This basic sociological relationship explains the peculiar complications of rights and duties which we find in modern assistance to the poor by the State. Frequently we find the principle according to which the State has the obligation to assist the poor, but to this obligation there is no corresponding right to assistance on the part of the poor. As has been expressly declared in England for example, the poor person has no recourse to action for unjust refusal of assistance, nor can he solicit compensation for illegally refused assistance. All the relations between obligations and rights are located, so to speak, above and beyond the poor.

XREF: Connects to debates about social rights vs. legal rights, and the asymmetry between state duties and citizen entitlements in welfare law. QUESTION: Worth chasing: how has this asymmetry evolved in modern welfare systems, e.g., UK social security appeals or US due process doctrine?

Georg Simmel, on individuality and social…, loc. 414