Let me remind...
May. 15th, 2011 06:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nairiporterI see in the US the argument so far has boiled down to: is health-care a right or not? So let me quote this thing which many in America are considering now totally irrelevant: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1949:
"Everyone has the right to a standard of living and well-being of oneself and one's family, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care."
Is it just some beautiful words written on a paper without a meaning? For some in the US, they really are. Which is sad for a first-world country. For many others, not so much.
Although the above statement of high principle was adopted at the explicit urging of the United States, and although it reflects the truths of that great nation's founding documents, all the US governments combined have achieved neither formal recognition nor practical realization of these rights. Mass homelessness and the escalating health care crisis in the US are compelling evidence of the disregard for human rights. Sadly, that otherwise great country is but one of many nations where grave offenses against the dignity of human beings are commonplace, and global enforcement of human rights remains a distant goal. In the US, however, the twin advantages of democratic institutions and great wealth provide the opportunity for the American nation to implement the principles of human rights. Implementation of human rights principles would lead inexorably to the elimination of mass homelessness.
A useful summary of the international agreements that establish and codify the human right to health care, entitled "The Right to Health Care in the United States: What Does it Mean?" has been published by the Center on Social and Economic Rights, and is available by clicking here or at CESR's website.
Since 1991, the National Health Care for the Homeless Council has recognized that "every person has the right to adequate food, housing, clothing and health care" and has incorporated a human rights perspective into their work to assure health care for everyone and to end homelessness. Policy changes that would advance implementation of the right to health care, along with other human rights such as housing, are described in the annual Policy Statements of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council.
Much more could be said on the matter, but I suspect that would be pointless, since those who have already decided that access to adequate health care is NOT a right but a privilege, would not change their mind no matter what. In the long run, a society which does not recognize a basic human right as a right, is in deep trouble. Even if it is still presently the number one nation in many respects. This will not last forever, and in case some are still wondering why that is, the inadequate health of a nation is one of the most significant, if not THE most significant factor for its demise, along with inadequate education.
"Everyone has the right to a standard of living and well-being of oneself and one's family, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care."
Is it just some beautiful words written on a paper without a meaning? For some in the US, they really are. Which is sad for a first-world country. For many others, not so much.
Although the above statement of high principle was adopted at the explicit urging of the United States, and although it reflects the truths of that great nation's founding documents, all the US governments combined have achieved neither formal recognition nor practical realization of these rights. Mass homelessness and the escalating health care crisis in the US are compelling evidence of the disregard for human rights. Sadly, that otherwise great country is but one of many nations where grave offenses against the dignity of human beings are commonplace, and global enforcement of human rights remains a distant goal. In the US, however, the twin advantages of democratic institutions and great wealth provide the opportunity for the American nation to implement the principles of human rights. Implementation of human rights principles would lead inexorably to the elimination of mass homelessness.
A useful summary of the international agreements that establish and codify the human right to health care, entitled "The Right to Health Care in the United States: What Does it Mean?" has been published by the Center on Social and Economic Rights, and is available by clicking here or at CESR's website.
Since 1991, the National Health Care for the Homeless Council has recognized that "every person has the right to adequate food, housing, clothing and health care" and has incorporated a human rights perspective into their work to assure health care for everyone and to end homelessness. Policy changes that would advance implementation of the right to health care, along with other human rights such as housing, are described in the annual Policy Statements of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council.
Much more could be said on the matter, but I suspect that would be pointless, since those who have already decided that access to adequate health care is NOT a right but a privilege, would not change their mind no matter what. In the long run, a society which does not recognize a basic human right as a right, is in deep trouble. Even if it is still presently the number one nation in many respects. This will not last forever, and in case some are still wondering why that is, the inadequate health of a nation is one of the most significant, if not THE most significant factor for its demise, along with inadequate education.
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(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-15 08:01 pm (UTC)A society is measured by the way it treats its weakest, not its strongest. A well known principle of advanced societies, which yours is claiming to be. Compare this to a group of mountain trekkers. There are slower and faster walkers among them. The group walks with the pace of the slowest walker. They don't leave them behind to the wolves. That is how a good team works. A group of individuals, each caring only for himself, would not go very far.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-16 02:49 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-15 08:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-15 09:30 pm (UTC)