What are Rights? | Atlas University

Political controversies and protests are often dominated by the theme of rights or individual rights. We hear about a "right to health care," a "right to education," even a "right to high-speed Internet." In California, one man has even claimed a "right to longboard" on city sidewalks. Others claim there is no "right to health care" because such a right entails forcing others to pay for one's health care--and coercion they say is a violation of individual rights.

How can we make sense of competing claims to rights?

How can we gain a solid understanding of what rights are? In this video Will Thomas shares footage from recent rights protests and gives us a fascinating "tool" to use to evaluate claims of "rights." To show what a right is, he shows what the traditional basic rights of the U.S. Constitution have in common, and argues for individual rights to life, liberty, and property. He contrasts real, individual rights to freedom with pseudo-rights that are used to destroy freedom.