Rights

Rights are taken, not granted.

Anyone who claims that rights are "granted by the government" or any other Hobbesian third party is either:

1. unconsciously assuming that a parental entity like God or the state must exist in order for the word "right" to have meaning, or
2. trying to trap her audience in a rhetorical rat hole.

Rights are precedented behaviors whose execution and outcome are expected to be condoned by the actor's immediate social circle.

The US judicial system works this way. A law is not a law until it is tested in court.

The fact that rights are taken, not granted, is the reason for number 9 in the bill of rights. And it is this fact that also makes jury trials so important to our system of government.

Which reminds me... why is everyone so eager to avoid jury duty? Acting as a juror in judgement of your peers is (really) the most direct instantiation of self-government.

So the next time you hear someone talking about all the cowardly techniques they use to avoid jury duty, find their passport and burn it. Then politely tell them to leave the country.