Individual rights exist when the government says: “You are sovereign over your own life. As long as you don’t infringe on this same sovereignty in others, you are free to do as you please. We will uphold your right to life, liberty and property as inalienable.”

“Rights” as they’re known today: “We will protect your rights [LGBTQ rights, women’s rights, racial minority rights], and even give you the property of others beyond what you’re entitled to, via the wheeling and dealing of daily dirty politics. In exchange, we OWN you. When we tell you to mask up, to report your nonvaccinated neighbors, to hand over 50 or 90 percent of your income, to stop using fuel even if it means living the lifestyle of an 18th Century pioneer — WHATEVER we tell you to do, you do it. Why? Because we own you.”

The only rights that matter are individual rights. “Rights” as they’re defined today are not rights at all. It’s nothing more than a legalized criminal protection racket. If you sell your soul to the devil — then you deserve whatever you get. These legalized mobsters in the Imperial City or your state capitals will never have your back … not when it doesn’t suit them.

That’s what happened to America.

Michael J. Hurd, Daily Dose of Reason