Universal Declaration of Human Duties

So as all men must have their rights so to they must have their duties. For the continuation of Human Rights whether you deem given from god or from man, human or natural, as we must have our rights to be free we so to must have our duties to remain free. Freedom is not free from responsibility. We all enjoy our Human Rights that we have so rightfully earned by our ancestors but just as the duty of revolution called them we must have a duty to call us as well.

"In my experience, it is far more important to have a charter of human duties." ~ Gandhi

To enjoy the fruits of liberty we must be willing to plant the seeds of virtue. Nurture the tree of justice and feed it with the water of responsibility and the sunlight of benevolence.

Preamble

We see these truths to be self-evident that all men and women have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But to maintain these rights we must have duties to our fellow man, our planet and ourselves. Liberty can last only as long as the people who enjoy it are benevolent. No person shall ever be required to do something against their will as that is a violation of their Human Rights but they must be mindful that these rights can only exist so long as all people fulfill their duties.

Duties

Article 1: Just as all men and women have the right to life they too must guarantee the right to others lives, always be on guard and willing to assist in the event that a life is in danger.

Article 2: Just as all men and women are entitled to the fruits of their labors they too must assist those who have not the means to help themselves.

Article 3: Just as all men and women have the right to bear a child so to they must be willing to protect the lives of all children against harm and danger.

Article 4: Just as all men and women have the right to education they must be willing to teach those who have not learned to read and write.

Article 5: Just as all men and women have a right to their religion or non-religion they must be willing to defend the religion of others from persecution.

Article 6: Just as all men and women have the right to property they must be willing to defend the property of others from harm and wrongdoing.

Article 7: Just as all men and women have the right of non-discrimination they must be willing to defend those who are being discriminated against.

Article 8: Just as all men and women have the right to vote they too must be willing to defend the votes of others from intimidation.

Article 9: Just as all men and women have the right to liberty they too must be willing to defend the liberty of others from violation.

Article 10: Just as all men and women have the right to freedom of speech they too must be willing to defend the right of others to their speech.

Article 11: All men and women must be willing to assist their parents when they are elderly.

Article 12: All men and women must be willing to assist their family when they are sick.

Article 13: All men and women must be willing to help their neighbors when they have an emergency.

Article 14: All men and women must be willing to leave the earth better than they found it.

Article 15: All men and women must be willing to help their local community.

Article 16: All men and women must be willing to protect the innocent and the vulnerable from harm.

Article 17: All men and women must be willing to volunteer their time to help the elderly, the poor, the disabled, the mentally ill, the sick, and the lonely.

Article 18: All men and women must be willing to give to a rightful charity to help others who are unfortunate.

Article 19: All men and women must be willing to take care of themselves and own up to their responsibilities.

Article 20: All men and women must be willing to defend their liberty with their life.




I hope you have enjoyed my thread and have decided to do at least 5 of the 20 I have posted on here. The more you volunteer to do the less people are forced to do. Good deeds never go unrewarded. Benevolence is the most honorably, courageous and respectable quality a human can exhibit. Having a deep sense of empathy is what separates us from the other animals and what makes us uniquely human.

reply to post by Misoir


I have a feeling this topic isn't going to go over well.

Let's start a countdown until you got called communism, socialist, freedom hater, liberal scum etc.

Nice topic though

reply to post by Whyhi


Why would people do that? I am not saying this should ever be legally binding but rather embedded within our morals. Liberty requires duty and responsibility. Our founders often cited that our Constitutional form of government can only last for a moral and religious people, our people held these duties during that era to preserve our union. They weren’t legislated by government but rather within society. That is what kept the need of government away as the citizens knew their duties to society and fulfilled them.

If anything this is calling for less government, not more.

S&F from me. I agree with and would be willing to do just about everything on that list. Good on ya, sir!

reply to post by NoArmsJames


Well thank you my friend. I was contemplating what moral values would best lift our society out of the ditch right now and those twenty came to me. I am so glad you enjoyed. If more people would subscribe to these values our moral, economic and political crisis would cease to exist. IMO of course.

reply to post by Misoir


I fear we'll always be dealing with some kind of crisis, sadly I think it's in our nature. However if we could live by these declarations I think all our lives would be richer and it would say a lot about us as a species. To me, most of these just seemed to be common sense.

reply to post by Misoir


Seems to me some of these are closely tied with quite a few "moral codes" notably, chivalry and Bushido. The finer points of both I try to follow in my own life... Though I do hesitate upon your first "article" having read a previous posting of yours where you are clearly anti-choice. Other than that, I see no real problem with these, as it is within my personality. S&F.

reply to post by Misoir


Nice thread. I would change "Duties" to "Moral Responsibility" myself because that is truly what it is.

