Apparently, in Sweden, people are granted the human right to be invited to any birthday party they want. Bureaucracy ftw!

Joking asside, this is a symptom of something we’re seeing more and more; this pervasive idea that people have the right not to be offended. Yes, it’s pretty harsh not to be invited to a party that everyone else is going to, but that doesn’t mean you have the right to go. You have the right to call the kid a jerk for not inviting you, and you have the right to reciprocally not invite him to your party, but that’s it. It’s his party and it’s his right to decide who’s invited. It’s a pretty stupid, trivial example, but it’s just a symptom of the same sort of thinking that leads people to think they have a right not to have their beliefs challenged or their stupidity ridiculed. It’s a dangerous trend, because often one person’s “right” not to be offended is indirect opposition to someone else’s actual rights. In this case it’s the right of a child to not invite people he doesn’t like into his house, which is important enough, but in more extereme case, it might be someone’s freedom of speech or of expression that’s being suppressed to keep people from being put out, and I don’t care how you dress it; freedom of speech is more important than anyone’s sensibilities.