Human Rights
Human rights--as they are defined and used in the modern age--are proclaimed, defended, and attacked ruthlessly (literally). Iterations of this divisive and controversial term cause and convey the opposite of the very notions it basically upholds: the dignity of all humans.
These so-called rights are helpful as a means to stabilize and order a society such as our own, a globalized world that is fragmented by a plethora of local, national, and regional interests; however, they are meaningless in the sense that they are artificially induced. What they do point to has not been recognized as much as it should be.
Of the many impressions that one feels towards human rights, the most lasting and resonant is that of confusion. Where do these rights originate from? Why have they become so ingrained in political discourse, as well as economic and social projections? At least the former, and most likely many other questions, were asked during the drafting of the declaration. Since ancient times, philosophers have pondered the nature of mankind and the fundamentals of concepts such as justice. More appropriately, the idea of human rights stems from the 1600s, which in turn was founded on the precepts of Middle Ages natural rights.
According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, human rights are “inherent to all human beings...interrelated, interdependent, and indivisible.” The Universal Declaration of Human Rights makes clear that “[a]ll human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” We shall thence begin our inquiry.
Thankfully, the world has become a much safer and prosperous place according to varying statistics on the matter. Yet, these statistics hide some other aspect of life, as any other narrow examination does--rightly so, for from it is derived the very concrete foundations of a specified topic, and not that it is inherently surreptitious. This hidden fact is that life is still miserable and suffering is prevalent. Quite a few people may not notice this, as they gratify their senses and desires and/or as they allow our complex and rapid world to veritably flood their capacities to process and think carefully about issues.
Human rights is one very distinct and significant means by which we can justify our individualistic inclinations and readily accept the definitions of human beings as society dictates.
This is not to say that human rights are inherently bad and manipulative, just as statistics are not. Nevertheless, and as with any mechanism of knowledge that humans have developed, they are improperly observed, demanded, described, and relinquished by people ourselves.
What I am attempting to divulge and consider myself is that the essence of human rights is very true and worth encouraging, and that they are necessary in that they are in fact unnecessary. Before I explain this, I think it noteworthy to make known that the international regime on human rights portrays that there are universal values of justice and morality, unlike what some people try to claim to the contrary. What they are more or less correct about is the differences in the practice and understanding of morality, or ethics.
Human rights protect us from those who govern us and from those whom we interact with or at least share in some general fund or pool of resources or services. They have become manifest in the public and private law systems. The protection of our individual beings is based on human dignity. It is strange that from dignity, society fashioned human rights, for as we all are equal due to this same dignity, we therefore must respect and love one another so as not to transgress others’ boundaries. From this, one would naturally wonder what boundaries exist between humans; thus, a definition would be applied, but not one that is rigid and arbitrary as delineations have been throughout history, but subject to open and honest discussion and reflection that results from mutual love.
That human rights are necessary since their inception and possibly before then is caused by the inability of me, you, and everyone else to thoroughly and consistently respect others--and even ourselves to a certain extent.
Moreover, it is not that we have these rights just from the fact that we are humans, but that it is necessarily directed from a perfect source, the God that justifies and determines good from bad, and perhaps right from wrong. And so human rights are ideally unnecessary, but technically necessary because of human nature.
There is much more to be said of human rights, such as the varying classes of rights and their implications. What is certain is that they should generally be promoted.