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Human Dignity and Human Rights
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The UDHR, and most human rights advocates, generally argue that the human rights man enjoys, both positive entitlements and negative obligations, are a product of the inherent dignity of man. Without this dignity being upheld, man is being deprived of his various rights. The espousal and maintenance of dignity, or the lack thereof, is the measurement of human rights.
If this is true, there are two important questions that must be asked: First, what is the argument for rights as descendent from dignity? Second, are there errors in this view and if so, why did the framers of the UDHR not avoid such obvious pitfalls? |
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Nozick, Rawls and Rights in the UNDHR
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Do we as humans and citizens of a state have the legal right to various forms of social security? Is there such a thing as a right to food, vacation, medical care, unemployment benefits, paid holidays and an “existence worthy of human dignity”?
Drafted on December 10, 1948 the United Nations UDHR adamantly asserts affirmative responses to the aforementioned questions. The declaration, which has never been ratified by the U.S. Senate, is largely viewed by academics, many national governments, and international human rights organizations as the bedrock of modern human rights documents. |
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A Formula for World Peace and Prosperity
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| Peace on Earth. We hear it so often it has become an empty platitude. What will it really take for world peace? There are a few possible routes to world peace. Let's start by posing a question. When was the last time two democracies squared off on the battlefield? If there is a good example, let me know. |
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O formula pentru pace si prosperitate in lume
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| Pace pe Pamant. Auzim aceasta expresie atat de des incat a devenit o banalitate. De ce avem intr-adevar nevoie pentru a fi pace in lume? Sunt cateva cai posibile spre pace mondiala. Sa incepem prin a pune o intrebare. Cand a fost ultima data cand doua state democratice s-au intrunit pe un camp de lupta? Spuneti-mi, daca exista un astfel de exemplu relevant. Genul de democratie Saddam Hussein nu conteaza. Faptul ca Saddam Hussein sau Fidel Castro au castigat alegerile cu 99.9% din voturi nici nu se supune analizei. Au existat oare democratii adevarate care si-au declarat razboi unei alteia incepand cu anul 1776? Hitler nu a fost ales niciodata, Paul von Hindeberg l-a numit Consul al cabinetului sau de coalitie si Hitler si-a folosit capacitatile machiavelice de a aduce partidul nazist la putere in Reichstag, ceea ce i-a oferit puteri dictatoriale. Multe tari din Africa pretind a fi democratice dar fraudele in timpul votului si intimidarea celor care voteaza fac ca disputa referitoare la votul din Florida sa para mica in comparatie. Majoritatea tarilor comuniste care pretind sa aiba alegeri democratice au si legi care permit doar un singur partid politic. Unica situatie care este cat de cat apropiata de cazul a doua tari care merg la razboi una cu alta este India si Pakistan, dar examinand venirea la putere a lui Musharraf in Pakistan, putine lucruri ne arata ca el este liderul democratic ales de cetatenii liberi. |
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Censorship and Freedom
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| Censorship is an evil no matter what the intentions are or who the perpetrator is. Censorship by a local school board is exactly the same as censorship by a totalitarian government. It all boils down to the same philosophy - we're smarter than you and we know what is best for you to read and where best for you to gather your information. This mindset has several justifications, but they are all routed in fear. It is a fear of people knowing the truth, discovering and accepting opposing views or fear of immorality. These fears come from a fear of losing power; if everything a society reads supports the views and policies of the leadership, then that leadership whether it is corrupt or otherwise is justified and legitimized. Winston Churchill said, "Trust the people." Trust the people is a powerful concept that should be the foundation of any free society and it's government that claims to be "of the people, by the people and for the people." |
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Economic Freedom
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In order to properly understand economic and political freedom, it necessary first to begin with a proper definition of freedom.
Merriam Webster defines freedom as "the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action" and "power or condition of acting without compulsion." Freedom, in the most basic sense, is the ability to act and choose without coercive pressure. This is not to suggest that in any free society all individuals make choices that are without coercion. Rather, "coercive pressure" entails the notion that no one person or institution is morally permitted to forcibly require a person's obedience. |
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Free Market Environmentalism
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| The traditional environmentalist movement has evolved into a worldwide network that integrates itself politically, socially, and economically in organizations throughout the world. Historically a player in socialist leaning parties around the world, environmentalists are often anti-free trade, pro government regulation, and anti-globalization. However, there is growing economic and scientific data that contradict the policies of the traditional socialist environmentalist. "Free Market Environmentalism" as it is known, is a growing movement that attempts to use the capitalist ideals of property rights, the rule of law, and economic growth as methods of curbing damage, especially in the developing world. Often, traditional environmentalists will decry globalization as an exploitation tool of the developed world to use the cheap labor and lax pollution regulation policies of underdeveloped countries to the advantage of the almighty bottom line. Refutations to these arguments are becoming increasingly more publicized, and some traditional environmentalists are dispelling the myths themselves. One example of this is former left wing environmentalist Bjorn Lomborg, who set out to affirm the work of traditional environmentalists, but ended up doing the exact opposite. In his book The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World, Lomborg discovered that deforestation is not large-scale, and in fact, forest acreage increased from 40.24 million square kilometers in 1950 to 43.04 million square kilometers in 1994. Additionally, the myth that extinction rates average 40,000 species per year is actually about 1500 species per year, as some environmentalist groups estimate. Most of the extinctions occur in species of insects, bacteria and viruses, not mammals, amphibians and birds, as special interest environmentalist groups would have the public believe. |
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Freedom and War
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| Security is the primary occupation of the government. Without properly defending both the individual citizens and the nation itself, the government would be unable to function. Thus, two considerations must be kept in mind: there are limitations determining when a nation may engage in war and the preservation of freedom can require violent confrontation. |
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More Headlines
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Author of the Week, Alexander Solzhenitsyn |
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Nobel Prize winning author, anti-Communist
activist and survivor of Soviet work camps, Alexander Solzhenitsyn is best known
for his works A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and The Gulag
Archipelago. A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, published
in the West in 1968, told the story of daily life as a prisoner in a Soviet work
camp. The Gulag Archipelago, published in three volumes, is a
more comprehensive account of the Soviet prison-labor system. Solzenhitsyn
was a physicist and teacher before he began writing and he fought for the Soviet
army in World War II, rising to the rank of artillery captain, After the war,
authorities discovered letters he had written to a friend criticizing Stalin,
and he was sentenced to a work camp. After A Day in the Life of Ivan
Denisovich was published, Solzhenitsyn was exiled to southern
Kazakhstan. Eventually allowed to return to Moscow, he was exiled once
again, this time to West Germany, and eventually the United States, after A
Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich was published in the west. He did
not return to Moscow until the 1994, where he lives
today.
 Biography
Speech
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Our
Mission
Digital Freedom Network (DFN) is a non-profit
group that seeks to promote human rights as an attainable goal
for all countries. Evident in our writing, we believe that
free enterprise, limited government, rule of law and
individual freedom are the most effective means to ensure the
rights of men and women across the world. |
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