Every political system, no matter how repressive or democratic, is able to amp up public outrage over real or imagined violations of human rights. News media can easily fixate on stories of faraway injustice and cruelty. But the lofty stances end up as posturing to the extent that a single standard is not applied.
When U.S.-allied governments torture political prisoners, the likelihood of U.S. media scrutiny is much lower than the probability of media righteousness against governments reviled by official Washington.
But what are "human rights" anyway? In the USA, we mostly think of them as freedom to speak, assemble, worship and express opinions. Of course those are crucial rights. Yet they hardly span the broad scope that's spelled out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
That document -- adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on Dec. 10, 1948 -- affirms "human rights" in the ways that U.S. media outlets commonly illuminate the meaning of the term. But the Declaration of Human Rights also defines the rights of all human beings to include "freedom from fear and want" -- and not only as generalities.
For instance, the first clause of Article 23 states: "Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment."
And: "Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work"; the right "to form and to join trade unions"; and, overall, "an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection."
Perhaps the farthest afield from the customary U.S. media parameters is Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which insists: "Everyone has 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."
Measured with such yardsticks for human rights, the United States falls far short of many countries. If American news media did a better job of reporting on human rights in all their dimensions, we'd be less self-satisfied as a nation -- and more outraged about the widespread violations of human rights that persist in our midst every day.
The human consequences of those violations are incalculable, but they're largely removed from the center stage of dramas that fill news pages and newscasts. This downplaying of economic human rights is not mere happenstance. The violations are systemic -- within a system that thrives on extreme inequities, creating enormous profits for corporations and enriching some individuals along the way.
Within the boundaries of dominant news media and mainline political discourse, the "issue" of human rights is in a narrow box. It severely limits the humanity of our social order.
UN as an institution, unfortunately. I think
their failures are partly to blame for a lot
of the problems we see in the news each day,
so they can write all the declarations that
they want to, but until other countries start
changing some of their practices, then you're
going to keep reading about wars in the paper.
And, you're never going to get rid of it.
So, question is, to what extent should the
USA bankrupt itself to play global cop?
Totally? Completely? Utterly? Um, 'no thanks'.
I think if you've got countries where their
M.O. is to club down the peasants and perpetrate
oppression, then there should be divestiture.
Money talks. If our money says 'we refuse to
spend another nickel in your country until
you change this, this, and this', well,
that's Most Powerful, I think. But, we have
to watch our own practices, too. 'Economy
uber alles' isn't exactly rights-enhancing,
nor is run-amok immigration. And, your rights
don't matter a hill of crap if you're starving
or dying of thirst because of drought or
failed water tables.
I'd like to see government keep our borders,
keep the peace, and maintain our infrastructure
and develop the most highly educated, skilled,
motivated bunch of folks you ever saw to
represent our country to the UN and the rest
of the world diplomatically. Other countries
need to step forward, stop riding our coat-tails
and stop stepping on their people. If they
won't do it, that's fine too, they just won't
be doing business in/with the United States.
Now: What do you do about China? What would YOU
do about China? China BIG, you t i n y.
Cat sandwich?
You see, the irony of a destructive, totalitarian cult promoting "human rights" is just too tasty to ignore!
Scientology has established a group cynically called "Youth For Human Rights," a group active on many college campuses.
Scientology's fifty year history of human rights abuses suggests this is a cynical ploy to jump on the human rights bandwagon in order to promote its own beliefs. It needs to clean up its own house before lecturing the rest of us on human rights.