“The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;

The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;

The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;

The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;

The right of every family to a decent home;

The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;

The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

The right to a good education.

All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.” (as found on http://www.worldpolicy.org/projects/globalrights/econrights/fdr-econbill.html)

As I heard these being read by President Roosevelt I couldn’t help but think of other similar lists of rights like the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” (http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/) which came just four years after FDR’s speech or the Millennium Development goals (http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/), the list of lists goes on and on including the Social Creed of my own denomination which in 1908 called for many of the same rights.

“1908 Social Creed The Methodist Episcopal Church stands –

For equal rights and complete justice for all (people) in all stations of life.

For the principle of conciliation and arbitration in industrial dissensions.

For the protection of the worker from dangerous machinery, occupational diseases, injuries and mortality.

For the abolition of child labor.

For such regulation of the conditions of labor for women as shall safe guard the physical and moral health of the community.

For the suppression of the “sweating system.”

For the gradual and reasonable reduction of hours of labor to the lowest practical point, with work for all; and for that degree of leisure for all which is the condition of the highest human life.

For a release from employment one day in seven.

For a living wage in every industry.

For the highest wage that each industry can afford, and for the most equitable division of the products of industry that can ultimately be devised.

For the recognition of the Golden Rule and the mind of Christ as the supreme law of society and the sure remedy for all social ills.”

The problem is that these lists of rights are just that, lists of rights. How many people have even heard of them, much less read through them? And more to the point, who is doing anything to make them a reality and not just a really nice goal to have “someday.” According to the agreement made by all member nations of the UN the “Universal Declaration” was/is supposed to be “disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories.” Is that happening? The front page of the Millennium Goals website talks about the gap in support where countries are failing to live up to their pledges. How can there be a greater priority than that of human rights?

I know that there are good things going on in the world and good people working to make the world better. I know that each one of these lists has well intentioned people behind it and the hope of becoming a reality. I also know that each of us could do more than we are and I know that not enough people know. The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) has had a public service campaign entitled “The More Your Know” for the past 20 years and I think their goal is a good one: to let people know what they can do.

Sir Francis Bacon said that, “Knowledge itself is power.” I believe that the more you learn the less likely you are to stand by without doing something and the more likely you are to stand up when your own rights are being infringed upon. I have had the privilege to teach about social justice here in my own country and abroad and watch as the lights go on in someone’s eyes as they begin to see themselves as a person of worth, a person who has rights. Just imagine if everyone had that light in them; darkness, evil and oppression could not exist.

People need to know and people need to act.