All forms of government have some sense of rights. But natural rights exist independent of government and its laws.
This post is a brief summary accompanied by a link to an article written by Justin Stapley for the Federalist Coalition, a 501(c)(4) non-profit, non-partisan organization whose mission is to promote and educate Americans on the principles of federalism. For more links as well as insights, short-posts, and general ramblings from Justin Stapley (editor and owner of The Liberty Hawk), visit The Editor’s Corner.
In my very first article for the Federalist Coalition, back in September 2017, I laid out what constitutes a right, what differentiates a natural right, and even discussed the ideas of civil rights and collective rights.
Some of the points I sought to make were that every government in history built the foundations of its legitimacy on rights, though those rights were more often believed to be conferred on a sovereign leader or group of leaders.
It wasn’t until the Enlightenment that rights began to be considered universal in nature and invested equally in all mankind. After the Enlightenment, it wasn’t until the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution that a government was constructed to protect the sovereignty of its people and to preserve the natural rights of the individual.
I also touch on the necessity of considering and establishing civil rights, rights that necessarily come into existence to protect the natural freedoms of individuals from infringement due to the realities created by the existence of government, such as the right to vote.
Finally, I attempted to dispel the myth of collective or group rights. I assert that only individuals think, feel, and act. Rights only properly exist as individual rights. Governments, organizations, and associations may be granted certain powers and authority by their members, but they have no rights.
To believe that any collective or group can grant itself rights that supersede individual rights is tyrannical and regressive. Such tyranny resulting from the idea of collective or group rights can be seen both in the Socialist and Communist regimes of the past as well as in the institution of slavery in early American History.
Click here to read the full article.
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Justin Stapley is the owner and editor of The Liberty Hawk and the voice of The New Centrist Podcast. As a political writer, his principles and ideals are grounded in the ideas of ordered liberty as expressed in the traditions of classical liberalism, federalism, and modern conservatism. You can follow him on Facebook and on Twitter.