Where do our rights come from?

Question

Where or from whom or what do our rights come from?

abc3643 · Accepted Answer

I am sorry this is such a long post but that's because I am citing historical text.

What we conceive of as rights are really just line items in an agreement among parties.

Suppose your rights in society are violated? What are you going to do? You go to court and resolve them, right? Except, what if the court doesn't agree with you? Or, WORSE, what if the court agrees with you but the other side who violated your rights don't comply with the court order? What then?

What really "defends your rights" are your defenses - your weapons.

Here's an example from history... It's the Little Rock School Integration Crisis of 1957.

Here's a description from the Eisenhower Library:

On May 17, 1954, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education that segregated schools are "inherently unequal." In September 1957, as a result of that ruling, nine African-American students enrolled at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. The ensuing struggle between segregationists and integrationists, the State of Arkansas and the federal government, President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus, has become known in modern American history as the "Little Rock Crisis." The crisis gained world-wide attention. When Governor Faubus ordered the Arkansas National Guard to surround Central High School to keep the nine students from entering the school, President Eisenhower ordered the 101st Airborne Division into Little Rock to insure the safety of the "Little Rock Nine" and that the rulings of the Supreme Court were upheld.

In short, in the wake of the 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, schools everywhere were supposed to be integrated meaning Black and White students would attend the same classes together and no longer be taught separately. This was anathema for Southerners and they were slow to act.

3 years later, the federal United States District Court of Eastern Arkansas gave orders "with respect to matters relating to enrollment and attendance at public schools, particularly at Central High School...". The court said that Black children had the RIGHT to attend schools with the White kids.

The Governor of Arkansas Orval Faubus wasn't going to comply. This is obstruction of justice. Crowds of White people and Arkansas National Guardsmen were blocking the entrance to the high school to prevent the "Little Rock 9" Black kids from entering.

President Eisenhower was diplomatic at first in his discussions with Faubus. But then he got serious...

Eisenhower was a general in the US Army and the former head of the Allied Forces in Europe during WW2. He's letting Faubus know he's annoyed (it's interrupting his vacation in New England). So, he issued a Presidential Proclamation 3204 that obstruction of justice is occurring and needs to stop. Faubus may have thought that Eisenhower was bluffing, but this is an actual warning shot and cover-your-ass moment for Eisenhower because Eisenhower needs to first get on the record why he may have to take military action.

https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/sites/default/files/research/online-documents/civil-rights-little-rock/press-release-proclamation.pdf

Proclamation 3204—Obstruction of Justice in the State of Arkansas

September 23, 1957

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

WHEREAS certain persons in the State of Arkansas, individually and in unlawful assemblages, combinations, and conspiracies, have wilfully obstructed the enforcement of orders of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas with respect to matters relating to enrollment and attendance at public schools, particularly at Central High School, located in Little Rock School District, Little Rock, Arkansas; and

WHEREAS such wilful obstruction of justice hinders the execution of the laws of that state and of the United States, and makes it impracticable to enforce such laws by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings; and

WHEREAS such obstruction of justice constitutes a denial of the equal protection of the laws secured by the Constitution of the United States and impedes the course of justice under those laws:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Dwight D. Eisenhower, President of the United States, under and by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and statutes of the United States, including Chapter 15 of Title 10 of the United States Code, particularly sections 332, 333 and 334 thereof, do command all persons engaged in such obstruction of justice to cease and desist therefrom, and to disperse forthwith.

...

Faubus likely felt Eisenhower was bluffing. Eisenhower wasn't. So, the next day, Eisenhower issues Executive Order 10730.

https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/sites/default/files/research/online-documents/civil-rights-little-rock/press-release-eo-10730.pdf

Executive Order 10730—Providing Assistance for the Removal of an Obstruction of Justice Within the State of Arkansas

September 24, 1957

WHEREAS on September 23, 1957, I issued Proclamation No. 3204 reading in part as follows:

(text of Proclamation 3204) and

WHEREAS the command contained in that Proclamation has not been obeyed and wilful obstruction of enforcement of said court orders still exists and threatens to continue:

NOW, THEREFORE, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and Statutes of the United States, including Chapter 15 of Title 10, particularly sections 332, 333 and 334 thereof, and section 301 of Title 3 of the United States Code, It is hereby ordered as follows:

SECTION 1. I hereby authorize and direct the Secretary of Defense to order into the active military service of the United States as he may deem appropriate to carry out the purposes of this Order, any or all of the units of the National Guard of the United States and of the Air National Guard of the United States within the State of Arkansas to serve in the active military service of the United States for an indefinite period and until relieved by appropriate orders.

