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<DIV> The Avantguardian <<A
href="mailto:avantguardian2020@yahoo.com">avantguardian2020@yahoo.com</A>>
wrote:<BR>Subject: [extropy-chat] What the #$?! are rights anyway?<BR></DIV>
<DIV>Stuart: These debates have left me very pensive with a sense<BR>of deep
disquiet. This unease stems from the fact that<BR>although I believe in rights,
jealously guard mine,<BR>and support the rights of other as well, I no
longer<BR>really know why I believe in them. So when people<BR>started
complaining that discussing the rights of<BR>women versus those of fetuses is
not a suitable topic<BR>for a transhuman list, I found it necessary to ask
the<BR>lot of you to tell me what rights are, where they come<BR>from, and why
they are in any sense "real"?<BR><BR>I know these may seem like naive questions
but as<BR>Frank Forman pointed out, the transhuman community<BR>really does need
to come up with a rational theory of<BR>rights. I will try to explain why this
is necessary in<BR>a historical context:<BR><BR>Divine right, ca. the Middle
Ages:<BR>"By the grace of God, I am your king. That means I am<BR>the boss of
you so give me your money, till my fields,<BR>and go and fight those guys over
that hill for me."<BR><BR>Natural rights, ca. the Enlightenment:<BR>"We hold
these truths to be self-evident, that all men<BR>are created equal, that they
are endowed by their<BR>Creator with certain unalienable rights, that
among<BR>these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."<BR><BR>Human
rights, ca. the Present:<BR>"Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and
of<BR>the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the<BR>human family is
the foundation of freedom, justice and<BR>peace in the world..."<BR><BR>So
what's the problem you ask....? SNIP)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>*****The problem is that there are actually no
human rights whatsoever - and nor have there ever been in the history of
humanity. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Documents such as the UN Charter, the US
constitution et al are simply beacons in the darkness. These show us what is
possible and what might be in the future. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>But the truth is that those
few human rights which have been granted in the past and codified
into law - have only ever been granted to limited populations for limited
periods of time (extremely limited periods of time given the scale of human
history.. )</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>*******What is more, wherever human
rights ARE being granted at any time, they are always under threat and subject
to political or commercial interpretation by those who can bring a
great deal of expertise and ingenuity to bear on defeating the moral intent
of the code. One COULD try to explain that in so doing, these people are
adopting an inferior and essentially self-defeating course - but one could also
try to teach a dog to play chess...</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>*********Human rights are grounded in personal
autonomy and personal responsibility - as such there is a fundamental
opposition between this set of rights and governmental authority which
seeks to limit the autonomy of the individual and exercise a proxy for the good
of the group.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>**********Governments will always therefore seek to
limit human rights - to do otherwise is to abdicate their own power. Some do it
by heavy-handed authoritarian displays of power. Others persuade their citizens
to give up their rights voluntarily in the face of some trumped up external
threat... any bells ringing?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>************I would say there is a snowball's
chance in hell of a coherent system of global human rights anytime soon - at
least as applied at government level. </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>BUT
- all is not lost - the grass roots equivalent is a here and now thing.
Since human rights are personal, we can apply the rules right now in our
relations with everyone else in the world. All we have to do is BEHAVE as
though the UN Charter was law - and for all intents and purposes - it is. To
this extent, I believe that human rights are mine to seize. It is all a question
of giving - and receiving - due respect and recognition. No rocket science
needed!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Jack Parkinson</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>