If an Englishman traveling to the European continent is one day asked to pay an irrational charge by the hotel's carriage driver, in every case he will resolutely scold the driver. If the driver will not heed his scolding the Englishman will struggle for justice without tiring always preferring to extend his stay; even if his room charges were to increase as much as tenfold he would not cease. Unknowing people all laugh at this great fool but none of them understand that this person's struggle over a few schillings is in fact a vital part of what allows the nation of England to stand tall by itself in the world.
What do you think the meaning is of Liang's statement? What kind of commonsense practical value does he see in human rights? How does a strong 'culture of rights' contribute to a strong public? These are just some things you might want to consider as we get things going. The idea of natural rights was something we spent a lot of time discussing last class and as you will see it will continue to be an important theme in class. Remember at the most fundamental level the purpose of the Lockean inspired American political system as designed by the founders was to protect natural rights. It is impossible to understand American politics without understanding the importance of natural rights.
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Liang's statement is pretty much saying that defending your natural rights means you're defending your right as a human being. You're an equal to other humans. So when a driver charges you a higher price (than the original price) you have the right to argue and question it. Natural rights are rights a human being is born with. Only you can tell the difference between right or wrong.
ReplyDeleteAs humans we all have natural right, a right that can't be taken away from you.. As individuals we all have different view of what's right and was wrong, and when we disagree or see injustices we defend our self in order to protect our rights. Many people don't realize that we all have different path and the different struggles we have gone through to obtain what we have.
ReplyDeleteWhat I think the meaning of Liang’s statement is basically that we fight for what we think is right. The commonsense that he sees is that we’re equal to other human beings and we have the same rights. Culture of rights contributes to a strong public because if a lot of people do the same thing and act the same way, there will be a strong connection between the civilians on a way of thought. I completely agree with both Amber and Evelyn in saying that the way thing you can argue about is what we think is right and what we think is wrong, not whether there are right that some people have and others don't.
ReplyDeleteAs we all know Jonh Locked argued " that man was originally born into a state of nature where he was rational, tolerant, and happy. Man was entitled to enjoy the rights of life, liberty and property." I totally agree that as individuals we must defend our rights. We must be aware of these rights such in case someone tries to abuse of us. We must have the ability to ask, to express and understand the reasons of the abuse or any situation we have been through to know which is the correct way to face the problem. And as the girls said, we have the right to fight for what we think is right or wrong. Each person has his/her own way of thinking and seeing things, some people for example take things positively and others just lock themselves in their own world. Everything depends on the education and the environment in which we grow up. Life is full of barriers, which for some people are not, but for others are rather difficult. Many times, we tend to laugh at others without thinking that at some point we may be in their position.
ReplyDeleteWhat Liang Qichao is basically saying is that in order for people to respect your human rights you can’t step back during any circumstances where you think that your human rights are being abuse. In this case, the man knew what his rights were so he didn’t let the hotel’s carriage driver to take them away from him, by saying whatever amount of money comes to his mind. Therefore, he defends himself based on universal natural law. Liang’s purpose including the man nationality right at the beginning of the story was to bring up the point of “Culture of Right”. Which basically was about that once a nation is in knowledge of what are their rights the states and also the entire country becomes stronger because people educate themselves and that how they can defend their individual rights.
ReplyDeleteLiang is saying that the Englishman does not care about the extra money what he care about is putting himself out there to fight for his rights. If everyone was to stick up for themselves then it makes the country or culture much stronger because no one would let anyone take them for fools.
ReplyDeleteLiang is portraying a certain since of pride and through the Englishman's actions. Not only is natural rights found in the actions people take to keep up their integrity, but in the law because they are such basic and extremely relevant rules. Simple things like making sure people do not get taken advantage of because of other people's greed makes a society a better place to live as a whole.
ReplyDeleteJust as the Englishman fought when he felt the price of the hotel carriage driver was un reasonable, we too,as humans should fight when we believe there is an injustice. Standing up for what is right, sets people apart from those who just stand around while there is wrong doing being committed. People that fight for justice are the ones who contribute for change towards having a better society or country by know and teaching others their rights as human beings. While to many, these types of people would be considered fools, they deserve the upmost respect because they are the voice of those who cant speak and will be remembered in the future for their contribution towards the building of a better tomorrow.
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