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Rights Vs Rights In America: Can We All Win?

Open-carry supporters attend a rally earlier this month in Austin, Texas.
Erich Schlegel
/
Getty Images
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We start saying it young in America: "it's a free country," and "I know my rights." We do indeed, but much has been said and written about how the rights of the individual often come into conflict with the welfare of collections of individuals: community, in short.

And even when it's individual versus individual, more cases are ending up in court, resulting in one person asserting rights now potentially denied to an opponent.

Constitutional law professor Jamal Greene examines the ramping up of the battles, in How Rights Went Wrong: Why Our Obsession with Rights Is Tearing America Apart.

Are rights zero-sum, I win when you lose? The author visits to explore.

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The Jefferson Exchange is Jefferson Public Radio's daily news program focused on issues, people and events across Southern Oregon and Northern California. Angela Decker is the program's senior producer, Charlie Zimmermann is the assistant producer, and Geoffrey Riley hosts the show.