A Cynical View of Rights...

once commented on rights/privileges that we Americans have or otherwise do not have. It is hard to believe in this day and age we still have people who feel that some rights are merely services and if you can't play, you don't get to play. Seriously.... So here is a list of things that aren't rights, but if you think about it, they probably should be.

1. Decent clothing is a privilege. No, I dont mean Armani suits, or however the companies name is spelt. I mean like adequate clothing so you don't look like a hobo. Seriously, even a cheap pair of jeans aren't very cheap these days, and when you're bringing home a little over $200 a week in pay, those cheap pants are really not that cheap. Its like, pick between food, shelter, and a cheap pair of pants to cover your backside. I mean FFS, a pack of underwear isn't anything to sneeze at in terms of cost these days.
2. Decent shelter is a privilege. Wait, what? I once saw that as of right now, this instant, there are only a handful of places, actually less than that, where a person can afford the rent working forty hours a week at a job paying around minimum wage. Yeah, some are saying “But minimum wage employees are unskilled, undisciplined, uneducated, or otherwise lack experience. Hate to break it to you, but there are a lot of employers who pay exactly that, they pay that to the new guy, they pay it to the guy whose worked for the company for a decade. That is their pay, regardless of any qualification. Certainly, these people might find better paying jobs, depending on location, but that isn't a given, and employers know it, they use it.
3. Food. Food is not a right, the ability to eat is not a right, its apparently a privilege in the good ole US of A. One that if you cannot afford, and do not qualify for aid to do, you're going to be forced into some rather nasty alternatives. Alternative one, steal that which you eat. Two, hunt your own food. Three, do without. Now, I can't speak for everyone, but I am sure most people are addicted to eating food. You know, you don't eat, you'll die. Now, I've heard people can go weeks without eating, as long as they have water to drink....
4. Water, water everywhere, but none that I can drink. Yeah, clean drinking water is not a right in the good ole US of A. If you live in town or a city, you get to pay a bill for water that is allegedly drinkable. Of course, if you don't mind a ton of toxic chemicals (like lead, or arsenic) you're perfectly safe to drink the water. Hopefully your state hasn't put a meter on your well, cause if they have, you're going to pay taxes to have your own water source. Oh, and forget about collecting rain water, thats illegal in some areas. So, drinking water, not a right.
5. Breathing. Hey, we should have the right to breath clean air, but nope. Companies find regulations to be too expensive, so their right to do business supersedes our right to actually breath. Sure, breathing chemical laden air might cause cancer, at least thats why we have healthcare....
6. Oh... So, healthcare is a service that is provided for the benefit of making a profit. If you cannot afford health insurance, you run the risk of paying huge bills for healthcare. You see, you do not have an intrinsic right to the labor or services of someone else... Unless you are a job creator. Well then, you are perfectly free to use the right you have to the services provided by your employees.

But you want to know what rights we Americans do have?

1. The Right to exist until such time as we are unable to work or function properly in this current notion of civilization.
2. The right to work a job, or however many jobs it requires to have shelter, food, pay bills, and have medical insurance. Forget being able to necessarily afford a life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, you're going to be too exhausted to actually have higher brain functions.
3. In some states, like the Commonwealth of Virginia, you have the right to work said jobs, and be terminated from employment for any reason at any time with no recourse. IE: If one employer learns that you are working two part-time jobs, and aren't at their beck and call, you can be fired.
4. You have the right to a slow, painful death from whatever medical conditions you might suffer, because profits. You have the right to bust your hump right into an early grave.
5. You have the right to drink polluted water, breath polluted air.
6. The American Dream is now an early grave, if you are lucky enough. Truth is most of what will likely kill you are heart disease, a form of cancer, ulcers, lack of sleep, or high blood pressure. Lucky is quick. And hey, if you work hard enough, long enough, and get lucky enough, a crap retirement plan that will inevitably lead to you dying with your boots on. And if you aren't familiar with that phrase, it means dying on the job somewhere, hopefully on your break so the only people who get to deal with that are your co-workers, not costumers or the general public.
7. You have the right to suffer your misery in silence. God forbid some bleeding heart “snowflake” starts talking about how crappy existence really is.
8. Bootstraps are no longer optional, but a requirement. Even if it is only to hang yourself.

You are not entitled to an education, affordable healthcare or good health, food, shelter, entertainment, you are not entitled to actual living, a lower stress environment, to say anything about how crappy things really are, or that you honestly believe the jokers in your state house or in DC really don't care what happens to you, except when they are up for reelection and need your vote to keep their job. Nope, you are entitled to fight over a job, that may or may not pay a decent enough wage to even survive, that you might absolutely hate... Cause, before you can say or do anything, you got to have a job, experience, education, and then accept whatever you can get, however you can get it. Next up, “The Purge.”