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the secondary or derived right to be born, to work that you might earn an income on which to live, to be paid justly for that work, and to be secure in your life and property.

Now - HOW the exercise of a right is defined is critical. Just because you have a right to own, doesn't mean that you have the right to own everything, nor does it mean that you may use what you own to harm yourself, other individuals or groups, or the common good. Possession of a right is absolute, but the exercise of any right, by its nature as a social thing (a right, by definition, is exercised against others - "society"), must take into consideration not only the wants and needs of the right holder, but also the wants and needs of other individuals and groups, as well as the whole of the common good.

"Common good" in this context is the network of rights - "institutions" - within which human persons exist as social beings as well as individuals. Because human persons are social at the same time human beings are individual, the exercise of any right must be strictly defined and limited at the same time that possession of the right is absolute, absent just cause for its removal by duly constituted authority for the good of the social order.

Thus, every human being has by nature an absolute right to be free, and thus is automatically a human person. Possession of this right - usually called "liberty" - cannot be exaggerated or overrated. HOW that freedom is exercised, however, can certainly be misunderstood and, being misunderstood, misused, exaggerated, and exercised to the detriment of the free individual, other individuals and groups, and society as a whole.

The exercise of freedom is, in fact, one of the most misunderstood and overrated bundle of rights in the world today. Because I have the right to exercise my liberty, be it freedom of speech, of action, or of belief, does not mean that I can say anything I like and force you to listen. Nor does it mean that I can begin kicking you simply because I feel like it and you must take it because you would otherwise be limiting my freedom. Most especially it does not mean that I can force my religious beliefs on you or kill you because you do not share them.

Freedom does mean that I can say, do, or believe anything I like as long as I do not harm myself, other individuals or groups, or the social order. The problem is convincing people that their freedom may be absolute in its possession, but limited in its exercise - a rather difficult task when the most popular word in the world is "me."

Learn more about this author, Michael Greaney.
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