Quick link to a BBC story on how the EU and various other national and international bodies are considering internet access a fundamental human right.
In the fourth paragraph comes a crucial distinction:
“The right to communicate cannot be ignored,” Dr Hamadoun Toure, secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), told BBC News.
Now, the right to communicate, I think, can be argued as a fundamental human right. And, as a correllary, the right to ordinary means of communication. But much of the article blurs this distinction, and speaks of internet access as if it was a human right in and of itself.
So, anyone living before the late 1980s was deprived of a fundamental human right? One cannot be fully human without the internet?
I don’t think so.
Hey Robert,
I just wanted to say I enjoy your blog and have been perusing it when I get a chance. Thanks for the posts! I know you usually (from the looks of it) don’t get into political feuds on your blog, but concerning rights, I just posted something similar at my blog, namely a link to an article that skims the surface of your topic here:
http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2010/02/25/what-is-a-right/
Thanks! Keep up the good work!
-kj-
It’s true that I don’t get into political feuds here – or much anywhere else, either. A couple reasons for that:
That said, I don’t think personal virtue can be separated from public virtue, and as I learn more I’ll probably end up posting more on political or public topics.
Anyway, thanks for your comment! Feel free to point out political implications (or objections)!