Dear Frankie,

the idea of human rights is a topic of debate and disputes across the world. Some
people believe that it is up to a state or a culture to decide what is considered a human right
while others believe that human rights should be universally equal. I feel that human rights
should be equal for everyone no matter who they are or what culture or nation they are from.
Some cultures would choose to give people different rights based on what social class they are
from or what job they perform. In my opinion, that should be able to be done in any case
throughout the world. If we let the each culture what rights each person has, some people may
not be given any rights at all. If the world did not yet conceived the idea of human rights, it could
have turned out in many different ways.
One way could be that the world could have turned out to be one of multiple societies
that is described in the text the “Five Fables About Human Rights.” All of these societies had
different ways of running things and deciding what each person can and can not do. Each of
these societies had flaws in terms of how people can live their lives. As described in this text for
example, Utilitarianism has the idea that everyone has to sacrifice something. This could be
anything at anytime which could include their very rights. In Communitarianism, each person
would only be considered part of a machine or a body. They can function while doing something
with other people but not on their own. These two and the other ones described in the “Five
Fables About Human Rights” have problems with how these societies decide how each person
can live their life.
Now what it means to be universal is a different story entirely. As stated in chapter six of
the “Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice”, there are many different definitions for the
term universal. Some people think that human rights only apply to those they think should have
them. They think that human rights are only relatively universal. I believe on the other hand that
human rights should be completely universal to every person in the world and that no one
should be excluded. No one should be able to decide to take away any single person’s right just
because they do not think that they are above someone else. I think that all those who do think
that they are above people should be charged and have consequences for what they have
done. But at this moment, there is no better way to protect people and their rights is universal
human rights and to have them enforced not just by committees and states.
That is why I believe at the current point, universal human rights is the best way. But I
would like to know your opinion on all of this. My question to you is, do you think that universal
human rights is the best way to protect people’s rights and if so why? If not, what do you think
the best way to protect people’s rights is?

Your pen pal,

Adam Webb
a.webb2@setonhill.edu