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The UN Declaration of human rights
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True or false? When talking about human rights, people always mean the same thing.
Meh! No wifi! Un-acc-ept-able! Seriously, this has to be violating... ... my human rights or something!
No... It probably isn't. There is, indeed, no complete agreement about what 'Human Rights' include. But most often, when talking about human rights, you refer to the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights, from 1948. The thought itself, that every person, just by being a person, has rights that cannot be violated, hasn't always been obvious.
It wasn't until when the middle ages turned into the renaissance, that people started to view humanity like this. Later, during the enlightenment, in the 18th century, the idea of every human's inalienable rights grew, especially among the philosophers who called themselves liberals. When World War II ended, in 1945, many people said enough with atrocities, cruelty, and violence. The United Nations - UN - was formed, and the UN started documenting human rights. Three years later, in 1948, the Declaration of Human Rights was adopted, after a referendum in the general assembly.
The UN Declaration of Human Rights consists of a preamble and 30 articles. The preamble describes why the UN created this declaration. Among other things, it points to the violent and barbarous parts of history, that have occurred when people have failed to respect human rights. Then comes the articles: First: All humans are born free, equal in dignity, and rights. Second: Nobody may take these rights away from anyone, based on race, skin-colour, gender, language, religion, political opinion, or financial status.
After that comes nine articles, declaring the right to life, freedom from slavery and torture, and the right to a fair trial. The following six articles concern the right to privacy, to move wherever one wants, to leave one's country and to seek asylum. The right to choose whom to get married to, and that marriage is voluntary. It also states that the family is the natural and fundamental unit in society... ... and that everyone has the right to own things, without anyone taking them away.
Articles 18 through 21 are about thoughts, opinions, and politics. Here you find freedom of thought, opinion, meeting and assembly. It also states that everyone has the right to democracy, even though that word isn't actually used. Among the next six articles, several of the rights are positive rights, that is, rights that require someone else to provide something. Here are the rights to: ...
choose one's work, and get fair pay, ... join a labour union, ... get paid vacation, ... have a reasonable standard of living, including food, clothes, housing, healthcare, and support when needed, ... get a basic education, that is free and mandatory, ...
and the right to participate in culture, the arts and sciences, ... and copyright protection of what one has created. Finally, there are three articles stating that the other freedoms and rights have to be protected and made available, and that nobody may prevent anyone else from enjoying their rights. The document itself is worth reading. It's not very long, and it's available in more than 500 languages.
But, nowhere in the UN's Declaration of Human Rights does it say that you have the right to a reliable wireless network. Not yet at least.