The security provided by a long-held belief system, even when poorly founded, is a strong impediment to progress. General acceptance of a practice becomes the proof of its validity, though it lacks all other merit.
The International Declaration of Human Rights says the right to housing, health, education should be guaranteed to everyone. The moment these things are provided, we will have a different world order and nuclear weapons will become less of a threat.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the necessity of basic human rights for a peaceful world, suggesting that provisions for housing, health, and education can mitigate global threats like nuclear weapons.
Bernard Lown's quote highlights the fundamental rights outlined in the International Declaration of Human Rights, asserting that when essential needs such as housing, health care, and education are ensured for every individual, society can progress towards a more secure and harmonious world. Lown posits that addressing these basic human rights will not only improve individual lives but also reduce global conflicts and the dangers posed by nuclear armament, fostering a new societal order that prioritizes human welfare over war and violence.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech advocating for human rights during an international conference.
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What Qatar chose is a system where a worker is owned by his employer. When your employer forces you to live in squalor, makes you work longest hours in extreme heat, doesn't allow you to change jobs, doesn't pay your wages on time, abuses you physically and psychologically, you have no way out, you can't leave. You are trapped.
Women's rights are an essential part of the overall human rights agenda, trained on the equal dignity and ability to live in freedom all people should enjoy.
In the Saudi system, women are considered inferior. No matter our age, we have male guardians. We must get permission from men to attend school, to work, to marry, to travel overseas - even to have basic medical procedures.
Women's rights are nothing but a part of the bigger picture, which is human rights. Women are trusted with the lives of their kids, even serve as teachers and doctors, but they aren't trusted with their own lives.
When you single out any particular group of people for secondary citizenship status, that's a violation of basic human rights.
Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world ... Such are the places where every man, woman and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere.