I'm gonna try to write a short thread to explain why such statements calling housing, health insurance, education etc as "fundamental human rights" really make me (a human rights activist) cringe, and make dictators smile https://twitter.com/LydiaMEdwards/status/1248397396557479936

I'm not, of course, saying that housing, health insurance, education etc shouldn't be guaranteed to everyone. I'm saying, please be careful what you call a "fundamental human right", and listen to the experience of non-American human rights activists.

We should make a clear distinction between fundamental human rights and between entitlements that people should be guaranteed by social contract. We should not confuse the two. Putting them both under "human rights" dilutes human rights and makes dictators giggle. Here's why.

Fundamental human rights are immediate obligations on all states and governing bodies. These are things every state whether big or small, new or old, rich or poor must abide by. They are not dependent on availability of resources, length of time, or socio-economic development.

You don't need to be a well developed country in order to not torture people, not kill journalists, not imprison people who express themselves, etc. Most (if not all) civil and political rights fall under this category. These are the rights dictators do NOT want to respect.

On the other hand, social welfare entitlements are established by social contract; societies collectively decide to make certain things guaranteed to all of its members. These are realized progressively, with more developed/rich nations being more capable.

You can easily see how dictators can exploit this. The Saudi regime can then say it respects human rights because it's provides clean water, free housing, and free healthcare to its citizens (thanks to oil wealth). Forget civil or political rights.

Meanwhile if we apply the same logic then a poor but recently democratized country whose economy has been ravaged and plundered, and so cannot immediately afford a comprehensive welfare program, will arguably be a "human rights violator".

I wouldn't want to make a thread about when dictators point to development targets as being examples of why they're doing great and shouldn't be criticized on human rights because that would be a very very long thread. I'm saying "they will do this", I'm saying they already do.

Throwback to when clueless tankies call Gaddafi a progressive because he provided free healthcare and education (thanks to Libya's oil wealth). Also public hangings of student activists https://twitter.com/Fatima_Ahdash/status/1247834620231647232

"Everybody should be guaranteed housing in this country" is a good and honorable sentiment. "Housing is a fundamental human right" really makes me cringe and makes some dictators very happy because now they can buy their way to human rights.

Please be more careful. I won't hold my breath though as American liberals have shown us MENA activists over and over again that they don't give a shit. But we continue to try to reach out.