Baking A Cake

           John Rawls’s concepts are clearly evident in the Universal Declaration of Rights.  Rawls talks about the idea of equality.  He states two clear principles of justice that he finds useful for society; the principle of equal liberty and the difference principle.  Equal liberty discusses how everyone should be offered the same rights and opportunities as everyone else in society which is what some articles of the declaration of rights say too. For example, article three states “Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of person.”  Many other articles talk about equality for everyone including fair trials, no forms of slavery and free movement between countries.  The difference principle discusses how the greatest benefits of a society should go to those with the most disadvantages.  The upper class people already have everything they need so in response to that they should help out the lower class.  The declaration of rights talks about this idea in one article particularly.  Article twenty-five talks about the right of people to have a decent living standard.  It states that everyone is entitled to live at a normal standard and if social services are necessary in order for that to happen, then they will be provided.  Those less advantaged do not pay for social services that responsibility falls upon those higher up in the chain. 

                There are many similarities between the Universal Declaration of Rights and the USCIS rights and responsibilities. Most of the rights mentioned on the USCIS site are also stated in the declaration.  The right to a fair trial by jury, to worship freely, to vote in elections, and to pursue life and liberty are all stated in both readings.  One major difference that I noticed between the two readings was that none of the responsibilities listed on USCIS were mentioned in the declaration of rights.  The responsibilities to stay informed about your community, defend your country, and obey the laws were not plainly stated in the declaration.  They can be inferred through some of the articles that are there but these responsibilities are not directly stated in the declaration like a lot of the rights were.

                My concept of human rights falls in line fairly well with the Universal Declaration of Rights.  I believe in having a fair trial, everyone being able to live at a decent standard, and the idea of education being available to all children.  I also agree with the principles that John Rawls discussed in his book.  I think everyone should have equal opportunities to be successful and I feel that those higher on the totem pole should help those least advantaged if they cannot help themselves. I think we have a right as human beings to not watch/let other humans suffer if there is something we can do to prevent it.  I found it interesting that a lot of these universal rights are not actually in place in most countries.  The one that stood out to me the most was the article on education.  Many third world countries still do not offer free education to the children there. Families are still required to pay for schooling causing many children to not attend it due to their inability to pay.  I do not see the point in having this huge list of rights and saying that they are universal if they are not being enforced in every part of the world.