Difference between revisions of "Human rights"
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This is based on the statement that every person is entitled to "life, liberty and the pursuit of [[property]]", which was altered to "happiness" to avoid conflicts with [[slavery]] (slaves could not own property). | This is based on the statement that every person is entitled to "life, liberty and the pursuit of [[property]]", which was altered to "happiness" to avoid conflicts with [[slavery]] (slaves could not own property). | ||
| − | The [[United Nations]] issued, in 1948, a [[UDHR|list of human rights]] they deem inherent and inviolable.<ref>http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html</ref> | + | The [[United Nations]] issued, in 1948, a [[UDHR|list of human rights]] they deem inherent and inviolable.<ref>http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html</ref> |
| − | + | Some of the rights in the UDHR may seem strange or foreign to conservative Americans. For example, Article 23 guarantees all "protection against unemployment", Article 24 guarantees "periodic holidays with pay" for all workers, Article 25 offers the "right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control", etc. | |
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A number of [[totalitarian]] regimes continue to violate human rights, even when they have ratified the United Nations list. | A number of [[totalitarian]] regimes continue to violate human rights, even when they have ratified the United Nations list. | ||
Revision as of 20:54, March 24, 2009
Human rights are generally held to be the basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled, entirely by virtue of their status as human beings.
The U.S. Declaration of Independence says that people are "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." [1]
This is based on the statement that every person is entitled to "life, liberty and the pursuit of property", which was altered to "happiness" to avoid conflicts with slavery (slaves could not own property).
The United Nations issued, in 1948, a list of human rights they deem inherent and inviolable.[2]
Some of the rights in the UDHR may seem strange or foreign to conservative Americans. For example, Article 23 guarantees all "protection against unemployment", Article 24 guarantees "periodic holidays with pay" for all workers, Article 25 offers the "right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control", etc.
A number of totalitarian regimes continue to violate human rights, even when they have ratified the United Nations list.
The UN has done little since the Korean War to investigate or expose human rights violations, and in the early 21st century it rebuked America by voting it out of the Human Rights Council.[Citation Needed]
Many organisations and NGOs such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Freedom House had abysmal records reporting on and exposing human rights violations during the Soviet era.[Citation Needed]