I'm sucking on an atomic fire ball right now to get this awful taste out of my mouth after reading this drivel on the normally readable (albeit it sometimes over my head) Volokh. This is what “progressives” are so fond of?

I want to look at the following so called rights  that Cass Sunstein, a guest blogger, distills from FDR.

The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the Nation;

Excuse me? As a company owner, I have the same right to hire whom I see fit. I have the right to not hire someone who I do not feel can adequately perform the duties required to continue my business, regardless of reason. UPS has the right to deny a person in a wheelchair a job doing deliveries. I have the right to decline a job to someone who has no idea what f-stop and shutter speed to use in a 'sunny-16' situation.

You have a right to attempt to learn the skills needed for a job. You have to do the work yourself, it's not a given.

The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;

Pardon me whilst I retch. First point, you do not have the right to recreation. It is not my responsibility to provide you with any sort of entertainment at my expense. Second, define adequate? One can get by with a burlap bag and a pair of shoes. You don't have to work very hard to be able to afford clothes and food. You won't be able to buy $500 Nikes and eat Fillet Mignon every night.

I can hear it now.... “What about those who cannot work due to {insert malady here}“. It's called charity and there are plenty of us out there who don't mind giving some of what we have to those who haven't because we're humans and care. Taking it at gunpoint (ie Taxes) and you'll pardon me if I'm a little pissed off about it.

Ensure that people can only receive food and clothing via charity and not as a guaranteed event and I'm willing to bet you'd see a hell of a lot more effort in our work force.

The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;

Hey, I agree with this, but probably not in the way Cass wants me to. I'd word this a little different as in Every farmer has a right to grow whatever he feels the public is willing to buy and sell it at the price that people are willing to pay. Squash not selling that well, grow tomatoes.

The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;

I think I'd agree with this is you removed the “unfair competition“ and “abroad“ phrases. Michael Jordan has an 'unfair' advantage over me in basketball, that doesn't mean I should make the same money he does.

The right of every family to a decent home;

The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;

The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

The preceding three statements are complete and utter bullshit! Sorry, but houses require someone to build them. They require that someone cut down trees, someone to forge the nails, someone to knit the carpet, someone to research the proper chemicals to make the paint stick to the drywall which, incidentally, needs someone to make.

Health care requires that someone go through years of grueling school and pass complex, difficult exams. Let's not even get into the whole internships. Hell, even nurses require massive educations and examinations.

What gives any human being the “right“ to require these people perform their services for free? How can one person actually believe that, for whatever reason, goods and services do not require compensation. If you think that “it will make you feel good as a person“ is adequate compensation, I agree wholeheartedly. But that's only valid if it is done voluntarily!!!

The right to a good education.

Again, who provides this? I am a victim product of the public school system. My parents couldn't afford to put me through private school. Granted, they'd have had more money if their taxes were lower due to not having to pay for everyone else's education, but hey!

This whole concept of progressiveness is lunacy and hypocritical. Any “progressive” that keeps more than the poverty limit in money is a fraud. Charity defines us as human beings and if we cannot support ourselves voluntarily, we would justifiably destroy ourselves. There is no need for the government to force, at gunpoint, these goals on anyone.

We are a country of unbelievable wealth. America did not get wealthy because we stole from the rich and gave to the poor, we are wealthy because we provide an environment where the poor can make themselves rich. I started with zero, jack, nada, and I have worked my ass off to get to where I am. I did it sometimes through hard work, sometimes through luck, and thankfully sometimes I had the charity of friends, family, and complete strangers to help me through.

Ask of me for help, I will gladly do what I can. Demand it of me, I'll show you the door.