Re: the July 28 column "What do we really have a 'right' to? Think principles, not entitlements."

In this guest column that identifies rights as "freedom of ACTION," we witness a common self-serving conservative philosophy. When rights are limited to liberties, the hard facts of life are ignored. What good is a liberty in a world where economic power determines access? People are free to be malnourished, homeless and sick without medical care. Human dignity is the necessary enrichment of rights as freedoms.

Freedom and dignity are the very foundations for a humane philosophy of human rights. It spares the human community from the raw capitalism of conservative politics, demonstrates awareness of the realities of the human situation and strives to create a truly civilized society.

The writer's invocation of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as a support for his minimalistic view of rights ignores this brave American's indefatigable struggle for poor people's right to decent jobs and meaningful benefits. Sorry, but King believed in the right to education, a job and health care!

Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.

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Letter: On freedom and dignity - Arizona Daily Star