socialmedian: A political public that cares

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A political public that cares | Bernard Keenan

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Nov 04, 2009

Summary

Chomsky is right about the decline in human rights, but I doubt they can be resurrected in the service of progressive politics

Invited to the LSE last week to address the question of human rights in the 21st century, Noam Chomsky began with a simple answer – easy, there aren't any. In the bleak hour that followed, Chomsky listed example after example of the ways in which powerful states are currently ignoring, if not actively undermining, the values laid down in various international human rights treaties.

The statistics are hard to deny. While trillions of dollars have gone to rescuing collapsed markets in order that the bankers can still pay themselves bonuses, Amnesty International has recently reported the financial crisis has led to catastrophic consequences for most of the world's people. In the US, meanwhile, the recent debate has been whether or not healthcare should be rationed by the state, or by individual wealth as is currently the case. While liberal commentators may have universally condemned the actions of the Bush administration following 11 Sep

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