11-01-2022, 12:42 PM
Traditionally, "rights" afforded to individuals in modern western societies cover things you're allowed to do for yourself or things others are NOT allowed to do to you. So they don't compel anyone to do anything, other than requiring the government to step in to prevent people infringing other people's rights.
Including housing or food as a "basic human right" is a huge ideological shift as that would compel other people to do something. Someone could choose to do absolutely nothing to help themselves, and "by right" other people would have to arrange and pay for their food and housing. I realise that is pretty much the system we already have, what with massively problematic HNZ tenants not being able to be evicted etc., however formally recognising housing and food as "rights" would make it even harder for anyone to ever achieve any desperately needed change in that area of social welfare support.
Including housing or food as a "basic human right" is a huge ideological shift as that would compel other people to do something. Someone could choose to do absolutely nothing to help themselves, and "by right" other people would have to arrange and pay for their food and housing. I realise that is pretty much the system we already have, what with massively problematic HNZ tenants not being able to be evicted etc., however formally recognising housing and food as "rights" would make it even harder for anyone to ever achieve any desperately needed change in that area of social welfare support.