The U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights

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  • rambone

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    I had a discussion elsewhere about the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Here is my commentary for further discussion.

    Many of these so-called rights are just socialist, anti-freedom nonsense in a friendly package. They distort the true meaning of a "right" and push this collectivist, anti-sovereignty agenda. The right to bear arms is conspicuously missing and some of the other rights (free speech, against searches) are pretty weak as written.

    Discuss.


    The Universal Declaration of Human Rights | UN.org

    Article 1.

    • All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
    Equal rights, yes.

    The second sentence strikes me as an invitation for government to condemn those who don't treat everyone with a "spirit of brotherhood."

    Article 2.

    • Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.
    Justice should be blind based on every one of those characteristics.

    A trapping point comes when they say "no distinction shall be made on the basis of [...] international status." This is an invitation to allow non-citizens to participate in elections.

    Article 3.

    • Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
    Right to Life, yes.
    Right to Liberty, yes.
    Right to Personal Security? No. Having a right to be secure is just asking the government to keep you safe. Does that mean that the government should set up checkpoints in the streets? Does that mean a policeman in every household? I would argue that you have the right to maintain your own security, but not a right for government to keep you safe. Maybe this would be a good place to include the "right to keep and bear arms."

    Article 4.

    • No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
    Agree.

    Article 5.

    • No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
    Torture, agree!
    Cruel, inhuman treatment, agree.

    "Degrading treatment" is tricky. Article 30 extends these "rights" to protect people from private individuals as well. So this would mean that no one in society could do anything degrading to anyone else. This could be construed to ban all sorts of other "unintended" things. Maybe it is degrading for an employee to be assigned to scrub the toilets when they mess up a job. Or maybe it is degrading when a football player is told to do push-ups because he was late to practice.

    Art. 30 makes this one critically flawed.

    Article 6.

    • Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
    Agree.

    Article 7.

    • All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.
    If this Declaration weren't so flawed, I might agree.

    Article 8.

    • Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.
    If this Declaration weren't so flawed, I might agree.

    Article 9.

    • No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
    Agree.

    Article 10.

    • Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
    Agree.

    Article 11.

    • (1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
    • (2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.
    Agree.

    Article 12.

    • No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
    I can't agree with "nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation." That's an invitation for the Thought Police.

    Article 13.

    • (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
    • (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.
    Agree.

    Article 14.

    • (1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
    • (2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
    (1) Agree.
    (2) Can't agree since the purposes & principles of the United Nations are so flawed.

    Article 15.

    • (1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.
    • (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.
    Agree.

    Article 16.

    • (1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
    • (2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
    • (3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
    Agree.

    Article 17.

    • (1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
    • (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
    Agree. This trumps many of these other false rights.

    Article 18.

    • Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
    Agree.

    Article 19.

    • Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
    Agree.

    Article 20.

    • (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
    • (2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
    Agree.

    Article 21.

    • (1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
    • (2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.
    • (3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.
    Agree.

    Article 22.

    • Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.
    Note: It is my understanding that "social security" in this context does not mean a retirement entitlement program. I think they are trying to to convey the opposition to a societal caste system.

    The part that bothers me the most is, "through national effort and international co-operation..." To me this sounds like it could be an invitation for lost sovereignty and encouraging foreign intervention.

    Article 23.

    • (1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
    • (2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
    • (3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
    • (4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.
    (1) Protection against unemployment? No. The state cannot compel an employer to give you a job.
    (2) No. Everyone has the right to seek work on a free market. It isn't up to the government to set wages.
    (3) No. The employee has the right to sign a contract and expect the employer to honor it.
    (4) Agree.

    Article 24.

    • Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
    No. This should be purely up to the agreement found between companies and workers. The state should not compel paid holidays for no work.

    Article 25.

    • (1) 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.
    • (2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.
    (1) No. People have the right to improve their own living conditions. They are not entitled to other people's things, even if their things are inadequate. People cannot have a right to things such as clothing, housing, medical care, unemployment checks, disability checks, elderly checks, etc.
    (2) No. Another entitlement program. Not a real right.

    Article 26.

    • (1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
    • (2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
    • (3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.
    (1) No. Everyone has the right to SEEK an education. "Free" education is just another entitlement program. Compulsory education is against the principles of a free society.
    (2) No. I'd prefer that education be well out of reach of the United Nations.
    (3) Agree.

    Article 27.

    • (1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
    • (2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.
    (1) Agree.
    (2) Debatable.

    Article 28.

    • Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.
    Uh, no. "International order" is a common buzzword that is used to replace "New World Order". They seem to be saying that humans are entitled to the International Order that authored this document (the U.N.). A right to World Government! No!

    Article 29.

    • (1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
    • (2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
    • (3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
    (1) No. I don't think a free society should ever compel you to leave your property, or do anything, if that is your choice. You have no duty to involuntarily serve the community.

    Article 30.

    • Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.
    No. This attempts to extend all of these provisions onto the citizens themselves. Problematic in a variety of ways.
     
    Last edited:

    jblomenberg16

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    Good commentary. Amazing the dream world that some people live in. Interesting that many of the points are very close in nature to our own Bill of Rights, while others are notabley missing (RKBA).


    The question is why does the UN need a declaration of human rights? What does these actually do other than sound nice?
     

    rambone

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    The question is why does the UN need a declaration of human rights? What does these actually do other than sound nice?
    These rights came out a number of years ago and essentially just provide a rubric for setting up collectivist, internationally-entwined governments around the world. They are pushing for their dream of "International Order."
     
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