The Inevitability of Natural Rights

This past week in class, we were asked to discuss where and why we believe the idea of natural human rights started and whether human rights actually exist. As we circled the room, sharing our opinions and views on the topic, I began to realize that the development and spread of the idea of natural human rights was inevitable, regardless of whether or not they are real.  In other words, it doesn’t matter how many people throughout history believed that humans had natural rights such as the right to freedom and to pursue happiness, because there would always be someone to support this belief and there would always be people to follow it.  

Why would there always be someone to support the idea of natural human rights? I believe that as soon as social hierarchies were established and individuals were cast to the lower social classes, the members of lower classes were motivated to gain equality. The less powerful in society needed a way to prove that they deserved the same rights and treatment as anyone else. Armed with the belief that all humans possess natural rights, these groups challenged the leadership that seemed unfair and demanded the same rights as those who sat on higher rungs of the hierarchy. The belief in natural rights even influenced some to establish new communities and nations that would pride themselves on giving citizens equal rights and opportunities to achieve their goals.

One example of a nation that used and uses the belief in inalienable rights as the basis of its government and system of laws is The United States of America. Originally, the colonies were a haven for people who wanted to escape religious persecution and find a home where their religious freedoms would be accepted and encouraged. With The Declaration of Independence written in 1776, the founding fathers came up with the argument that "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." The earliest leaders of America society used the premise of natural rights to defend their break from Britain. The result was to create the possibility of a nation based on certain undeniable right for all.  To this day, the United States takes pride in being a country that respects each citizen’s “unalienable” human rights.

In today’s society, the belief in natural human rights has taken a new face and has become a near universally accepted idea.  The belief in human rights is now not only embraced by the people in varies societies who are attempting to gain equality, but this idea has become the norm for how modern and developed societies should function. It is almost taboo for one not to believe in these rights.

I believe that the idea of natural rights that all humans are entitled to was a means for the powerless to justifying their desire for more representation and equality.  Because the idea is attractive to those who want to gain equality, the concept of unalienable human rights has become a near universally cherished and accepted view.  Most countries today function with the ideals of fundamental rights for all humans.