Letter to the editor

To the editors,

I take issue with Stephen Wu’s opinion piece on the study of human rights. While I am personally skeptical about rights, I feel that Wu was shooting from the hip here.

From a superficial conversation with a student and a photo on a brochure he jumps to the conclusion that in all the courses under the umbrella of the new department the notion of human rights is “politicized and broadened beyond recognition.” His article seems to imply that the professors of those courses are conspiring to manipulate the students into radical leftist activists. Has he taken or even audited any of those courses? Has he met any of the instructors? How does he know that there is no critical thinking going on?

His language betrays a personal disdain for the issue of human rights, as well as profound ignorance of the topic. For example, he equates an article in the UN Declaration of Human Rights listing “leisure and holidays” with “subsidized trips to Disneyland.” What’s at issue here are sweat shop conditions, where people work 12-hour days, seven days a week. In the same breath, he mentions “clean water,” something one billion people in the world do not have access to, causing thousands of deaths a year. If some people think this situation should be remedied, it does not mean they would rally for free swimming pools for all. Nobody thinks that granting people “suddenly” a “panoply of rights” would turn the world “to sunshine and roses.” Instead, serious people are discussing how we could improve conditions, so that people will be able to lead their lives with a minimum of dignity.

I am no rights activist, but if faced with a choice, I would rather try to help those who live without clean water to drink, food to feed their babies, sanitation, decent shelter, etc., than defend an “old boy’s club” from accusations of bigotry (which Wu apparently imagines must be made on a daily basis in any social justice course).

Sincerely,
Tobias Fuchs, GS ’12
Feb. 23, 2011