With Rights Come Responsibilities - That's the American Way

People on the Right/MAGA are always talking about their rights and how the government is taking away their rights. Whether it’s the issue of gun ownership, running a business, or restrictions on movement during the pandemic, people on the Right don’t seem to understand what it means to be a citizen. Yes, we have rights. But with rights come responsibilities. Not even the right of free speech, let alone the right to gun ownership, is absolute.

Man is by nature concerned mainly with his and his family’s interests. That is his biological imperative. Socially, however, man has evolved into being a member—a citizen—of a larger society. And so, from the most primitive communities to contemporary societies, that driving instinct has been reigned in for the greater good of the community.

In indigenous and many Asian societies, a collective culture developed that enforced working for the good of the group largely through social pressure. In the West, where the concept of individualism took root, societies have instead depended upon laws to control the relationship between a man’s rights and those of his fellow citizens.

Whether it’s the criminal law, traffic laws, zoning codes, or business regulation—laws developed that balance the individual’s rights against the rights of others to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and the greater public good; they tell the individual what the limits are of his freedom to act, of his ability to do what he wants to do. Without such laws, we would have anarchy.

Not only do we have the responsibility not to harm others, as our society became more enlightened, the concept developed that man had positive responsibilities to the larger society. We had shared responsibilities for the community’s welfare.

In the current political context, there is an uproar on the Right regarding this fundamental aspect of the relationship between government, individual rights, and the greater public good that came to define the American social contract. This post will look at several examples.

1. Public Health and Safety: The government has wide power to regulate matters in this area. During a pandemic, the government has the power to restrict movement and take other measures to control the spread of the virus, to protect individuals from each other. Yes, this restricts our normal rights, but these restrictions are necessary for the public good.

2. One aspect of public safety concerns gun ownership. Even if one agrees—which I don’t—with the 2008 Supreme Court decision that the 2nd Amendment confers a constitutional right to individual gun ownership, that right, like the right to free speech found in the 1st Amendment, is not absolute. It too can be limited when necessary for the greater good. So whether it’s broader background checks or prohibiting private ownership of assault-type weapons, these are restrictions that should be held to meet the constitutional standard. The NRA’s argument that ultimately pro-gun control advocates want to take away "your guns" is just fear-mongering; there is no basis in that claim.

3. Business regulation. The primary interest of any business is self-interest … that is its nature as much as it’s man’s nature. As we saw during the Industrial Revolution, if business is not regulated, it will show no concern for either its workers or the public good.

I have therefore argued in an article,“Towards a Reformed Capitalism," that because corporations are a creature of the law and have received many benefits under that law, corporate law should require that part of the decision-making process be the impact of corporate action on workers and the public good.

4. Taxes. No one likes paying them. Some taxes, like sales taxes, are regressive, meaning the lower a person’s income, the larger the share of their income that goes to paying taxes. (Regarding sales taxes, that’s because lower-income people spend a larger share of their income on the purchase of necessities and other goods, which results in the tax taking a larger share of their income.)

As the United States developed into a more progressive society, it realized that regressive taxes posed an unfair burden on the poor. A socially fair tax would work in the opposite way … the higher one’s income, the greater the share of that income that would be paid in taxes. That was deemed fair because the very rich could pay higher taxes without it posing any hardship, without it putting a crimp in their lifestyle. And that's how the income tax was designed … as a progressive tax.

In 1932, the income tax for the top bracket was 63% of income over $1,000,000. In 1950, it was 91% of income over $400,000. As recently as 1980, the rate was 70% of income over $212,000. But since that time, since the Reagan presidency, the rate has been only 37% of income over $510,000.

So since the Reagan presidency, the rich have paid a smaller portion of their income as taxes than at any time since the income tax was instituted, and as a result, less money has been flowing into the public treasury and available for the public good—which includes many areas of government activity in addition to programs that aid the elderly and the poor. The rich have indeed become richer.

One reason why Republicans are always seeking to lower taxes regardless of the impact on the public good is because programs that help the poor, such as Aid to Dependent Children and Food Stamps, are not supported by Republicans. They may be necessary to the well-being of millions of our citizens—2025 Census data show that 10.6% of Americans, or 35.9 million people, live below the poverty line—but Republicans feel such programs support undeserving people.

In all these areas, President Trump and his MAGA allies are in keeping with historical Republican opposition by arguing that the government’s role should be reduced or eliminated. People should be free to do what they think best. Business should not be regulated. The wealthy should not pay more taxes. The poor should have to fend for themselves … if you don’t succeed, it’s your fault.

Programs like Social Security are distinguished by them from other government programs because the benefit has been earned. Regarding corporate subsidies, they don’t call them subsidies because it would smack of socialism.

Republican positions are against the balance that our nation struck in the 20th century between private rights, the public good, and the role of government. Their positions violate an enlightened concept of the rights and responsibilities of a citizen.

Republicans wish to take us back to an era where individualism ran rampant and success was limited to the few. America’s strength in the 20th century, though, evolved by broadening the base of prosperity among its citizens and creating a more vibrant, intelligent workforce through the intervention of government programs and regulation.

That is where we need to continue heading in the 21st century to ensure America’s continued strength. Trump’s policies will not make America great again because they are against the empowerment of people and thus actually weaken America. MAGA Republicans need to be recognized for what they are … hypocrites masquerading as the party of the people. They are not responsible citizens of this great republic.

Ronald L. Hirsch is a teacher, legal aid lawyer, survey researcher, nonprofit executive, consultant, composer, author, and volunteer. He is a graduate of Brown University and the University of Chicago Law School and the author of We Still Hold These Truths. Read more of his writing at www.PreservingAmericanValues.com