Human Right 25

1. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
2. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

Commonly shortened to:

“Food and shelter for all.”

Problematic because:

When government takes over the function of charity, the giving is no longer voluntary, and those who would normally give voluntarily have a harder time doing so.

This is a statement about a basic human right, but moves us no closer to bringing it about, and does not encourage self-sufficiency but handouts without end.

A more accurate statement:

A very basic human right is to have food and shelter, which oftentimes requires outside aid to raise the resources and morale of those without so they will look after themselves. The resources exist already to feed, water, and house the world, and all it takes is for good men to remove the vested interests and rules that create such scarcities by suppressing the existing solutions or enforcing solutions that do not benefit indigenous populations.

Stated briefly, the right should be “Access to technologies that can feed, water, and house communities in a safe environment so they become self-sufficient.”