SECTION 2. The Secretary of Defense is authorized and directed to take all appropriate steps to enforce any orders of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas for the removal of obstruction of justice in the State of Arkansas with respect to matters relating to enrollment and attendance at public schools in the Little Rock School District, Little Rock, Arkansas. In carrying out the provisions of this section, the Secretary of Defense is authorized to use the units, and members thereof, ordered into the active military service of the United States pursuant to Section 1 of this Order.

SECTION 3. In furtherance of the enforcement of the aforementioned orders of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, the Secretary of Defense is authorized to use such of the armed forces of the United States as he may deem necessary.

SECTION 4. The Secretary of Defense is authorized to delegate to the Secretary of the Army or the Secretary of the Air Force, or both, any of the authority conferred upon him by this Order.

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
THE WHITE HOUSE,
September 24, 1957.

See those Sections 3 and 4? Eisenhower is not fucking around. He's going to send in the tanks and remind the Southerners who lost the Civil War. He's basically saying: Do this or we'll kill you.

OK, so ask yourself: What if Eisenhower didn't do that? Would those "Little Rock 9" Black kids get to attend Central High School with the White kids as was their right?

Nope.

This is why rights are something of a fiction. They are not something absolute.

Instead, they are agreements that are meant to be adhered to, but the only thing that enforces those agreements are the threat of force.

That's what this history lesson teaches us. Our society, via our court system, said these kids had the right to go to that school but the threat of violence was the only thing that actually enabled their right to attend to actually be enforced.

So, remember that: If the other side is stomping on your rights, you better be well-armed to defend them and defeat the other side. This is why nations have militaries and why the US of A spends a lot on defense: We have a good quality of life with lots of rights and we don't want someone else ending that.

SO, TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION...

Your rights come from your agreements with society or other parties but also your ability to enforce or have enforced those agreements.

Telekinetic-Potato · Accepted Answer

They come from war and the threat of violence/loss of power. People should never forget that.

This and every other country was formed by bloodshed and in the case of America, people who fought for the idea of freedom.

The forefathers warned that we would slowly loose our freedoms. That the country was designed to slow the loss of liberty but it would have to be reclaimed every so often by violence.

That's why they said if you're not willing to die for it, then you don't deserve it.

I just watched a news story about robots in California restaurants replacing the "dangerous work involving deep fries and grills nobody wants to do" I know people who quit their job when they realized they weren't getting promoted to the grill 😂

God decides what should be

Nature decides what can be and government decides what will be enforced.

But at the end of the day it's society that decides where any of that falls in reality.

Maybe_Maybe_not · Answer

Our rights? But we don't share the same rights in the first place.

We're all scattered on earth with different rights in place, according to local institutions, local conflicts, local History. Looking at worldwide History, our rights seem to spawn from an accumulation of conflicts between the masses and whatever local lord, or between a rich clan and whatever lord? From there, different countries/states issued diverse declarations of rights at different times, either copying their neighbours, making up their own or downright rejecting them. Accumulation went on leading one right to another then another etc.

For a local example and throughout XXth century, unions and strikes vs corporation, as well as strike vs corporation conflicts also kept adding more rights to the list. That's why workers got 2 weeks of paid holidays a year here, in 1936, combined with inspiration from German society and a leftist gov. Then it gradually expanded to 5 paid weeks a year.

RavVid · Answer

Whilst the US has constitutional rights, most countries don't and ones rights are what is allowed by legislation.

I consider that the better approach because it allows nuance.

