Chapter 4: Whose Rights Are Right?

OVERVIEW

Safeguarding the rights of others is the most noble and beautiful end of a human being.

”Kahlil Gibran

The beaches were beautiful, the palm trees glorious ”and after a prolonged and nasty Canadian winter, a week in the Bahamas was just what I needed. After only a week home, my tan began to fade, but thoughts of idyllic hours by the pool reading an absorbing novel (instead of ethics and public relations literature) were still clear. And so were the olfactory memories, from inside every Bahamian restaurant, on every patio, at every pool side, in every lobby and even in the washrooms. Cigarette and even cigar smoke filled our nostrils at every turn .

As a die-hard Canadian who lives in one of the many cities in this country where smoking in public is all but a distant memory, I hold close to my heart the right not to be forced to breathe in second-hand smoke at every turn. Recent trips to the United States and abroad, however, have brought home to me that this seems not to be a widely acknowledged personal right. So, perhaps a right is not necessarily a right at all. Or is it? Do you even recognize when you face conflicts of rights situations in your day-to-day public relations practice? This brief chapter provides but a beginning introduction to the concept of rights so that you can be aware of what others may claim when you are faced with making ethical decisions.