Human Rights Day

Today is the 60th Anniversay of the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights.

The original declaration can be found here:
http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html

Remember that the principle behind Democratic governments is that the only legitimate function of government, the reason it exists and the way it remains a valid government, is to promote, protect, and ensure all it's peoples' basic human rights.

This view of government was not always accepted. It is a result of the radical thinking of the 17th and 18th century philosophers who invented the very concept of human rights and abandoned the older idea that the primary function of government was to enforce order and keep everyone in their proper place.

It's also worth reflection that we have not only rights to life, liberty, propety, and security - so called negative rights -, but also rights to a basic standard of health care, education, standard of living, and equal opportunity.

Let us take this Human Rights day to remember the rights we do have - that only emerged after centuries of struggle - but also to remember what we still need to work for.