Rights are simply the ability to act in one's own interest. How did you "get" those? By being. Remember Descartes? "I think therefore I am." Rights sort of follow that: I am therefore I can act. Your ability to act as a natural being is determined by two things: your will/desire ("Do I want to do that?") and whether or not you are strong enough to overcome someone trying to stop you physically. THAT is where our rights come from. By being, existing. We breathe, we move, we are sentient, and we are free to seek our own destiny as we see fit.
Now, enter society. Your rights don't change. Except that you voluntarily agree not to exercise all of them in the absolute so that your rights don't create a conflict with another person trying to exercise his rights. This is the "swinging fist meets nose" concept.
Since some people won't comply with that voluntary infringement, we have to make laws to limit them. We make laws so that we have legal grounds to punish offenders, since we can't willy nilly punish them or we'd be violating their rights.
Because laws are government and government infringes on rights, even if justly, some people erroneously think that all behavior is governed (granted) by the government and what is allowed is allowed because government said so (or hasn't criminalized it yet). Practically, that may be the societal result, but it is not the philosophical reality.
It's interesting to see the evolution (no pun intended) of the higher levels of thinking within the membership of INGO. When asked about where our rights come from, most people start at the last part of the story. The more evolved one is in one's reasoning skills, the farther back he will be able to go to find the answer.
Now, enter society. Your rights don't change. Except that you voluntarily agree not to exercise all of them in the absolute so that your rights don't create a conflict with another person trying to exercise his rights. This is the "swinging fist meets nose" concept.
Since some people won't comply with that voluntary infringement, we have to make laws to limit them. We make laws so that we have legal grounds to punish offenders, since we can't willy nilly punish them or we'd be violating their rights.
Because laws are government and government infringes on rights, even if justly, some people erroneously think that all behavior is governed (granted) by the government and what is allowed is allowed because government said so (or hasn't criminalized it yet). Practically, that may be the societal result, but it is not the philosophical reality.
It's interesting to see the evolution (no pun intended) of the higher levels of thinking within the membership of INGO. When asked about where our rights come from, most people start at the last part of the story. The more evolved one is in one's reasoning skills, the farther back he will be able to go to find the answer.