Canadian Healthcare from a Canadian...

[JWsleep]

Originally Posted by GhettoDogAllStars

A couple of relevant points:

2.)

I took an Ethics class in college, and I had to give a presentation about Human Rights. I had prepared well, and I was ready to talk about rights which all humans are entitled to. During my presentation I became aware that many people disagreed about what rights are universal and inalienable. So, I threw my presentation out the window and decided to just make a list with the class of universal inalienable rights. Sadly, nobody could agree on a SINGLE one! The class decided there are no Human Rights. They couldn't even agree that the right to live should be universal and inalienable! They kept saying that a murderer doesn't deserve to live, so therefore life itself is not inalienable. It was a sad day for me, because I realized how little people respect other humans. I seriously wanted to cry. I was so disappointed.

I agree that it's hard to agree on the rights people have, and how to justify those rights. But even if there are rights, you can forfeit your rights in some situations. A murderer, by their choice, forfeits their rights. That may not entail the death penalty--that's a question of appropriate punishment--but it might. With rights come responsibilities. If you don't fulfill those responsibilities, you can lose your rights.

About which rights are basic--as the Declaration of Independence says, "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." That works for me. From there it's a matter of debate, though I'm partial to much of the Bill of Rights. But there's no easy answers in these things--don't get discouraged!