day no. 15,437 continued... negative and positive rights

"Alexander Hamilton reminds us in one of those primary documents (his 1775 essay Farmer Refuted), 'The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for, among old parchments, or musty records. They are written, as with a sun beam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the hand of the divinity itself; and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power.'" - The President's Advisory 1776 Commission, Final Report

God's Law presupposes particular God-given rights.

For example:

- You shall not make for yourselves idols presupposes a right to freedom of religion.

- Keeping the Sabbath presupposes a right to honest industry.

- Do not murder presupposes a right to life and livelihood.

- Children honor our father and mother presupposes the right to raise your own children.

- Do not steal presupposes the right to possess real property.

“Being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions.” ― John Locke, Second Treatise of Government

Negative rights are those which require nothing from anyone else in order to possess. E.g. my right to live requires nothing of you for me to have it. Yet, you can infringe on that right by attempting to harm or kill me. But even then, you don't take my right to live in doing so, you only violate it and make yourself a murderer for your trouble. Negative rights are from God and cannot be nicked by another, or bought or sold for or to another, nor do they require another to do anything in order to keep them. The only thing the government has to do in order for me to have this kind of right is... nothing. 

Positive rights are those which require someone else to do something in order to have it. E.g. if I have the right to a free college education, that requires someone else to teach me, grade my exams, read my research papers, etc..., someone to buy the books I will need, someone to pay the teacher for their time, someone to own and maintain the facilities and technologies required to deliver the education, etc... If someone doesn't do that and more, I don't get a free education. In other words, positive rights promote slavery. They put someone else on the hook for something I have been told I can't be denied. That means someone has to teach and someone has to pay that teacher, whether they like it... or not. The government has to create and sustain all the moving pieces in order to secure a promise for a positive right like a free education. And passing a bill or making it a law doesn't make it less complicated to pull off. Someone still has to do a great deal in order to make it happen and someone else is still obligated to pay for and/or perform the particular tasks required to provide a positive right. The only thing the government has to do in order you to have this kind of right is... everything.

But governments aren't God and so they often fall short, even of their best-intentioned promises, to provide rights. That's because governments can't give you rights proper. They can pass laws to provide you with positive rights, but they can't promise to be able to secure them. And even when they can provide a positive right, they can always pass another law and take this kind of right away as quick as you can say, "Jack Robinson!" Governments aren't as resourceful as God and therefore, they have to tax and enslave others. Whereas God never runs out of what He gives. He doesn't rely on anyone else to provide what He promises.