Nimetic

The term "right" is misused.

I guess to me, it is helpful to define some "rights" that are fairly obvious to all. That is, they are taken to be axiomatic and can be used as the basis for subsequent decisions, laws and so on.

This is simply a convenience. Because we all have different philosophies/religions, it only works if the original "rights" are a very small set that we (mostly) agree on. Having said that, I think this is a good mechanism in that it means we don't get bogged down in the long discussion of why those rights exist.

Slightly off-post.... but.

There was a shooting in Melbourne last week. One guy is dead.

Shortly after, an opinion piece by a sub-editor (I think) appeared in the paper. It discussed the "Right to feel safe". The writer was serious.