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.
The universal declaration is a great document, and an even greater fantasy, don’t get me wrong, it is a great step in the right direction, but it is not without its flaws. How many of these articles are truly seen on a smaller more personal scale, how many are completely agreeable, or are truly enforceable enough to make any noticeable impact on a society? How many injustices of this declaration have gone untried, or even unnoted? Do you agree that all human beings are truly born equally in dignity and rights all over the world? Are the Chinese children raised, and sold by their parents at birth born equal in dignity or rights? What about the children bred for sexual slavery in Vancouver, or in hongkong, or Thailand? Are they too equal in dignity and rights? Does a Rapist deserve Equal Rights for treating others with less dignity than they’re entitled to? In high school and in the community of Langford I rarely ever see Human beings express this ‘spirit of brotherhood’ to one another. In fact I seem to only hear about it, or see about it in the Military, in the movies, and in books involving past civilizations.
Article 3
Liberty:
a. the condition of being free from restriction or control.
b. The right and power to act, believe, or express oneself in a manner of one's own choosing.
c. The condition of being physically and legally free from confinement, servitude, or forced labor.
2. Freedom from unjust or undue governmental control.
The Universal declaration of rights has already contradicted it’s self in practice in contemporary society, I am not free from restriction or control, I need to have a job in order to sustain myself, and thusly am forced into labor that conflicts with my right to liberty. I cannot receive a job in the majority of stores, Due to the way I choose to express myself i.e., my hair. I’ve handed in resumes several times, and received a call back. Only to walk into the store, have the manager take one disgusted look at me, in my Black ironed Dress pants, and a clean washed collared shirt, and ask me to leave his store. Or have him consult another manager only to have him look at my hair and say no to my face. Which may not by definition legally confine me to constrict my liberties, but it does pose some issues with sustaining myself. This to me justifies Navi pillays statement that “Discrimination lies at the root of many of the world’s most pressing human rights problems.”
Article 5
* No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
This may be what the universal declaration of human rights says, but ask yourself. When was the last time you saw someone bullied in the hallway, pushed down verbally or physically. The last time you’ve seen a girl or boy verbally beat down over a rumor someone started out of jealousy, or in an attempt to bring down another? What did you do about this discrimination? Did you just ignore it?
Article 6&7
If everyone has the right to recognition as a person before the law, and if all persons before the law
All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination, Then who do I go to when an adult looks down upon me and stereotypes me as a theif and a hooligan, who do I go to when the Bus driver of the local transit system discriminates against me and is excessively rude, when I’ve done nothing but pay five cents less than fare.
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.
Article 15 in my perspective is constricted by power. If I deem that everyone in the world is entitled to their own fare share of land, and the freedom to be called whatever nationality they want. The universal declaration of human rights, seems to agree with me, but what if I want to be my own nationality? With my own modest plot of private land with my own sets of laws and charter of rights, that do not interfere with any others human rights? This is unheard of as far as I know, we’re forced from birth to become a member of a nation, and we’re never given the option to choose freely our own personal nation.
Article 17
States that no one shall be arbitrarily [in this context Established by a court or judge rather than by a specific law or statute; not limited by law; despotic:] deprived of his property. But to me this is a huge contradiction. No one shall be not limited by the law? So everyone should be limited by the law? To not be depraved of their property by one person. Is the way I’ve interpreted this, if this is true, than what do I do if one person is limiting me from having my own piece of land that I feel as a human being on Earth am entitled to.
Article 21
“Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country” Is already in contradiction, apparently youth are not everyone. These freely chosen representatives are not so freely chosen, the choice is forced. If you don’t like anyone you have the choice to vote for, then you say don’t vote, and don’t get a say in who comes into power. Your peers may not wish to vote either, but they feel forced to because they believe with cause that if they don’t vote for the seemingly lesser of several evils than someone worse may be elected. The dictionary definition of discrimination is treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the group, class, or category to which that person or thing belongs rather than on individual merit ; and the power of making fine distinctions; discriminating judgment. If discrimination is such a huge deal then why is it that the only thing preventing a voter from having to legally discriminate against Politicians is Propaganda spread by the politicians?
Article 23
* (4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.
If everyone has the right to form a trade union then why can’t anyone successfully form a union for Wal-Mart?
Why is nothing being done about this?
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.
Article 25 seems to only apply to those who are wealthy, and in developed nations. There are hundreds of millions of people depraved of this ‘standard of living adequate for the health and well being of himself and of his family.’ In regards to point two, Mothers are forced to work when bearing child, children are forced to work when caring for their sick mothers. Quite commonly in countries such as Africa.
If this document is labeled the universal declaration of human rights, then why is it that it fails to mention my own personal entitlement to the freedoms of my own ideals of what a human being is deserving of? It gives no room for add-ons. Who do I take my qualms up with if I wish to become a member of my own personal nation? Do I need to start a multibillion dollar hyper capitalistic corporation, to get money, which in turn buys me power in the greasy systematical age of technology? Do I need to develop weapons of mass destruction and raise an army of a couple million in order to hold onto ground that I feel I own? According to our Role models for nations, yes. This is the only way to attain such a thing.
Peace on earth, and the complete execution of the declaration of human rights will never , in my eyes be achieved when the world is run by fear, when people are given Nobel peace prized for what they claim they will do for a nation, and not what they’ve actually done. When those we so “freely” elect into power promise to spend money on schools, education, hospitals, and shelters, and instead spend it at their leisure on events in order to increase how the rest of the world views our ability to entertain in a time of recession.