Hmmm... I’m not sure that “rights” are a corollary of society at all. We are born independent of any society, albeit we are [usually] born into a society. The ‘right to life’ exists independent of any group, it merely means that each person has a _right to his own life, to do with as he pleases_ – when alone or not. This is true of all living creatures... true of Tarzan (and Cheeta) as well as of Howard Roark. With that in mind, it’s irrelevant what society thinks of rights or how it may attempt to implement or ignore them. This is why we are free no matter what society does or says.

I think we came OUT OF a collective INTO a world of individualism as individuals began to think for themselves. It was individuals who “discovered” rights as they began to assert themselves with their human brain – i.e. began to pull away from the collective aspects of group-think as they realized what makes them happy and productive.

I see “rights” – to life, liberty and property – as an individual assertion of defiance against any group (including society itself) that expects everyone to think and act the same way. While we may acknowledge some benefits of living in a society, “rights” insist on being left alone to wander in whatever direction the human mind can take it. It threatens no one because it asks nothing of anyone – thus the Golden Rule or the ZAP principle can apply to “rights” universally without stepping on anyone’s toes.

(The Bill of Rights, however, does step on the toes of any group or society that attempts to limit individuals to a group standard.)