The missing word from this conversation is "duty": a moral obligation to others. People pretend rights can exists without duties because, like you said, they'r

The missing word from this conversation is "duty": a moral obligation to others. People pretend rights can exists without duties because, like you said, they're trying to get good things for free. They're asking for work from others and not being upfront on the price of the work. I say "I have a right to good service at the DMV", because I can't say the DMV must give me, let alone everyone, good service. In a larger view[1], a language of rights without duties undermines the broader social contract, confuses conversations with indirect terms[2], and provides the selfish with the illusion of care for their fellow man. As it so happens, the original declaration of human rights[2] specifically calls out the necessary union of duties and rights. However, the UN declaration does not do so, likely because no one, bar a few western countries, actually had the power to enforce those rights on a global scale. Hannah Arendt commented on this topic at length, though it's hard for hyper-individualists to digest[4]. [1] https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/samuel-moyn-rights-duties/ https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/samuel-moyn-rights-dut... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_and_positive_rights#Criticism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_and_positive_rights#C... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Declaration_of_the_Rights_and_Duties_of_Man https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Declaration_of_the_Ri... [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_Arendt#Critique_of_human_rights https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_Arendt#Critique_of_huma...