Human Rights :: Human Rights Essays

Ever since human rights became the controversial issue that it is today, westerly countries have constantly clashed with other cultures over differing ideologies on the topic. The introduction of the media as a continuous broadcaster of international news has moved the painful conditions that exist in some countries into the spotlight. The result of this has been a painful actualisation that many cultures have a contrasting philosophy on the battlefield of human rights. The happenings in Eastern Europe over the last ten and at present in Kosovo are testament to this human rights do not seem to be an inherent quit of many cultures, china included. We in the west take for granted things like the freedoms of speech, press and connectedness and struggle to comprehend the fact that people are literally dying(p) to gain the same rights. china is a country that, historically, has had a diametrical viewpoint on human rights. This stems back to Confucian days alone also includes the Marxist idea that the collective wellbeing is considered vastly original to the individual. As a result, it is little wonder that when the west and countries like China open up a human rights dialogue, confrontations are inevitable.Human rights in China had its origins at about the same time that the Ching dynasty collapsed and again in 1911 as part of Sun Yet Sings program. octette years later in 1919, a new iconoclastic dejection took over and the appeal of human rights for the radicals of the time came about because it gave them the antithesis of Confucian values, the self. This antithesis assist them in their quest to escape the imperialism of the time and modernize China. Confucian teachings agitate the government to rule humanely and with virtue. The ultimate goal of helping the common-people to cause educated and thus prosper. Harsh laws and severe punishments, which were common in Confucius day, should be abolished. In short, his theories of governing were in compl ete contrast to those in forcefulness at the time. The solution to these problems was to awaken the people to the necessity of reason, and reinforce the suasion of morality and harmony. One of the reasons that many Chinese do not formally object to human rights violations is that the collective wellbeing and not the self has been part of their culture for hundreds of years. Confucian teachings are so revered that elements are intertwined with communism throughout the economy and legal system.