The Two Types of Rights

The Two Types of Rights

Robert Freeman

When listening to people talk about politics, it is likely that one will hear rights being brought up at some point, usually to justify one government policy or another. Nearly everyone has a general idea of what rights they think a person has or ought to have and will cite one or more of them to promote the policy that they are in favor of. It might be the right to life, liberty, free speech, or property. It may be one of "basic needs" of life they feel we have the right to, such as health care, fair wages, or affordable housing. There are a multitude of rights, and applications for them, that one could argue for.

But, when talking about rights, there is a fundamental distinction that is often overlooked. It reveals that there are, essentially, two types of rights. The first type is the right to life (or liberty, free speech, property, etc.) in which someone has the freedom to pursue their own values and goals, as long as they do not violate anyone else' freedom to do the same. The second type is the idea that they also have this "right" to life, whereby if they cannot obtain the means to keep themselves healthy and happy - or whatever is deemed a right by society - they, or one or more individuals acting on their behalf, such as the government, can force someone else to provide it for them. Though they are often considered to be, the two types are not synonymous with each other. Not only are they not synonymous, they actually contradict each other. The first type is the freedom from the initiation of force from other people. The second type inevitably results in the encroachment upon that freedom by initiating force in order to fulfill itself.

This analysis in itself is not a matter of economics or ethics, but a matter of logic. Beyond this one could still try to justify the idea that one person's need trumps another person's freedom, such as by arguing that it is our civic duty or that it is a necessary evil or whatever one might think, but the fact remains that they do inevitably contradict each other and, for the sake of clarity and consistency, it should be acknowledged.

Copyright (C) 2008 Robert Freeman. This essay may not be reproduced by any means in any form without the expressed written permission of the author.