Why Human Rights Matter

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

         Despite, or perhaps because of, a world history filled with inequality, the conception of human rights as inalienable and worthy of protection in their own right is very young. The development of human civilization was based on a system of inequality stemming from the basic economic realization of limited resources and unlimited wants. In order to reconcile the two, wars have been fought and societies have been founded, splitting the world into two, the haves, and the have nots. 

        The modern understanding of human rights, marked in my opinion most by the Enlightenment and subsequent abolitionist movement, began to question the validity and ‘naturalness’ of the dichotomy between have and have nots. Human rights matter because a life of dignity is entitled to all, and yet many are denied as a result of historical systemic inequality. Achieving full human rights is not giving anyone anything they did not have, it is preventing the government and the oppressing class from depriving their rights and hoarding resources and privileges. It is important because it will level the playing field for all people, despite historical factors which have nothing to do with the individual himself.

        Many governments, however, either do not accept the theoretical underpinnings of the human rights movement (equality, entitlement to inalienable rights, injustice inherent in the system, etc.), view them as less important than the state or take a utilitarian view of the government. In the first case, a government, for historical, cultural religious or economic reasons simply does not feel that the protection of certain human rights is necessary or that disparity is unnatural. The second case is somewhat like the first in that it doesn’t view certain human rights as necessary, but it compounds the issue by rejecting outside influence because of a concern for maintaining sovereignty. The third case argues that the role of government maximizes the greatest good for the greatest number. This then deprives many minorities of rights because the rights and privileges of the majority are taken into account first and foremost. It is usually some combination of these factors that leads to a government disregarding the need for human rights.