Couldn’t we argue that “ the right to work, the right to marry, the right to an education, the right to rest and holidays, the right to culture and art, and the right to social security” all fall into either “certain unalienable Rights” that are not listed, or simply under the pursuit of happiness? After all, it’s not really possible to …
Couldn’t we argue that “ the right to work, the right to marry, the right to an education, the right to rest and holidays, the right to culture and art, and the right to social security” all fall into either “certain unalienable Rights” that are not listed, or simply under the pursuit of happiness? After all, it’s not really possible to achieve that Aristotelian idea of happiness without education; culture, work, food, healthcare, etc.
That is sort of how things played out. Jefferson was deliberately vague, but his successors became more specific. The trouble is, who is going to enforce those rights? What does the right to an education mean in a very poor country that can't afford it? Or the right to marry, in a country, like contemporary China, that has an imbalance between the sexes? Rights are easy to promise, but hard to fulfill. And if they are not fulfilled, then all the rights promised are in danger of being seen as hollow and bogus. Better, I think, to promise less and fulfill more.
Couldn’t we argue that “ the right to work, the right to marry, the right to an education, the right to rest and holidays, the right to culture and art, and the right to social security” all fall into either “certain unalienable Rights” that are not listed, or simply under the pursuit of happiness? After all, it’s not really possible to achieve that Aristotelian idea of happiness without education; culture, work, food, healthcare, etc.
That is sort of how things played out. Jefferson was deliberately vague, but his successors became more specific. The trouble is, who is going to enforce those rights? What does the right to an education mean in a very poor country that can't afford it? Or the right to marry, in a country, like contemporary China, that has an imbalance between the sexes? Rights are easy to promise, but hard to fulfill. And if they are not fulfilled, then all the rights promised are in danger of being seen as hollow and bogus. Better, I think, to promise less and fulfill more.