It is true that rights are violated all the time but that does not mean they do not exist. Yes, rights need to be guarded and defended. The truth that the defense of those rights requires, at times, violence does not negate them.
The concept of natural rights as used in our founding set limits on what the federal government was allowed to do. It was meant to be a practical application of a moral principle for our internal governance.
The dissident right is antagonistic to the concept of a social contract, which is based on natural rights, between the government and the people. I agree that the social contract is an abstract concept but I have never heard of any political theory that isn’t full of abstractions. That includes the communitarians and the dissident right theorists.
What set John Locke’s political theory apart from the other philosophers who used the social contract (Hobbes, Rousseau, etc.) was that Locke was explicitly Christian. He based his principle that all men are created equal on the belief we are all created in the Image of God. A king has no more of that image than a peasant. As Thomas Jefferson phrased it “The mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately, by the grace of God.” I believe all of us in this country, both believer and unbeliever, have benefited tremendously from this approach to government.
It’s important to note that in Locke’s philosophy the “pursuit of happiness” was a lot more than a state of mind. There is no point in going into it here but this article provides a deep dive into the concept if you are interested.
I think I’ve said my piece on the topic, you all know where I stand on this and I’m going to let this be my last response. I hope you all have a merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas Glenn.