RIGHT OR PRIVILEGE?
There is a huge difference between rights and privileges.
Unfortunately, in today’s society, especially with certain age, ethnic, religious,
political, etc. groups, they think that they have the right to everything. Yes,
it is true that we may have certain rights, but those rights are fragile and
depend on the stability of the political, legal and justice systems of the
place where we were born or where we reside. But whether we have rights or not,
life is much more meaningful and beautiful, and has a completely new
perspective, if we learn to see everything as a privilege instead of as a right.
Although there is a clear distinction, it is, unfortunately,
far too easy to get rights and privileges mixed up. Understanding the
difference between them is critical for people trying to live within the law in
a free society, where far too many lawmakers, lawyers, politicians, and
journalists spend too much energy trying to blur the distinction between the
two for their own gain or agenda.
A privilege is a certain entitlement
to immunity granted by the state or another authority or institution
to a restricted group, either by birth or on a conditional basis. Privileges do
not belong to all. In modern democratic states, they are conditional, granted
only after birth, and subject to change or outright removal by those in
authority controlling them. (Source: Wikipedia)
Privileges are unequal by nature. Basically, they are given to
some and withheld from others. And often, a privilege involves actually taking
something from one group and giving it to another. As such, privileges can be
revoked at any time depending on certain circumstances. For instance, a
driver’s license is a privilege because anyone that wants to get one has to
meet certain requirements of age, physical ability, and be able to pass a test.
This license or privilege can be denied or taken away when a person does not
meet the qualifications or violates the driving laws.
By contrast, a righ is an inherent, irrevocable
entitlement held by all citizens or all human beings from the moment of birth.
A right is something that every person is born with and is inalienable, which
means that it cannot be given, taken away, or denied by anyone. A right does
not need to be earned or worked for. Though rights exist outside government and
privileges within them, the reality still is that rights cannot exist without
government.
For a right to be meaningful, someone with authority and
power must both recognize and honor that right. As such, there are no rights in
an anarchy, says Leo Morris, columnist for The Indiana Policy Review, is
winner of the Hoosier Press Association’s award for Best Editorial Writer. For
example, free speech is a right because anyone can speak freely, there is
nothing anyone has to do to be able to freely speak, and it does not cost
anyone else anything to have free speech.
It is important to note that rights are not the same
everywhere around the world. They depend on the place and environment where the
individual was born or where he/she resides. Even today, an individual living
in different parts of the world will have different rights. In other words,
rights depend directly on the political, legal and justice systems of the place
where the individual resides. Having said that, although certain rights are
earned by birth in most cases, there are many occasions when fighting peacefully
for other missing human rights is important. Still today, there are many places
in the planet where people are denied some of the most basic human rights. This
is a crime and a shame!
The problem surfaces when certain groups feel entitled to
certain benefits. They may or may not deserve what they are asking or fighting
for. But being rightful or wrongful about specific rights is not the point of
this document, nor if people should fight for them or not. The point is that, in
this struggle, politicians, lawmakers, lawyers, journalists and even the people
involved often try to blur the lines between rights and privileges. And this,
this is something that we all have to be very careful of because in this
blurring, many of our rights and privileges may be taken away little by little
over time.
When you see everything as a right, you will spend your
entire life fighting, struggling to get those rights, and upset with the
establishment, government, institutions, and in general, with everyone and
everything that does not meet your criteria. There are people and/or groups
that, regardless of the number of rights and privileges that they have, will
always fight for more of them. This is completely fine when we are talking about
human rights, but it can be questionable under other circumstances. Each case
is different and each individual should make their own decision about whether
to support and fight for it.
By contrast, when you see everything as a privilege instead
of as a right, life takes a completely different meaning. Just imagine if you
were to turn everything that you take for granted, even the most minuscule
thing, and learn to see it as a privilege. Life would almost instantly become
exponentially more meaningful and beautiful. For instance, just think for a
moment that you were able to stop taking life, seeing, touching, smelling,
walking, eating, laughing, talking, smiling, loving, singing, enjoying,
yelling, crying, pets, animals, plants, trees, flowers, pebbles, water,
sunrises, mountains, the ocean, lakes, rivers, streams, the sun in your face,
etc., etc., etc., for granted; then almost instantly life would become much richer in
every meaningful and possible way. It is unbelievable that such a small
change in our attitude can have such an impact in our lives!
Some ending notes: We may have the right to live, but until you see life as a privilege, you are just surviving. Finding out who we really are is the most important privilege given to each of us. To experience life as a privilege is, by far, the greatest privilege. Respecting the life of all living things is not a privilege, it is a right! You may have the right to live but being alive, having this human experience, is a great privilege. Make the best of it! Even with no rights, you still have the privilege to decide who you want to be. Life will drastically turn for the better simply when you are able to see everything as a privilege!
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Author: Maurice Correa
Website: pathtoone.com
Blog: p2oblog.blogspot.com
Thank you, it is privilege to know you
ReplyDeleteThank you for you and Bryan being in our lives
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