Why Human Rights Matter: Why Many Governments Think They Don’t

Ironically, many of the things most important to societies are the hardest to define.  Human rights, among ideals like safety and equality, are one of these concepts.  To most, human rights are a list of freedoms and liberties that are universally applicable to all different types of people.  Human rights are also entitlements like food, water, shelter, and even paid vacation time from work.  Overall though, human rights are a means to equality for all genders, races, and ages.  While almost everyone will say that they value general human rights, the specifications for how and what universal human rights are is where the debate,

I believe the three most important concepts to understand the debate of why human rights matter is that their definition is determined by a structure of power, they are not only legal rights, and human rights are concerned with “essential” values that can differ from culture to culture.  For these reasons as well, it becomes easy for some governments to disregard human rights.  Human rights are formed and allocated through a political system demonstrating government’s desire for them.  Ironically though, while government is the largest protector of human rights, it is also the largest violator.  This is because governments have complete control they can dictate how rights are allocated – either fairly or unfairly.  In this sense, some governments disregard human rights because of the power structure they govern.  Interestingly though, human rights cannot just be defined by their legal meaning.  There are many human rights that ought to be legal but are not (like equal pay for men and women of the same education and position).  This causes a discrepancy in what governments will and ought to enforce.  The conflict makes many human rights that ought to be legal easier to be ignored by governments.  Lastly, what are considered as essential human rights is debatable from culture to culture.  In developed countries like America, human rights include luxuries in third world countries like paid vacations.  Basic fundamental rights like clean water are issues in some countries and thus rights like paid vacations seem ridiculous.  Governments often choose to deny what we as Americans would deem as essential human rights because the most basic of food and shelter are not guaranteed.  Overall, human rights are established values but their definition from culture to culture can differ causing governments to in some ways disregard them.