Freedom and human rights

I read a book on human rights a couple of months ago that helped me recognize something I hadn't realized before. The idea of "human rights" is really quite a modern phenomenon. There was great optimism at the end of World War II that we had won a great victory for "freedom", but it ran into a brick wall. In the west "freedom" is considered a property of individuals: freedom of individuals to do what they want. In the east, freedom was a property of the collective: freedom of self-determination. In the west, people wanted freedom of speech and religion. In the east, people thought of freedom as freedom from hunger and homelessness. Building the United Nations ran up against this and, when it was constructed, its power was circumscribed by having it only recognize the right of nations to self-determination: no freedom for individuals or peoples. This meant that dictators could oppress their own people -- and their colonies -- for another 30 years without much interference.

The first real step toward human rights as individual rights was the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which happened in 1948, in large measure, due to Eleanor Roosevelt. She was the one with the brains, tact, and political savvy to build consensus and find enough common ground to get it through. It's an amazing document. I question whether, in this day of know-nothing tea-partiers, you could ever get such a document ratified.

It still doesn't change the fundamental nature of the United Nations, however, which leaves implementing the Declaration up to each nation. It's heart-breaking to watch a dictator like Gadhafi deploy military hardware against the people and recognize that the UN doesn't have the will to act.

It's also sad that the US is backing away from the Declaration as well, with it's unlimited detentions and secret tribunals. And the efforts to strip workers of their rights to collective bargaining. America needs to wake up and realize that the tea party, funded by millionaire businessmen is the mouthpiece of the rich and is just part of the continuing plan to turn the US into a place where working people are poor. Working people today are poorer than they were 30 years ago -- and the tea party says that's just the beginning.