Social vs. Constitutional Rights

Recently, I was given a pocket-sized version of the US Constitution by BJ Lawson (he is running for US House of Representatives in district 4). It is embarrassing to admit but I had never gone through and read the Constitution in its entirety before. I had always assumed that I knew what my rights as a citizen were. Like when an elected official had over stepped their limits or when my rights were being abused. It turns out many of the “rights” I had thought I had are not really rights at all.

This makes me question the difference between social rights versus Constitutional rights. Surprisingly, I am not the only person in America that has not read this important document. Most people do not know what our Constitutional rights are. President Obama and other democrat leaders see the Constitution as a list of negative rights, meaning it says what the government cannot do. Others see the Constitution as an outdated document that is no longer relevant in today’s modern world. However interpreted, it does not change the fact that all the rights we have as American’s are spelled out in our Constitution and nowhere else.

It is natural for us to think of all of the social rights we think we are entitled to. We think we have a right to affordable health care. We feel that we have a right to a well-diversified work place that reflects the area in which we live. We think that we have the right to be protected from bad language or offensive ideas that have no place in our society. None of these “rights” listed above are written in our Constitution.  

The Constitution is still what it was intended to be when it was created. It is a living document that provides for us our rights as well as government’s responsibilities to us all. The founders of the Constitution gave us the power to change it as the needs and the will of the people needed it to. It is still as relevant then as it is now. Why do we so easily ignore it or allow our elected officials to make laws that skirt around it as often as we do?

Do not be like me. Do not wait 35 years before taking the time to read and understand the rights that we have in America as granted by our Constitution. Question everything that comes from your elected officials. Make sure that your rights and freedoms are not being taken from you or are not being sidestepped by some means. No one can protect your rights as good as you can, but you cannot protect yourself unless you know the facts. Arm yourselves with knowledge and you will be ready for any fight that comes your way.