The right to steal

I’ve been watching the silliness that is Berkeley and heard one of the Code Pink gals talking about the “right” to housing, the “right” to health care, etc.  I think her point was that we shouldn’t be spending money defending our country when we could be spending it providing services to people. 

This whole “rights” mantra has never made sense to me.  What the gal was actually saying is that if I have a need for health care, shelter, whatever, and can’t pay for it, I have a “right” to get what I need and a “right” to use the power of government to steal (forcibly take) your money from you to pay for it.  How have we managed to get to the point that using government as a Robin Hood, stealing from the middle class and giving to the poor, has become acceptable?  Everyone argues about whether government provided shelter, health care, whatever, is a good idea, but no one anymore even argues that the whole idea of using the power of government to steal from one group of people and give to another group is, simply, wrong. 

 Am I a complete dinosaur here or has America completely lost it’s moral compass?