If someone hated you and wanted you to die, would you follow their health advice? Would you let them talk you into behaviors you knew were risky? Would you listen to them at all?
Yet, people let government employees tell them what rights they have.
I see this all the time in responses from people when I say something about the right to own and carry weapons. Particularly on Quora, and especially among those who are saddled with a government which doesn’t want them to have guns. (Even more than the U.S. government’s aversion to an armed population, I mean,)
They constantly tell me what that specific gang of bullies says their rights are (and are not). They act as though I’m a barbarian for recognizing natural human rights.
If I pointed this out to them they might object that “their” government doesn’t hate them nor want them to die; that it is only looking out for their best interests. Judging by the actions and the results of those actions, they sure could have fooled me. If they want the best for their subjects, that is.
It’s a sad thing to see. I don’t want to see people enslaved, especially when they do it to themselves. I don’t want them trusting a gang of thugs to tell them what their rights are, or fooling them into believing rights are only privileges, and that only Neanderthals like me would expect anyone to respect rights.