Critical Thinking: Why Are So Many People Interested In Their Rights But Not Their Responsibilities?

In today’s world, it is not uncommon to hear someone talk about what their rights are or how their rights are being taken away. This is the type of thing that one is likely to hear if they use social media or go to a university, for instance.

The Point of Focus

The people who are like this are often only concerned about what the world owes them, meaning that they won’t even think about what they owe the world. Here, someone is going to be focused on receiving.
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The other side of the equation, giving, is then going to be completely overlooked. It could then be said that someone like this will have a strong sense of entitlement, which is why they are behaving in this manner.

One Factor

What can define whether this behaviour is seen as acceptable can be how old the person is who behaves in this manner. For example, if a young child was to talk about what they want and how they want to be treated, it is going to be somewhat normal.

For one thing, a child is going to be dependent on other human beings, so it won’t be possible for them to do a lot for themselves, let alone others. Their body and their mind are still going to be developing.

A Stage

This child will be at stage in their life when they will need to receive in order to grow and, once this has taken place for a little while, they will be in a position to give to the world. At this stage of their life, their parent/s will owe them things.

It is then similar to how a lot of work will need to go into building a house, with this being a time when the house won’t be able to give anything back. But, once it has been built, it will give far more than it needs.

A Different Scenario

However, if a young adult was to behave in this manner and didn’t pay attention to what they need to give; their behaviour can come across as being extremely self-centred. One is then no longer going to be a child, but they will be behaving as though the world is their parent.

This is going to be a world that is made up of individuals – individuals who have their own needs - as opposed to people who are there to fulfil their every need. Their time to purely receive from others and to give very little in return is well and truly over.

A Big Difference

Their time as a child would have been a time in their life when they were entitled to special treatment from their parent/s, but this is not how life works now that they are an adult. Now, this is something that a lot of adults are going to realise.

Through being this way, it is likely to make it easier for them to handle the moments when they are not treated as they would like to be treated. They are generally going to see life through the eyes of an adult not a child.

A Cover Up

Still, when someone is more or less obsessed with their ‘rights’ and what the world owes them, it can be hard for them to see what is taking place. The reason for this is that someone can create the impression that they are on some kind of moral crusade and/or say that they are being oppressed.

In certain cases, someone might be in a position where they are being treated badly, but it won’t always be this black and white. What also needs to be looked into is why someone would end up in a position where they are being ‘oppressed’.

For Example

Nowadays, someone can identify as being part of a certain group, for instance, and through being part of this group they can claim victim status. It can then be seen as totally acceptable for them to talk about how their rights are not being respected and for them to oppress others in the process, amongst other things.

Based on how they behave, it can be as though they have paid a lot of money for something and they haven’t received anything in return. So, through being completely consumed by what they are not getting from the world, they could be completely oblivious to the effect that they are having on the world.

One of Balance

One is then not going to be able to put themselves in others peoples shoes and to think about what their views are. They might have identified as something, for instance, and they will then expect everyone on the planet to treat them in a certain way.

On the surface they can talk about what they deserve and how oppressed they are, but underneath all this can be the need to control others. With this in mind, how many people who talk about how oppressed they are just traumatised people who feel extremely powerless?

The Reason

If someone feels this way at a deeper level, it could be a sign that they didn’t receive what they need when they were growing up. This could have been a time when they were abused and/or neglected.
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Ergo, as they didn’t receive what they needed during this time in their life, they now expect other adults to give them what they parent/s couldn’t give them. And through being emotionally undeveloped, they won’t feel ready to give anything back.

Conclusion

What this shows is that someone will often look towards other adults to give them what their parent/s didn’t give them - their unmet child won’t have disappeared. Taking this into account, there is the chance that a lot of the people who are obsessed with their rights didn’t receive the kind of care that they needed during the beginning of their life.

If one can relate to this, and they want to grow up emotionally, it might be a good idea for them to reach out for external support. This can be provided by a therapist or a healer.