Do you have a right to your own behavior?

Is the answer,

a) Yes!
b) No!
c) Well, within reason, I guess...
d) That's a stupid question and you're stupid for asking it!

Believe it or not, I'm going with (d).  When you think about it, what does the word "right" mean in this case?  I'll consult the dictionary to eliminate some semantics argument:

right [rahyt]
–noun
18. a just claim or title, whether legal, prescriptive, or moral: You have a right to say what you please.
19. Sometimes, rights. that which is due to anyone by just claim, legal guarantees, moral principles, etc.: women's rights; Freedom of speech is a right of all Americans.

While I do not think that people should not be able to exercise their "rights" I think the word itself is bullshit and that it encourages people to develop a mindset of entitlement.  When you have rights, you strut about with your chest puffed out, thinking "I can XXX and you can't stop me because you're not allowed!"  In all reality, many people are perfectly capable of violating your rights at any time, and just because they don't we somehow believe our rights are more secure than they really are.  Secondly, the idea of "rights" encourages the notion that these things are mandated by some power greater than ourselves.  This is not true: it is we as humans who 1) decide what our rights are, 2) work to preserve our rights, and 3) deny others whatever rights they think they should have.  Rights are a construct of mankind.  Speaking in terms of rights only clouds the true issue being discussed.

Capitalism vs. Communism, part 1

The range of possible things I could say on this topic is nigh endless, and both your time and mine is valuable.  So, I will begin at the beginning, and end at a reasonable place, and save whatever remainder for another day.

At the fundamental core of this debate is the question of human nature.  How do we behave?  How dependent is our behavior upon our upbringing or our genetics?  These are, admittedly, questions to which I do not have the answer.  Well, noboby does: if someone knew the answer to the nature/nurture debate, a substantial number of psychologists would be out of a job.  However, I have an idea of what the answer might be, at least for the purposes of this debate.

I think that people are greedy by nature.  This is seen in children, who need to be taught not to snatch, to share, that all they see is not theirs...very basic stuff.  If we look at other primate societies, there is a well established pecking order in which the top monkey has first pick of whatever there is to be picked.  From a genetics perspective, this makes sense: our "prime directive" so to speak is to pass on our DNA.  Long story short, this leads to a slew of competitive behaviors even in fundamentally cooperative societies.  Ok, you don't buy the genetics argument: imagine a company has one position and one hundred people applying for it.  Imagine a ballet troupe has one position and one hundred people vying for it.  Imagine an auction house has one (particular) painting and one hundred people bidding on it.  I could go on.  The point is, where ever there is scarcity there will be competition.  And there will always be scarcity.