Previous

Contents

Next

Universal Declaration of Human Freedoms (UDHF)
by A.X. Perez
[email protected]

Attribute to L. Neil Smith's The Libertarian Enterprise

In 1947 the United Nations (UN) adopted a document titled The Universal Declaration of Human Freedoms (UDHF), intended essentially to be a worldwide bill of rights. It has many good points, but it remains deeply flawed.

The biggest flaw is that it is a product of the (obscenity or profanity of your choice, mine is friggin') UN. As such it is a product of the people who are giving us Plan 21 and the Small Arms Trade Treaty. At the very least it is unselfconscious hypocrisy by people who don't face up to their own tyrannical activities and proclivities. At worst it is the moral equivalent of the wriggly, wormy thing at the end of an alligator snapper's tongue, a lure to bring the unwary into range to destroy.

Secondly it is the product of the British Labour Party, American New Deal Democrats, and their soul mates around the World. As such many of the "rights" it guarantees are essentially promises that the rulers will tax some subjects to benefit others. I am reminded of a couple of dogs who appear to be sharing food but in fact are robbing each others' doggy dishes. Alleged to be guarantees of freedom, thearicles of the UDHF are in fact promises of enslavement.

Thirdly, they do not guarantee the right of people to use force to protect their lives, liberty, loved ones, and property. This is the most basic right of humans. It does promise that people have the right to protection provided by the state, but it does not in any way allow for a right for people to protect themselves.

Fourthly, and pursuant to to thirdly, it does not recognize the right to keep and bear arms.

Finally, it has no equivalent of the Ninth Amendment:

I love the Ninth because it recognizes that the American Bill of Rights is not all inclusive and recognizes that unnamed rights are still rights the government is expected to respect and protect. It also proclaims that human rights derive from the essence of human dignity, gifts from God, if you are a believer, not privileges extended by legislators and bureaucrats. The UDHF pretends to be all inclusive and assumes it is the state that extends rights.

The idea of an International Bill of Rights is appealing. The UDHF isn't it.

Was that worth reading?
Then why not: