Tuesday, May 21, 1996
Trend puts individual desires above groups’ needs
The issue of "rights" often becomes a topic of discussion in the
classroom. In truth, in both our "politically charged" campus and
national communities, the idea of "rights" will be continually
debated. Our rights are the basis of our democratic freedoms and
our Constitution. Rights sparked the flame that became our nation.
The American conception of rights may be the fundamental reason why
our democratic tradition has progressed for so long.
The American conception of rights is construed from a long
history of liberal and Western political thought, mixing many
different legal and political philosophies. Many American citizens
have died for these rights  first in a war for themselves
against a foreign power, then for themselves against themselves,
and finally, for our way of life against another way of life.
History has proven that the protection of our rights is the single
motivating factor that serves to unite the American citizenry …
and now serves to divide it.
A few days ago, I was again reminded how today’s common
perception of our rights serves to disunite us. While picking up
dinner in Westwood, I spied the letters of the ACLU (American Civil
Liberties Union), the so-called symbolic protector of our rights.
The letters decorated the back of a T-shirt, and the shirt’s owner
and a political cohort were discussing the "right to attend a
university," a "right" which the T-shirt wearer claims is in grave
danger due to the regents’ anti-affirmative action position. His
cohort agreed, replying with angry rhetoric, pointing out the
oppressive nature of the "university establishment." Both decided
that if the "right to go to a university" is to be saved, its
savior will be the judicial system and the justice of the
Constitution.
These two "rights advocates" firmly believed that the "right to
attend a university" is an established right in American
constitutional law.
The idea that this is a right is questionable; the idea that it
is part of the Constitution is simply untrue.
It took 169 years  from Jamestown to Philadelphia Â
to develop the Bill of Rights, yet it seems that today’s Americans
discover a new right every 15 minutes. Not only is there a right to
attend a university, but we also now have computer rights, animal
rights, the right to know the sex of a fetus, the right to own an
AK-47, the right to free drug treatment and recently, the right to
die. And oddly enough, all of these rights have gained
"constitutional" status by our judicial system.
Nowhere in the original Constitution are these rights expressly
enumerated, and the same holds true for its amendments. Yet most of
these newly discovered rights are given constitutional protection
by the courts, allowing "rights groups" such as the ACLU to
legislate through the judiciary. Consequently, these judicial
interpretations of the Bill of Rights have tilted sharply away from
the rights of the society at large in favor of the rights of
specific individuals, which only serves to satisfy few and
frustrate many.
Today’s Americans now believe that every whim or superficial
need is a fundamental right that deserves protection by the
legislator and the courts. In truth, it now seems that people will
claim that their rights have been violated every time that life
gets slightly complicated. And sadly, with this trend there is also
a growing lack of individual responsibility for one’s situation or
actions, and the burden of responsibility for everyone’s happiness
is shifted from the individual to another source, most often the
government.
I am not claiming that it isn’t a right to have the opportunity,
an equal opportunity at that, to attend institutions of higher
education. But I am claiming that these types of rights, if
determined as rights, cannot be construed to be protected under the
words of the Constitution. The genius of our Constitution is that
it allows our citizenry to decide through a representative
democratic system which rights are important to society as a whole,
and whether or not these "legislative rights," not constitutional
rights, need governmental protection.
More and more, the judiciary and rights groups such as the ACLU
focus on the individual claim to rights, and ignore the pleas for
the larger rights of society in the process. This creates a
citizenry that is, for the most part, disinterested with the rights
of others except for those rights which interfere with their
own.
The idea of collective rights, which used to serve to unite
Americans in time of revolution and war, now only serves to
fragment our society into a group of irresponsible individuals.
Attending a university is a privilege, not a right. Although we
must continue to attempt to make the opportunity available for
everyone, the role of the student must be played by someone who is
deserving the part.
To truly earn a right to most things in life, you must earn the
right on your own merit, with your own skills and
self-determination.
Americans must learn to be responsible for themselves and their
own rights, stop creating phantom rights to make their lives
easier, leave the constitutional claims to the law school
professors and judges, and put the ACLU and others like it out of
business.
Burke is a fourth-year political science/history student. His
column appears on alternate Wednesdays.