By Thomas C Mountain – May 4, 2021
If you ask those of us living in the Africa, almost all of us will tell you that the âhuman rightsâ that matter most are those that are basic to the right to life; food, water, shelter, medical care and education for your children.
If you and you family are cold, hungry, sick and illiterate do you think âfreedom of the pressâ has any connection to your daily reality?
If you children are dying of water borne dysentry or malaria exacerbated by malnutrition do âfree and fair electionsâ matter at all to you?
In the west âhuman rightsâ exist in an upside down reality where your problem with food is not about having enough but havings to much.
When it comes to drinking water your choice is not whether you can find any but whether you will choose generic or designer brand bottled water.
You in the west live in a dwelling with central heat and a/c, running hot and cold water, dishwashers, garbage disposals, giant refrigerators, washer/dryers (you have never washed you clothes by hand in your life) and all sorts of âmodern conveniencesâ that we in the third world have never even dreamed of. The very poorest people, those on welfare/income support would refuse to live somewhere without running hot water, something 95% of the people in Africa can only dream of.
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When it comes to medical care your medical plan, if you work for Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch, may include such necessities as breast reduction surgery or even liposuction. You dont have to worry about being able to find a doctor let alone being able
to afford medical treatment.
So doesnt it make sense that those sitting in the offices of what I call the âhuman rights mobâ in London, Paris and New York donât even consider having food, water, shelter, basic medical care and education for your children to be âhuman rightsâ? No, âfreedom of the pressâ (which of course applys only to those that own the presses), âfree and fair electionsâ amongst mulitple other âfreedomsâ are what really matter. The human rights mob donât bother to even list the basics making up the right to life, your very survival, in their catalogue of
âhuman rightsâ.
When a society doesnt provide the basics to the right to life than it is violating its peoples human rights in a fundamental, undeniable way. Not only are these countries that fail in this massively violating their peoples human rights they are really just failed states, unable to provide even the minimum basics to their people.
But hey, if they have âfree and fair electionsâ then they are âdemocraciesâ never mind trucks driving around picking up dead bodies in the streets. Even Seattle, USA, home to some of the richest corporations in the world, has to pick up a dead body of a homeless person almost everyday.
In the western countries you find widespread homelessness, hunger, medical neglect and even poisonous drinking water ie Flint, Michigan. Yet these massive violations of human rights are almost ignored because what matters is âfreedom of the pressâ, âfreedom of speechâ and âdemocracyâ as in âfree and fair electionsâ never mind the hundreds of million$ spent in winning such.
In Africa where I live, like in Cuba in the western hemisphere, we value real human rights, what I call African human rights, food, water, shelter, medical care and education for your children. Once we have these human rights completely and irrevocably secure than we will start to worry about âWestern Human Rightsâ.
Thomas C. Mountain is an independent journalist living and reporting from Eritrea since 2006. He can be reached at thomascmountain@gmail.com or see thomascmountain on twitter or facebook.
Featured image: File Photo
