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Human rights

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Human rights are rights which some hold to be inalienable and belonging to all humans. They are believed by many to provide valuable assurance that the quality of life of individuals will be maintained.

Inalienable rights cannot be bestowed, granted, limited, bartered away, or sold away (eg, one cannot sell oneself into slavery). Inalienable rights can only be secured or violated.

Human rights can be divided into two categories; positive and negative human rights. Every negative human right can be expressed as a positive human right, but not vice versa. For example, the right of a newborn to a caring parent can only be expressed positively.

Positive human rights follow mainly from the Rousseauian Continental legal tradition, and are things to which every person is entitled and which every person, so every state, is obligated to provide. These include the right to an education and the right to a livelihood. Positive rights have been codified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in many 20th century constitutions.

Negative human rights follow mainly from the Anglo-American legal tradition, and are rights which denote actions that a government should not take. These are codified in the United States Bill of Rights and the English Bill of Rights and include freedoms of speech, religion and assembly.

There are a number of theories of where rights come from. The theory espoused by the United States Declaration of Independence and ingrained in Anglo-American legal thought is that rights arise from natural law. This theory is considered antiquated in moral philosophy.

There are a number of controversies regarding human rights. One is what rights are included as fundamental human rights, or even if there is such a thing. Another controversy is how best to enforce human rights and in particular the relationship between human rights and national sovereignty. One point of view is that human rights are universal and therefore it is proper for any national to attempt to enforce human rights through international courts or domestic law. The opposing view is that having human rights override national sovereignty is a form of imperialism in which powerful countries dictate which rights they consider most important against less powerful countries.

Modern Liberal Definition of Human Rights

Within the modern American liberal political culture, basic human rights are defined as those which can be upheld in a society which follows two basic rules:

All individuals should be allowed to act in any way they choose providing that in doing so they do not prohibit other individuals from that same privilege.
All individuals must take responsibility for the repercussions of their actions.

Unfortunately these ideals would seemingly exist only in a utopian society, and thus it is a very difficult plan of action indeed.

Hate Crimes Laws

With the advent of the concept of human rights, various countries have attempted to enact laws against what are called hate crimes. A hate crime is defined as a crime committed with direct influence by the minority status of the victim. A hate crime law would bring greater penalty to the perpetrator based on the hateful intent.

Conservatives in the United States often oppose hate crime laws, stating that imposing a greater penaty on an act committed in hate would thus make hating illegal. They feel this to be a direct infringement on First Amendment rights.

Liberals often support hate crime laws, stating that by enacting them individuals would face greater discouragement from committing hate crimes. They also point out that all laws are subjective, and that if society can determine that one crime deserves more punishment than another (ie: murder vs. involuntary manslaughter,) then it can also determine what motivations deserve more stringent punishments.