Human beings don't inherently and automatically have rights; in fact, many people on the Earth have very limited rights.  If we are to have rights we must develop them and implement them.  

There is nothing irresistible that requires us to strive for rights for ourselves or to give rights to others.  However, rights are part of how we create the word that we live in – if we have a vision of the world that we want for ourselves, and we want to make or maintain that world, then rights are an important part of that process of achieving that vision.  

Just as human beings don't inherently and automatically have rights, so we don't inherently and automatically have responsibilities.

There is nothing irresistible that requires us to take on responsibilities, or to impose responsibilities on others.  However, as with rights, responsibilities are part of how we create the world that we live in.  If we have a vision of the world that we want to live in, and we want to make or maintain that world, then we must take on responsibility for achieving and maintaining that world. 

Rights and responsibilities are fundamental to our determination to live in the world that we want, and choose, to live in.  If we don't take responsibility for developing and implementing the necessary rights and responsibilities, then we will neither achieve nor maintain that world.

If we ignore the concepts of rights and responsibilities, then we will place ourselves fully at the mercy of our raw evolved behaviour, as all other species do.  Rights and responsibilities are a part of the process by which we transcend what our evolution has given us, part of what makes us human.

This page is linked from:

biodiversity loss

the nature of rights

using rights to create our world

human population

Agree? Disagree? Make a comment!  (Comments are moderated)