Getting rights right, again.

 

Hat tip Graham C. and Samuel F. who clarify:

A right is something you do not have to ask somebody else's permission for.
A right is something that does not come at the expense of somebody else's rights.
There are lots of made-up things that some people call rights—and they are bogus.
They can be called anything else—but they are not rights."

Rights are either negative or in response to outside factors. A right to defend yourself. A right to free speech. A right to assembly. Things like this don't require anyone to do anything for you. Taking care of infants and elderly is a good thing, and we should do it, but calling it a right means that those charged with doing so don't have the right not to.

Put simply, a non-right requires something from others. Whereas to exercise a genuine right requires from others only that they leave you alone.