An unfettered right to free speech conflicts with a "right" not to be vilified with untrue assertions. The US doesn't have free speech, as I understand it, but only a right against gov't restrictions on speech.

Mostly rights are invented by people who want something are are just ambit claims.

RingOfFire · Answer

It depends on what rights you are talking about. I believe that certain rights, like the right to own private property, free speech, self defense and certain other rights are given to all humans at conception by a God of some kind. These are granted to all humans and cannot be taken away by any law of mankind.

The right to use a public park, public roadways, etc. for example however, is a right only to be granted by the people (taxpayers) who paid for it. It is property which belongs to them.

strateguy632 · Answer

"all men/human are  created  equal, that they are  endowed by their Creator  with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and" +"equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them". God granted certain rights.

Master_Debator · Answer

They come by force. Without the ability to make them rights, they don't exist. Economic ability too I guess... I mean some people want to make healthcare a human right, but the money is going to be hard to come by if we still have learing centers and fake hospice care eating up Billions of dollars.

goaded · Answer

People. Society. Forward thinking people who come up with ideals like "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness", and majorities agree.

Governments aren't always representative of the majority, even in democracies. God doesn't exist, and didn't care much about liberty for millennia, considering the amount of slavery in the Bible (yes, I know it wasn't like US slavery). Nature cares even less.

WindAtMyBack · Answer

We make them up. There is no such thing as a natural right. Humans were around for a million years before any such thing as a "right" was conceived.

A right is perceived as a right when it's a consensus.

Zack-Bann · Answer

It’s a man made concept not something that comes from a higher power. The only thing that keeps it relevant is the weapons and our willingness to use them against those who break the rules we made

OneViewpoint · Answer

Rights come from the people. And our rights are documented in our laws and in the case of the USA our Constitution. Unless of course you live in a Religious Theocracy or a Fascist Dictatorship.

NathanDavis · Answer

signed with gunpowder...

AviatorTom · Answer

There are no rights, we humans made them up...

worldscolide · Answer

Who ever said government is a moron. The reason we have a constitution is to protect rights we already have from being trampled on by the government..

KostasKouvalis · Answer

God. The only RIGHTS we have are our God given rights to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Everything else we call "rights", are actually privliges.

Jersey2 · Answer

Our Rights come from those willing to fight and die for them and then share them with the masses.

msc545 · Answer

Our rights are derived from ourselves and are maintained and changed when we vote. Remember that rights flow from the permission of the governed.

loveslongnails · Answer

That depends what you choose to believe, but no matter WHAT you believe, you're always subject to the laws of the land you live in.

Hispanic-Cool-Guy · Answer

Government. They decide what rights you will have or won't have on a piece of paper. God doesn't mention anything about rights.

MrChinaski · Answer

I make my own rights. Why would I rely on others to do something that important for me?

andreasderjuengere · Answer

They are political fiction only. Basically, there's only one right: the right to try.

genericname85 · Answer

our ancestors made them up and refined them and we're currently still refining them

Snakeyes7 · Answer

The amount of people who think rights come from the government is terrifying.

captain_voidwalker · Answer

It comes from our ability to point a gun at anything that threatens them

ABC1x1x · Answer

Rights come from might. The more you can take, the more you will have.

Anonymous · Answer

In my crappy country, only the worst scum have rights, decent people usually don't.

FunkyMonkee · Answer

Sure as fuck ain't god!!!

sage2021 · Answer

Aren't we born with rights in America? 🇺🇸

LC75LC71 · Answer

The Bill of Rights?

TonyMetal___86 · Answer

A combination of religion and society order...

beefcakebradybatson · Answer

The Civil Rights Movement !!!

888theGreat · Answer

God , Constitution , and Bill of Rights

Honeyateleven · Answer

How else would we control the mindless mass

Bbblittle · Answer

Rights come from men.

Kingofkings1992 · Answer

Shocked how people still believe in God

SaoirseS · Answer

The Constitution.

Anonymous · Answer

Magna carta 1215 if you're in England 🙂

Mike_Hum · Answer

God.

Where do our rights come from?

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