ProtoTypical writes:
People have the rights that they claim and that they can defend.
Yes, that's the feudal system but we've moved beyond that. In a democracy, we decide which rights we will grant each other - i.e. which ones are worth defending.
Then a remnant of the feudal system survives, and will always survive, Ringo.
Proto is correct. We have only those rights we can defend. People can tell themselves they have a right against unusual search and seizure but if they do not zealously defend that right then we get things like the TSA. Without constant defense of a right against the encroachment of government and society, even in those most disagreeable instances, then that "right" is nothing but platitude.