On the Adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Theme of Rights vs. Privileges

Those of us in the United States spend a lot of time talking about our rights—and we're lucky because our government gives us a lot of them.

But when Eleanor Roosevelt was trying to light a fire under the Commission on Human Rights, many countries didn't offer their citizens some of the things Americans take for granted every single day.

That's why the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was such an important document. It explicitly detailed the freedoms each and every human being should have, simply because they're human, and nixed the idea that certain things—like the right to be recognized as a person—were privileges reserved for a select few.

1. Name examples of a right and a privilege. What is the difference?
2. What do the Magna Carta, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, and the Bill of Rights have in common? How did they influence the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?
3. Do you believe all people have access to the basic rights Eleanor Roosevelt was fighting for? Why or why not?
4. Why is it important to recognize the difference between a right and a privilege?

The conflict between rights and privileges will never really be resolved because of the vast differences in economic capital throughout the world. Without access to a stable economy, certain rights will continue to be privileges for large groups of people.

Many of the rights and freedoms in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights come directly from important democratic documents like the Bill of Rights. As a result, such rights can only exist in democracies and remain privileges for people living under other types of governments.