Class 12 English Lesson 17 Essay: Human Rights and Age of Inequality Literature Section

 

Lesson 5 Essay: Human Rights and the Age of Inequality by Samuel Moyn

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About the Essayist

 

            Samuel Moyn is Jeremiah Smith, Jr. Professor of Law and Professor of History at Harvard University. In 2010, he published The Last Utopia: Human Rights in History, and his most recent book is Christian Human Rights. His areas of interest in legal scholarship include international law, human rights, the law of war, and legal thought, in both historical and current perspectives. He has written several books in his fields of European intellectual history and human rights history.

Gist of the Essay

In “Human Rights and the Age of Inequality,” Samuel Moyn deals with the drastic mismatch between the unrestricted 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.

Summary of the Essay

           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 opens the essay with a parable where he states about Croesus (last king of Lydia (reigned c. 560-546), a wealthy king who thought of himself as the happiest of mortals. He desired his citizens to remain happy and free from all sorts of suffering but he had one problem he didn't want to invest his money to remove the sufferings of his people. He had collected his funds for himself which were later controlled by the Persian King Cyrus the Great and his army after he was defeated. 

         The author associates this situation with the modern world where inequality exists and available means and resources are distributed unequally. The writer states that December 10 is celebrated as Human Rights Day every year, but there are no steps forward for equal access to rights and property among the rich and poor in the world. There is only one solution to these all sorts of obstacles to distributive equality but he finds it is almost impossible in the practical life of reality. According to the writer, writing the history of human rights to that of political economy involves two big stages:

a.      The first was the heroic age of the national welfare state after World War II.

b.     The second was the political economy ascending beyond the nation during the 1940s. 

          Franklin Roosevelt (32^nd US President) issued his famous call for a "second Bill of Rights" that included socioeconomic protections in his State of the Union but it missed three most important facts: Provincial America's entry into North Atlantic consensus; Promising freedom from want; and envisioning it everywhere in the world. Human rights after the 1940s suffered much as it followed favoritism and divided the world into two groups mentioning US-led democratic nations and USSR-led communist nations resulting cold war. In the same way, decolonization of the world during the post-war era could not bring desired development and human rights among the nations since these states favored 'national welfare’ instead of supporting egalitarian human rights.

Samuel Moyn depicts the issue of whether another human rights movement is necessary or not and then cites the example of truth and reality mentioned in Herodotus' history which dealt with the need for of redistribution global socioeconomic justice under the pressure from the rich to the poor. Though human rights activists argue that human rights assert equal freedom and rights to human beings in documents and assure them it is not applied in present real-life situations. Human beings won't receive original and fruitful freedom and truthful rights until and unless this present economy and socio-political structure exist. Thus, a fair portion of the distribution of wealth and property from rich to poor, redistribution of means and resources, formulation and implementation of laws for fair distribution of wealth by the government, and massive and radical movements are required for an egalitarian society though these all are impractical and inapplicable and very hard to take place in reality.

Above all, our common destiny is like that of the world of Croesus' world where rich enjoy the happiness, freedom, and everything to a maximum level like the colonizers in the British Raj while the poor live in the world of illusion with their 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 a mobilization for economic and social rights.

b.     When is Human Rights Day observed?

Human Rights, 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 provide a list of the most basic entitlements or key values like fairness, dignity, equality, and respect that humans deserve thanks to being human itself. Furthermore, it aims to assert the "foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world.

d.     What are two big stages that involve writing the history of human rights to that of political economy?

The two big stages that involve writing the history of human rights to that of political economy are the heroic age of national welfare after 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"?

Three facts have been missed in Roosevelt's call for a "second Bill of Rights which are as follows: First, it marked a characteristically provincial America's late and ginger entry into an already foreordained North Atlantic consensus. Second, his highest promise was not a floor of protection for the masses but the end of "special privileges for the few - a ceiling on inequality. Lastly, Roosevelt certainly hoped it would span the globe but it was organized nationally, not internationally.

f.       Write the truth expressed in Herodotus's History.

The truth expressed in Herodotus' Histories is that global socioeconomic justice, like local socioeconomic justice, would require redistribution under pressure from the rich to the poor through 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 works in favor of all human beings for their rights, justice, equality, and equity by removing partiality injustice, inequality, discrimination, and so on from society.

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