Human rights is a great idea, but how realistic is it?
Human rights is not an abstract idea but the expression, codified into law, of what all human beings clearly must have to live fully human lives. It is because human rights are so deeply rooted in what all people need, want, and will fight for that they have been the basis for social movements and actions around the world that have freed countless political prisoners, stopped acts of torture and execution, overthrown tyrannies, established justice, torn down walls, ended the system of racial apartheid, improved working conditions and obtained education, shelter, health care, and food for those denied them. The idea of human rights is only as realistic as the idea of, and our willingness to work for, human freedom and dignity. Larry Cox, Senior Program Officer Ford Foundation There are societies now where governments neither infringe on rights nor permit other actors to do so—different rights for different societies and maybe nobody gets all of them. The peoples of all countries are rea
