"Today, people are more persuaded than ever that they have perfect freedom, yet they have brought their freedom to us and laid it humbly at our feet." --The Grand Inquisitor
Freedom doesn't grow on trees. It exists by virtue of independence from the powers that might take that freedom away. Since there is no such thing as perfect freedom, and we must all live under one form of authority or another, rights exist to fence out authority from the space allotted to freedom. Rights create an artificial form of freedom through a covenant with the authorities. The more leverage the citizens have over the authorities, the more they can prevent those rights from being trampled upon.