Know your rights, and what doesn't make a "right"
One of the most complex legal topics is the idea of rights. People need to be careful not to throw around the word “right” lightly. To do so devalues the weight behind the word.
I have recently seen two instances in which the word “right” was used in such a manner. The first was in the Nov. 5 Central Michigan Life story, “Thursday panel wants Chippewa nickname changed,” when a student said, “This is not a mascot issue. This is a human rights issue,” in reference to using the Chippewa name as the university’s nickname.
A main document used to define human rights among the international committee is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
Nowhere in the 30 articles of the UDHR is there anything that remotely deals with this issue. Using the Chippewa name has nothing to do with human rights. It may be a political correctness issue; however, it is certainly not a human rights issue, and to describe it as such undermines true human rights efforts.
The second instance where the word “right” was used improperly was in the Nov. 9 CM Life column, “Health care should be provided to all citizens.” Columnist Michael L. Hoffman said the Declaration of Independence “established the idea of the rights all Americans are entitled to. In today’s world, this should include affordable health care,” referring to the “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” clause.
There are several problems with this claim. First, the Constitution trumps the Declaration of Independence, and there is no indication the government needs to provide affordable health care for its citizens.
Second, there is a problem using the “pursuit of happiness” argument for affordable health care. When Thomas Jefferson wrote this, he meant that government should not take away the life, liberty or the ability to pursue happiness from its citizens.
For instance, I may want to pursue happiness by buying a Ferrari. The government has no right to stop me from doing so; however, the government does not have to make sure that I can purchase a cheap Ferrari. Just because the government cannot take away the ability to purchase affordable health care does not mean that it has to ensure that affordable health care is available to everyone.
Last, Jefferson also wrote that whenever the government stops securing those rights for its citizens, “it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new Government.” If affordable health care is truly a right, and if the government denies citizens this right, then we should rise up and institute a new government.
Somehow, I don’t think I will be seeing another revolution if affordable health care is not provided to all American citizens.
