By Sean Becker
Society and Politics Committee
Next week is Human Rights Awareness Week. A coalition of diverse student organizations, led by The Wisconsin Union Directorate, will be sponsoring various events and programs dealing with different issues related to human rights both locally and globally.
The first lines of the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights about, All human beings are born with equal and inalienable rights and fundamental freedoms,"" and goes on to say that recognition of this is ""the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world."" Only when this truth is accepted will people be able to understand and judge the human rights abuses still prevalent in the world today. Yet for the majority of UW students, the importance of the truth of natural equality is already being exercised before their eyes through the institution of higher education. All students learn that America is a land of opportunity, and that any person is, with enough perseverance, able to make of themselves whatever they wish, with higher education as the enabler of these possibilities.
Once one truly believes that all humans are naturally equal, one can understand the importance of human rights and the urgency of their enforcement. Although the environments and cultures of different people around the globe produce humans with radically different lives, all individuals hold certain privileges and rights that are not subject to infringement by any institution of law or government. When people are discriminated against based on their sex, race or religion, they have been denied a human right. When people are tortured, detained in prisons or have their privacy violated, they are also denied their rights. Some of these may seem obvious but, too often, can be viewed as permissible under the right social conditions. The examples are copious when looking at the previous administration's war on terror as well as policies discriminating based on sexual preference.
The media alludes to the idea that human right
s abuses occur only in developing countries in Africa or the Middle East, but there are many pressing issues concerning human rights in America and Madison. Every year ,undocumented immigrants invest seven billion dollars in America's social security, of which they will receive nothing back. On top of this, they are denied any protection under the law, taken advantage of at their jobs and heavily discriminated against. Issues such as these will be discussed all next week by academics, activists and people in the community during the numerous events scheduled.
America and the other advanced nations of the world are not ""beyond"" human rights. Social welfare systems and civil and political rights are not things to be compromised during times of economic difficulty, but rather strengthened. This is because, as history has shown, the worst human rights abuses usually occur when people or nations have little money and are scared and desperate. Human rights transcend politics, history and borders, and yet, are applicable to every single individual: That is where their power lies and why it is necessary that they be protected in order for any social progress to occur.
Sean Becker is a member of the WUD society and politics committee. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
