who here is gonna be sad when GW loses?

[Winetalk.com]

Originally posted by Mike AI@Oct 13 2004, 07:29 PM


Where do basic human rights come from??

antiquated or modern?

Origins of Rights
Positive human rights follow mainly from the Rousseauianian Continental legal tradition, and are things to which every person is entitled and for which every state is obligated. Examples of such rights (not all are universally agreed upon) include: the rights to education, to a livelihood, to private property, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, to carry guns, and legal equality. Positive rights have been codified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in many 20th century constitutions.

Negative human rights follow mainly from the Anglo-American legal tradition, and are rights which denote actions that a government should not take. These are codified in the United States Bill of Rights and the English Bill of Rights and include freedoms of speech, religion and assembly.

There are a number of theories of where rights come from. The theory espoused by the US Declaration of Independence and ingrained in Anglo-American legal thought is that rights arise from natural law. This theory is considered antiquated in moral philosophy.

There are a number of controversies regarding human rights. One is what rights are included as fundamental human rights, or even if there is such a thing. Another controversy is how best to enforce human rights and in particular the relationship between human rights and national sovereignty. One point of view is that human rights are universal and therefore it is proper for any national to attempt to enforce human rights through international courts or domestic law. The opposing view is that having human rights override national sovereignty is a form of imperialism in which powerful countries dictate which rights they consider most important against less powerful countries.

more at
http://www.fact-index.com/h/hu/human_rights.html