The UN Declaration of Human Rights - Articles 3 (life) and 25 (sustenance)
In December 1948, the people of the world came together and declared that, despite our differences, there are some fundamentals about life on which we can all agree. These are our fundamental human rights. Among them, we agreed to the universal rights below:
Article 3
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Article 25
(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.
Article 3
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Article 25
(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.
Three ways to approach these human rights
Many people are able to earn enough money to cover these essential human needs, and governments should, and in many cases do, provide some or all of the necessary support. But there are many more people whose work opportunities and governments are not able to ensure that enough food, clothing, housing, medical care and other essentials are provided. This provides us with three choices.
Firstly, we can ignore the human rights of these people. This has happened throughout history, and it continues today.
Secondly, we can try to provide the exact goods that people need. Many aid programmes and charities attempt this. Careful assessments are made of what is lacking in each area, and people are given the goods they are thought to lack - anything from rice to tin roofs to mosquito nets. This can be very effective and many lives and livelihoods have been saved in this way. However, there are also many issues involved in providing goods. How can we be sure what people need? There is not time to ask each person what they lack, so people are usually given the same or similar items. This can be wasteful, and can fail to meet people's needs. Some people in a target area might already have a mosquito net or enough rice, but they don't have soap or blankets, and keep getting ill for this reason rather than because of malaria or malnutrition. No amount of mosquito nets or rice would help to fulfil their human rights in this case. Next, how can we reach everyone? The careful targeting to find the most in-need communities, the assessments of needs, and the shipping and distribution of goods are all time-consuming processes requiring well-paid experts. Inevitably, many communities are left to get by without help. And there are many further complications too. If goods are brought in and handed out for free, will local farmers and shopkeepers be under-cut and go out of business? How can goods be provided safely so that people are not put at risk from thieves? How can people show up at a collection point regularly, if they need to be at work or looking after their family? Given these issues, it begs the question - is there a better way to provide for people's human rights to life and sustenance?
Thirdly, we can provide people everywhere with money, so they can decide for themselves what they need for their own life and sustenance, and get hold of it in the way that works best for them. If this was done as a universal whole-world scheme, this would be a world basic income. At World Basic Income we believe this is how our human rights could best be secured.
Firstly, we can ignore the human rights of these people. This has happened throughout history, and it continues today.
Secondly, we can try to provide the exact goods that people need. Many aid programmes and charities attempt this. Careful assessments are made of what is lacking in each area, and people are given the goods they are thought to lack - anything from rice to tin roofs to mosquito nets. This can be very effective and many lives and livelihoods have been saved in this way. However, there are also many issues involved in providing goods. How can we be sure what people need? There is not time to ask each person what they lack, so people are usually given the same or similar items. This can be wasteful, and can fail to meet people's needs. Some people in a target area might already have a mosquito net or enough rice, but they don't have soap or blankets, and keep getting ill for this reason rather than because of malaria or malnutrition. No amount of mosquito nets or rice would help to fulfil their human rights in this case. Next, how can we reach everyone? The careful targeting to find the most in-need communities, the assessments of needs, and the shipping and distribution of goods are all time-consuming processes requiring well-paid experts. Inevitably, many communities are left to get by without help. And there are many further complications too. If goods are brought in and handed out for free, will local farmers and shopkeepers be under-cut and go out of business? How can goods be provided safely so that people are not put at risk from thieves? How can people show up at a collection point regularly, if they need to be at work or looking after their family? Given these issues, it begs the question - is there a better way to provide for people's human rights to life and sustenance?
Thirdly, we can provide people everywhere with money, so they can decide for themselves what they need for their own life and sustenance, and get hold of it in the way that works best for them. If this was done as a universal whole-world scheme, this would be a world basic income. At World Basic Income we believe this is how our human rights could best be secured.
World basic income - a giant leap for human rights
Despite the lofty intentions of the global community following World War II, fulfilment of the UN Declaration of Human Rights has been patchy. Some rights, such as Article 5 which prohibits torture, and Article 14 which gives the right to asylum, are the basis of major international action and agreements. Many other rights are sorely neglected.
It doesn't need to be this way. The world is now rich enough that no one need be denied their fundamental human rights, while the UN Declaration of Human Rights gives us a mandate for action. We have agreed what we all need in order to live decent lives. Food, clothing, shelter and medicines are essential for life, and money is the simplest means by which we can secure them. It is time to take action to secure these rights for ourselves, by putting in place a world basic income.
It doesn't need to be this way. The world is now rich enough that no one need be denied their fundamental human rights, while the UN Declaration of Human Rights gives us a mandate for action. We have agreed what we all need in order to live decent lives. Food, clothing, shelter and medicines are essential for life, and money is the simplest means by which we can secure them. It is time to take action to secure these rights for ourselves, by putting in place a world basic income.
