We can't make blanket statements about peoples rights and expect them to be applicable in every situation. yes you can. that's exactly what a right is. a rig

We can't make blanket statements about peoples rights and expect them to be applicable in every situation. yes you can. that's exactly what a right is. a right is the right to do something even when it seems wrong. you don't need a right to do what seems right. my favourite quote, ever: At first blush it may be thought surprising that one should have a right to do that which one ought not. Is it not better to confine rights to that which it is right or at least permissible to do? But to say this is to misunderstand the nature of rights. One needs no right to be entitled to do the right thing. That it is right gives one all the title one needs. But one needs a right to be entitled to do that which one should not. It is an essential element of rights to action that they entitle one to do that which one should not. To say this is not, of course, to say that the purpose or justification of rights of action is to increase wrongdoing. Their purpose is to develop and protect the autonomy of the agent. They entitle him to choose for himself rightly or wrongly. But they cannot do that unless they entitle him to choose wrongly. - Joseph Raz, The Authority of Law (p 266) rights are very special things - they are used to protect a few essential freedoms that are so important they should be protected whatever else. rights - real rights - are very powerful things. they're the last defense against tyranny. the absolute last thing you want is some dictator saying "well, times are hard, so you can't have free speech right now". that is why rights are absolute.