What men value in this world is not rights but privileges.

H. L. Mencken, the sharp-tongued sage of American letters, once declared: “What men value in this world is not rights but privileges.” These words are no idle jest, but a piercing revelation of the human heart. For though peoples shout of liberty and cry out for justice, what they often seek is not the equal right shared by all, but the special advantage that sets them above their neighbor. Mencken, ever the critic of hypocrisy, exposed the truth: humanity proclaims love of freedom, yet more often hungers for privilege.

The meaning of this saying is rooted in the eternal struggle between equality and advantage. A right is universal, belonging to every man and woman by virtue of being human. It cannot be bought, sold, or hoarded. But a privilege is exclusive, reserved for some and denied to others. And herein lies the paradox: while rights are the foundation of justice, privileges are the intoxicating taste of power. Men do not boast of breathing air, though it is their right, but they boast of status, wealth, and exemptions—their privileges.

History offers witness. In the ancien régime of France, before the Revolution, the nobility and clergy held countless privileges. They were exempt from taxes, honored above common men, and entitled to wealth by birth alone. The people, starving and burdened, demanded not privilege but rights—the right to food, to voice, to life itself. Yet when the Revolution came and power shifted, many who once cried for equality soon sought their own privileges, cloaked in the language of freedom. Thus, Mencken’s truth endures: men cherish not rights as much as they covet advantage over others.

We see the same in modern times. Citizens cry for freedom of speech, yet too often they seek it not to preserve the dignity of all voices, but to protect their own while silencing opponents. The powerful demand liberty in commerce, yet guard jealously the privileges that shield their wealth from accountability. Even in daily life, men resent rules that bind all equally, but rejoice in exceptions that favor them. The hunger for privilege lurks beneath the mask of liberty.

And yet, Mencken’s words are not merely a condemnation; they are a warning. If men continue to value privilege above right, then justice will ever be fragile, and society will rest upon sand. For privileges shift with fortune, granted today and stolen tomorrow, and those who rejoice in their own advantage may one day find themselves crushed beneath another’s. Only by cherishing rights—the inheritance of all—can a people stand secure.

O children of tomorrow, take heed. Ask yourselves: do I seek freedom for all, or only for myself? Do I honor rights even when they protect my enemy, or do I hunger only for privileges that serve my tribe? Beware of the sweet poison of exclusivity, for it divides, corrupts, and enslaves. True strength lies not in privilege, but in the courage to defend the rights of even the least among us.

Therefore, the lesson is clear: build your lives not upon privilege, but upon rights. Defend them fiercely, for they are the true treasures of humanity. Resist the temptation to exalt yourself at another’s expense. Instead, labor for a world where the weak stand as tall as the strong, where justice is not the possession of the few, but the inheritance of all. For when men value rights above privileges, then and only then will liberty endure.

Thus Mencken’s words echo as both accusation and challenge. If men truly desire freedom, they must abandon the false idol of privilege and embrace the hard, noble path of universal right. Only then shall their cries of liberty cease to be hypocrisy and rise to the dignity of truth.