Assign #4
Toni Mitchell
Assign #4
Samuel Moyn: The difference between human rights and the rights of a human.
The terms “Rights of a human” and “human rights” may be considered to be similar, but yet so different. In order to differentiate the two, I had to first find the true meaning of the word right itself. For most, a right may be defined as a moral or legal entitlement to have or obtain something or to act in a certain way. But for specifically for whom are rights created. While reading the Samuel Moyn’s piece entitled the Last Utopia, I question if there were any changes at all. We are still tackling the same issues from the 1940’s. “All men are created equal’ is a term we loosely throw around without assessing it through the critical mind. While I do admit there are some major changes (I am living proof of it) in regards to physical enslavement, we are indeed still caged animals (too harsh?). “People think of history in the long term” Phillip Roth says, “but history, in fact is vert sudden” (Moyn,4).
Drawing from the reading, the rights of man were created were created by men (of course) and based upon what deemed necessary for society. And to be recognized as a man, it was required to have ownership of a property. This brings me back to my point about for whom are these rights created. if you weren’t a white male with property, are you then not human?
Human rights is a more of a modern term. The became popular after World War II. The idea of Human Rights is much like the one of Utopia. It is an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect. Ironically, the tittle of Moyn’s book is called The Last Utopia and it is exactly that. The thought of the word alone introduces hope; the thought of everyone being equal, but it is not reality. It merely evokes hope and promote action (Moyn,1).
