Meanings of Freedom: Just A Dream

One of the articles that caught my attention the most is Article 25. It states: “1. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.” I found this article very interesting because as some of us stated in class, these articles sounds ideal on paper but articles are all that they are. We could call them dreams too. I say this because I believe that a majority of the world, when showed this article will tell you that not everybody is living an adequate lifestyle and many of them will probably tell you that they could only dream that poverty was no longer a problem. There are millions of people around the world living in poverty at this moment. According to cbsnews.com there were 37.3 million Americans living in poverty in 2007. Yes according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights every person and their families has the right to a standard of living that includes good health, food, clothes, etc but it is only an article. I can’t go on a rampage about how this article is bogus because there is nothing that states that everyone will be guaranteed to live an adequate lifestyle. It is simply that they have the right to.

The fact that the economy is in a recession will only lead to an increase in poverty. There is an article (that you can access at the bottom of the post) from cbpp.org that states that because of the recession there will most likely be a chance that a large percentage of people will face poverty and those that already facing poverty will be pushed into poverty deeper. All of these people have the right to a better lifestyle but who do they blame when they are faced with economic challenges? When they can no longer afford health care? When it is hard for them to put food on the table, or buy their children new clothing? They can’t blame this article. I don’t even have the answer. When I read over this long sentence of Article 25 I thought about the large percentage of Americans who are loosing their jobs at this moment. “…the right to security in the event of unemployment,” is what stuck out the most. According to AARP.com applicants can receive unemployment benefits for us to 26 weeks. The chance of an unemployed person living in the United States finding a job within the next 26 weeks is slim to none. It’s hard to read the article knowing that it isn’t as good as it sounds. Even retired people who receive social security checks once a month are getting a minimal amount of money to live off of.

It’s comforting to see that the U.S. government has plans set up to try and relieve the hardships that people go through when they are unemployed or retired or can’t afford health insurance. Unfortunately individuals and families all over the world are living beneath the poverty level. The first article I posted explains about poverty around the world. Currently, almost half of the world – over three billion people – lives on less than $2.50 a day. I don’t think it is possible to relieve three billion people from poverty. Like I said early, Article 25 can be though of as just a dream.