Reason.com, my secret sin, opens the day with a great short article that defines, as well as I’ve ever seen it done, the difference between a right and a “right.”
While liberty rights such as freedom of speech or freedom of contract require others to refrain from acting in certain ways, “welfare rights” such as the purported entitlement to health care (or to food, clothing, or shelter) require others to perform certain actions. They represent a legally enforceable claim on other people’s resources.
