On the Adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: What's Up With the Title?
On the Adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: What's Up With the Title?
This one is pretty straight-forward, at least on the surface.
But you know by now how much we love digging down to the good stuff beneath the surface.
When Eleanor Roosevelt gave this speech in Paris, she was a wee bit frustrated. The delegation was just finishing up its third meeting but somehow was still quibbling over the same things. The Soviets wanted to give lots of power to the state, whereas the United States and other Western nations were more focused on the individual.
It was a regular ol' battle of wills—the kind that would become super familiar to everyone throughout the Cold War.
From our perspective, looking back on it, "On the Adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights" seems like a victory speech. Sure, the Soviets and the Western nations disagreed on some fundamental things, but all in all, everyone came together to draft a document protecting the basic rights of all people. That's definitely something to celebrate.
But it goes deeper than that. "On the Adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights" was a not-so-subtle nudge to all the delegates to get the show on the road because at the time of this speech, the declaration hadn't been accepted yet.
Roosevelt reminds the delegates that they aren't going to agree on everything—and that's not even politics. That's just humans. What's important is acknowledging the significance of the declaration, an international agreement saying freedom and increased quality of life aren't privileges but basic human rights. And all 58 member nations did agree on that.