No kidding! The question isn't whether owning slaves is a right. The practice is mentioned in the code of Hammurabi circa 1754 B.C. It has been around forever. The only question is what in hell should we do about it? Would it have been right for America to have gone over to Africa and killed Boko Haram members for kidnapping those 500 Christian girls?

That's so true, Ms. Rand, but tell that to murdering fanatics who demand a worldwide caliphate.

I used to think things like healthcare could not be a right because it's possible the gov't can't afford to "protect" this "right", and that would cheapen real rights such as free speech, bearing arms, etc. But then I thought it's also possible gov't cannot protect the right to free speech or bear arms.

This quote explains that the reason goods and services cannot be rights is not that gov't can't necessarily protect those "rights".

OA explained to me that inability to protect true rights does not make those rights less valid.
https://www.galtsgulchonline.com/post...

So gov't being fully able to provide healthcare would not make it a right. Gov't being unable to stop a mob from infringing on someone's right to free speech does not take away that right.

Look how Rand eases the reader in: Right to products of work --> unchosen obligation --> unrewarded duty --> involuntary servitude --> slavery. Each way of saying it gets progressively harsher to reveal the ugly truth.