
is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to
give something back by becoming more."
-Tony
Robbin
"The
privilege of a lifetime is being who you are."
-Joseph
Campbell
Thomas Payne, The Rights of men
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