

According to this reasoning there are no rights, at least none that I can think 
of....

Let's see.  Do I have a right to unpolluted air?  No, because the majority
drive cars and use goods that create air pollution in the manufacturing process.

Do I have the right to clean water?  I guess not, by the same reasoning.
I could go on with these examples for a long time....

Look at Nazi Germany.  Because of the majority, Jews, homosexuals, blacks,
and others that were different had no rights.  In fact they were terrorized, 
imprisoned, and slaughtered.  In this country did blacks have the right to be
free from slavery?  I guess not, because the majority said that slavery was 
good for them.

I think that a right has a moral imperative.  If a law, imposed by the majority,
is immoral, one should not follow it.  In fact, one should do everything in
his/her power to stop it. Of course, that doesn't mean that I would lose all
common sense to break the law, just because I thought it was immoral.  I pay
my Federal Income Tax even though I am morally opposed to the U.S. Government
taking my money and spending it on weapons of mass destruction and terrorism.
This is precisely the point I am trying to make.  We should _persude_ people 
by logic, pointing out that it is in their self-interest to let all have
equal rights in all aspects of life, including adequate housing, food, and
medical care.  I just happen to think that for a full life the aesthetic of
beauty and joy is also necessary.  That is why I consider an uncluttered
night sky a right.

Have you ever been out in the desert, away from local lights, and most people?
The sky is dark and transparent.  The Milky Way is ablaze with more detail
than you thought possible.  The beauty and wonder takes your breath away.

Now imagine you live in the worst ghetto, say in L.A. Due to light pollution
you have never seen a dark sky.  You might in fact never, not in your whole
life, ever see the majesty of the night sky.  Every where around you, you see
squalor, and through your life runs a thread of dispair. What is there to live
for?  

I admit these two scenarios are extreme examples, but I have seen both.
I, for one, need dreams and hopes, and yes, beauty, as a reason for living.
That is why I consider an uncluttered night sky a right.

George