Human Rights And the Age of Inequality
Summary
In "Human Rights and the Age of Inequality," Samuel Moyn deals with the drastic mismatch between the egalitarian crisis and the human rights remedy that demands not a substitute but a supplement. He points out that the human rights regime and movement are simply not equipped to challenge global inequalities.
Moyn tells a story about Croesus, the last Lydian king, who was rich and thought he was the happiest person on Earth. To him, his people should be happy and free of any pain, but he didn't want to spend his money on them. After he lost, the Persian King Cyrus the Great and his troops took over his money.
The author compares this situation to today's world, where there is a lot of inequality and not enough money and resources for everyone. There hasn't been any progress toward equal rights and property for rich and poor people around the world. In order to solve all of these problems, you need to make sure everyone gets the same amount of money. He finds it hard to do this in real life. To connect the history of human rights with the history of economics, he says that there are two main steps to do:
The first was the heroic era of national welfare states after World War II. Second, in the 1940s, politics and economics took over the country.
But three important things were left out of Franklin Roosevelt's famous State of the Union call for a second Bill of Rights that included protections for the poor and the middle class: Provincial America's entry into the North Atlantic consensus, which promises and imagines a world without hunger. During
the years after 1940, favoritism caused the world to split into two camps: one led by the United States and one led by the Soviet Union. This caused a lot of damage to human rights. Also, post-World War II decolonization did not provide the intended prosperity and human rights because these governments put "national well-being" above "equal rights."
Samuel Moyn asks whether or not there should be another human rights movement. He then uses Herodotus' example of truth and reality, which was about the need for social and economic justice to be transferred from the rich to the poor around the world. They say that everyone has the same amount of freedom and right, but this isn't true in real life. Until and unless this economic and political framework is still in place, humans won't be able to have true freedom and rights. The government must make and enforce laws that make sure that everyone has the same amount of money, and huge and radical movements are important for an egalitarian society.
In the end, our shared fate is to live in the world like Croesus. In this world, the rich have a lot of fun, freedom, and everything, while the poor live in the realm of illusion, where they have floating equality and freedom.
Understanding the text
Answer the following questions.
a. What is the first human rights declaration adopted by the United Nations?
The first human rights declaration adopted by the United Nations is mobilization for economic and social rights.b. When is Human Rights Day observed?
Human rights day is observed on 10th December every year.c. What is the goal of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?
The goal of the Universal Declaration of human rights is to assure the most basic entitlements and key values of human welfare and rights like equality, dignity, freedom, fairness and respect. Also, its goal is to assert justice and peace in the world alongside the foundation of freedom.d. What are two big stages that involve writing the history of human rights about that of political economy?
The two big stages that involve writing the history of human rights about that of the political economy include the heroic age of national welfare after the condition of World War II and the bitter enemies of the new cold war era in 1948.e. What are the facts that have been missed in Roosevelt’s call for a “second Bill of Rights”?
The facts that have been missed in Roosevelt’s call for a “second Bill of rights” are:– It marked a provincial America’s late and ginger entry into a North Atlantic consensus which is already foreordained.
– His highest promise was “special privileges for the few” instead of protection of masses which creates a ceiling of inequality.
– He hoped that it would h4 the globe but it was organized nationally instead of organizing internationally.
f. Write the truth expressed in Herodotus’s Histories.
The truth expressed in Herodotus’ histories is to assure global socio-economic justice, local socio-economic justice. it would require redistribution from rich to poor by novel forms of legal activism.g. Why is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights important to you?
The universal declaration of human rights is important to me as it assures the basic rights of humans and provides justice, equality, equity for all human beings equally. it aimed to remove injustice, partiality, discrimination, inequality and so many inhuman behaviors from society.Reference to the context
a. Does the essay give ways on how to stigmatize inequality? Explain.
The essay “human rights and age of inequality” written by Samuel Moyn is the essay briefing about how the concept of human rights arises and what it brought to human welfare. The essay focuses on the stigmatization of inequality rather than giving some specific ways how to stigmatize inequality. History shows us that there are wrong kinds of agents who are not fearful enough to provoke redistribution. Surely, opponents will arise someday if inequality grows like this.Thus the need for justice and equality is in demand. so the new human rights movement sorted of different views for the common people can bring and justify social equality and liberation. it is very necessary to remove partiality and discrimination by proper supervision, monitoring and enacting strict laws. For the welfare of common people and all human beings, inequality must be removed as it is believed to be a stigma for society.