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How human rights always lead to human wrongs
Jeremy Bentham described the Declaration of the Rights of Man by French revolutionaries as nonsense on stilts. Nice rhetoric, but ultimately unsuccessful. Since 1789 the idea of human rights has thrived. It now even has its own day. This years Human Rights Day, was dedicated to the war on poverty. Bentham was right. The idea that we all enjoy certain rights, not because any legal system gives them to us, but simply because we are humans, is silly. But, in the 18th century at least, it was beneficial silliness. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are born equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that amongst these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. These statements are not self-evident. They are not even true. They are gobbledygook. Yet they inspired the Constitution of the United States, one of mankinds great achievements. Posted by: Steve White 2006-12-31 |
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| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=176549 |