The Rights
Right is different from privilege.
A right is something you can exercise, an a privilege is something that can be optionally availed.
I suppose it’s my bad that I didn’t distinguish the two words from each other before I started with the Human Rights series. So in my layman’s understanding, I shall attempt to explain it in a way that another layman may understand.
Think of the word opportunity. We see it as something fleeting that could easily come and go. Associate it to the words right and privilege.
When a person has a right to something, to me it means, he/she already has it, already owns it, and can use it anytime. Which when the word opportunity is used, to me it means the opportunity is yours all the time and no one is going to take it away from you. And you can use that opportunity anytime you want to.
When a person has a privilege to something, to me it means, he/she does not have it but someone else can give it to him/her, does not own it, and cannot use it anytime, but only when given permission to use it. Which when the word opportunity is used, to me it means the opportunity can be given or it can be taken away from you. And you can use that opportunity anytime you want to.
The Human Rights is not a privilege. They are a right. That means, you can use it anytime you want to, you have it with you anywhere and everywhere you go. And no one can take it away from you if you know how to use them because you understand them. You don’t have to be scared about using them. You don’t have to ask anyone permission to be able to use them. They are like the air you breathe and the body you use for living everyday. They are yours to keep and use. And if you want to use them just so you can continue to breathe, then by all means do so. And the best thing about it is, you automatically have Human Rights as soon as you are born, so technically there is no age limit for it.
So many times I hear it being said that they are fighting for their Human Rights. Maybe the reason why some have to fight for them it’s because many others do not know what the Human Rights are about and how they are used and who can use them.
In the Preamble of the Declaration of Human Rights, it is said,
”Whereas, a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge”
If textbooks are used to educate, then maybe the same textbooks in different languages can be used to teach a standardized and common explanation of this Declarations clauses. Where each explanation of each clause is the same in all textbooks over many many decades to standardize the understanding of the real meaning and essence of these Rights. If languages, sciences and maths are taught using a constant standard in all textbooks, why not try to do the same with the Human Rights?
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