Moral Responsibilities of citizens.

reply to post by Zorzenon


I was never intending for it to mean the protection of babies inside the womb but if that is what you want to believe then so be it. I personally believe in protecting babies inside the womb but some people are pro-choice and others a pro-life, it all depends on which side you are on.

Originally posted by infolurker
reply to post by Misoir

 

Nice thread. I would change "Duties" to "Moral Responsibility" myself because that is truly what it is.

Moral Responsibilities of citizens.

It would work a lot better but it would require changing too much of the OP.

Or to sum it all up: Understanding, Patience, and Benevolence

reply to post by Misoir


I, being male, do not feel I have a say in the matter quite frankly. My statement was not meant as an attack. But It is comforting to hear it is still a matter of opinion in this article. Yes, I do like these points. In my view, so-called "codes of honor" and morality serve the animal that is man much better than religious dogma.

reply to post by Misoir


Excellent post Mis! If this were a "pledge" I would sign it in a moment, post it on my wall, in a frame, and tell my kids to take a long hard look at it and consider signing it themselves!

Beautiful sentiments and a great moral lesson here.

But as law.... It seems like trying to legislate morality. And this always fails because morals are not universal and not everyone would feel compelled to sign up for every tenet. For example - telling me that I must care for my parents. Personally I have done so, and still do so (My sister and I support our mother - taking 6 month "turns" letting her live with us, for example). But my father was an alcoholic and abusive. I helped him in the months before his death, financially, but my sister had disowned him. She'd have died before helping him at all, and justifiably so...

In the end, good ideas don't always communicate universally. But, still, S&F for a well written OP with a great message!

~Heff

reply to post by Hefficide


I do not support legislating it but rather just making it a moral code for every person. How that can be done? Just spreading the word is best.

Responsibilities are a part of being grown up. Good idea for a thread.

The OP makes me so angry I just want to shake him/her and scream moron. You can't tell a free people they have to do anything other than not violate other peoples liberty. Anything else is a infringement of a persons natural rights.
Anyone who agrees with the OP is suffering from a mental illness from the mutation of the 7R variation of the DRD4 neurotransmitter and is in need of some medical treatment for the liberal gene.

reply to post by robwerden


I find your post extremely offensive. Please explain to me where I stated that you must do something? Not once did I state that. You can continue on believing you have no moral obligations to society but when your rights are stripped away from you there will be no others to blame but yourself. Liberty requires a populace to have strong morals to guide them without that Liberty will be doomed just as it is now.

We must restore Liberty just as the founders intended, this is not some philosophical rant this is about what is necessary to safeguard liberty. Once again I will repeat I did not say anyone had to do anything.

reply to post by Hefficide

Excellent post Mis! If this were a "pledge" I would sign it in a moment, post it on my wall, in a frame, and tell my kids to take a long hard look at it and consider signing it themselves!

So if you think that...

Whats stopping you printing/rewriting this out, signing it, posting on your wall, etc

Socialism in theory is a utopia. It will never (at least not in our lifetimes) come to fruition because of the realities of the human condition: greed, laziness, and selfishness.

"From each according to his ability, to each according to his need."

S&F regardless.

It's a little too complicated for my liking..

I prefer to simply suggest one law - Live. That sets up the right to acquire necessary property without the fear of taxation as repossession would interfere with your ability to "live." It would keep murder and theft (fraud) illegal as it interferes with someone's right to live.

Also it would deny the ability to be taxed/licensed/fined for conducting barter/trade/transactions, hunting, fishing, keeping livestock as they are a necessary function for living.

I'm a firm believer in K.I.S.S. - keep it simple stupid. The less involved and complicated something is, the less there is to go wrong. The fewer loopholes. People need to be allowed to survive, but it should not be guaranteed. In fact, the less that it is guaranteed, the more morality it breeds. Inherently morality gives advantage to survival. If you guarantee survival, you take away the need for morality. If you take away the safety nets, immorality will die out quite literally and without upheaval as you never force those who choose to live that way to change. In a short while, people will realize that morally sound choices = life. Problem solved without violence, debate, or imposed will.