Article 25 of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care…”
Water is not specifically mentioned, because as we all know, without water, human beings can’t stay healthy. We die. Water, it was once agreed, is such a basic human right that it is taken as a given.
But recently, Detroit’s economically deprived residents have been told by the city’s unelected managers that water is not a human right. Too many people are willing to back this stance, with a lack of empathy that’s hard to fathom. The same callous disdain for basic rights can be seen in the increasing criminalization of the homeless in American cities, and the belief that it’s fine for the US government or its allies to blow people to bits for possibly standing too close to a terrorist.
Once you’ve persuaded people that nobody has an inherent right to water, shelter or even life itself, who will believe education is a human right? Who will believe that everyone has the right to access health care, to earn a living wage or to make their own decisions about whether or not to reproduce?
from truthout
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