Duties versus Rights

Do your duty and a little more and the future will take care of itself. Andrew Carnegie

Duties are those which must be done given one’s place or phase in life. A student must study, parents must look after their children, doctors should save patients.Rights are those which one is entitled to given one’s position or stage in life. A student is entitled to free primary education, elderly people have a right to social security and patients have a right to sue doctors for medical negligence.

Duties have to be done unconditionally and choicelessly with attention and effort in the right spirit. This will produce contentment. When all do their duties correctly, everyone’s rights are met automatically.

Illustration

1. When students study properly and leaders build a good education system, the students’ right to good education is met as well as the ministers right to an educated electorate is met.
2. When employees work hard and increase company’s profitability, and management rewards employees by giving them a part of the profit, both employer and employees would have done their duties and received their entitlements (productive workforce and better pay respectively).

Duties and rights are joined at the hip. By doing are duties we are automatically ensuring our rights.

We must remember the words of John. F. Kennedy (35th President of USA), “Ask no what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.“