Thus spake Roger Critchlow circa 02/15/2010 09:04 AM: > I think Glen was just working up a Presidents Day troll. The day we > celebrate the births of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln is the > perfect day to appear to deny that "rights" exist.
Heh, I wish! I'm not smart enough to pull that kind of irony out of my hat. ;-) I really do think that "human rights" are a desire, not a reality. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a perfect example of useless "deep, thoughty intricate, theoretical symposia that never touch the real issue" if I've ever seen it! [grin] What a bunch of ideological hooha! Of course, anyone lucky enough to find a way to exploit that hooha to her own benefit gets my full support. To those unlucky enough to live in an inner city or on the Gaza strip... well, too bad, so sad, we don't have enough money to enforce those ideological principles _everywhere_, now do we? We'll only help you if your rich enough, funny enough, can sing well enough, sane enough, intelligent enough, etc. ... or perhaps if you're well connected. [grin] Otherwise, you're out of luck. Am I jesting? Sort of. Really, I'm trying to point out that rights are granted and definitely not inalienable. These rights are totally alien to the slaves and impoverished all over the earth including right here in Oregon and probably there in New Mexico. They are definitely alienable. In fact, they're not "rights" at all. They are privileges and ARE taken away from lots of people on a regular basis. The only way out of that quandary is to see them for what they are, privileges, and make an ethical commitment to find ways for everyone to be so privileged (i.e. raise the standard of living of everyone on the planet). Calling them "rights" and acting all indignant when someone brings up evidence of humans abusing humans doesn't really help. It just starts silly arguments about what is and isn't a "right". Health care is a privilege, one that I provide as base compensation to all my employees and wish I could give away to everyone on the planet. But I can't. However, if I could find a way to pay for it, I would. Similarly life and liberty are privileges. And if I could find a way to pay for them for every human on the planet, I would. After we've successfully raised everyone's standard of living THEN and only then can we call these things "rights". At the moment, those privileges can be taken away by one's parents, the guy who gets you across the border, the guy in the dark alley whose already stabbed and robbed 5 people this year, the bull dozer tearing down your house to make room for the houses of the rich people, etc. I'm not denying that these things should be rights. I'm denying that they _are_ rights. And no amount of "declaring" or pompous, indignant, stamping about shouting about "what should be" will change that. Perhaps realizing that is a good way to celebrate _some_ of our past Presidents? -- glen e. p. ropella, 971-222-9095, http://agent-based-modeling.com ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
