I Have A Right!

During her homework last night, my granddaughter Sarah and I talked about the Magna Carta and how it changed the world, particularly in regards to the Constitution of the United States, in addition to other nations. The subject of rights came up.  I tried to explain that everyone has rights established under law. A sort of light went off in her head and she said, “Oh! I have a right to be on my tablet.”

Just so you know, she is not allowed to have her table after school in the evenings. There’s a reason I won’t go into but that’s enough for you to follow the conversation. I said, “No, you don’t. That’s not a right, that’s a privilege.”

“But that’s the same thing!”

I looked at her in total shock. When I could speak, I said, “And that’s what’s wrong with your generation and the current one. Privileges are not rights.”

The confusion and frustration on her face made it pretty clear what she thought about that. 

A right, according The American Heritage College Dictionary, 3rd Edition, 1993, is as follows. 

Right: Something due a person or community by law, tradition, or nature.

However, a privilege is different in nature and scope.

Privilege: A special advantage, immunity, right, or benefit granted to or enjoyed by an individual, class, or caste. B. such a privilege, held as a prerogative of status or rank and exercised to the exclusion or detriment of others.

 As a writer you learn that words are powerful and they are very specific in what they do. They mean what they say. Sarah obviously didn't understand these two words. So, I explained it this way. You have a right to food, shelter, and a warm place to sleep. But, not everyone has that. If you have those things, it is a privilege. If you’re sleeping in a tent under the bridge, you still have a right to those things but you’re not privileged to have them, for whatever reason. Not everyone has a home, but they have the right to purchase one or rent one. They may not have the privilege of them but they have a right to obtain them at their own expense. 

You have the right to say what you want, go where you want, watch what you want, eat what you want, worship where you please. These are rights granted by the law of this nation. They are also privileges. 

However, you do not have the right to force me to agree with you. Nor do you have a right to punish me for the crimes of other people, or your imagined offenses. You do not have the right to take what is mine. It is my right to protect myself and my possessions. I’m an adult and can do things you are not allowed to do. That’s privilege.

As we talked about this, I realized just how bad the world is messed up. Somewhere we stopped teaching children about the difference in a right and a privilege and started teaching them that their privileges were their legal rights. That’s absolutely false and it is at the very root of what is wrong in this country. 

A people who live solely by privilege. are enslaved to the good graces of those in charge. A people who live by law are all equal before the law. Read that privilege definition again: a privilege, held as a prerogative of status or rank and exercised to the exclusion or detriment of others. That’s extremely prejudicial. 

You really don’t want to live in a nation of privilege. You want to live in a nation of law and follow that law so not only are your rights protected but you enjoy the privileges allowed by those laws and not by the whims of those in a higher status or a higher rank. 

Notice also that a privilege can be to the detriment of others. I can have a privilege that is denied to you. I can’t have a right, established by law, that you don’t have. Before the law, we’re all treated equally. In the face of privilege, you’re  a nobody. My privileges matter more than yours. What I want is more important that what you want. I need things more than you and I have a RIGHT to them! 

No, you don’t. Because a right is not a privilege unless it is established by law, nature, or tradition. 

And this is where racism comes into play. Someone decided that race established rights and privileges. It doesn’t. Rights before the law are blind. It is why Lady Justice wears a blindfold. Privileges are generally earned by work or behavioral means. You gain them in some fashion that exhibits their worth. I had to work to be able to buy a house, car, food, and my computer. It was a privileged to be able to have these things. It is my right to use my property as I see fit. 

I don’t know who the thought police are but anyone changing the perception of the public is up to no good. They have convinced two generations that their privileges were their rights and that rights were privileges. In this case, neither is true. 

You must remember, rights are protected by law. Privileges can be revoked any time they want to revoke them. When you begin to believe that rights are privileges, you are on the brink of having them removed. Is that really what you want?

We are a nation of laws. Several presidents have said that. I’ve repeated it. Last night I gave Sarah a lesson on the difference in rights and privileges. Her confusion of the two stunned me that much.  It made me aware that we’ve made a terrible mistake in not monitoring the perceptions of our children more closely. She’s 12 and I assumed she’d know the difference. 

If you have children, you might want to ask them if they know the difference between their rights and their privileges. If they do, wonderful. If they don’t, sit down and have a chat. You don’t want your 13 year old thinking they have a right to drive your Lexus.