On the Adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: What's Up With the Opening Lines?

    On the Adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: What's Up With the Opening Lines?

      The long and meticulous study and debate of which this Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the product means that it reflects the composite views of the many men and governments who have contributed to its formulation. Not every man nor every government can have what he wants in a document of this kind. There are of course particular provisions in the Declaration before us with which we are not fully satisfied. I have no doubt this is true of other delegations, and it would still be true if we continued our labors over many years. (1-4)

      Eleanor Roosevelt isn't mad, per se. She's just very disappointed.

      Roosevelt takes time in the beginning of her speech to remind everyone that there are lots of different players in this game with different ideas of how to run things. That's all well and good in their own countries, but there has to be some acknowledgement that no one country is going to get everything they want in a document like this, no matter how many sessions they have.

      In other words, she has gone over all of this before, and yet certain countries (cough Soviet Union cough) are digging in their heels over a few differences in opinion, and those differences should be less important than creating and adopting an international statute to preserve and protect basic human rights.