Is respect a basic human right?

dr_warlock · 2016-02-12T04:12:38+00:00

Don't confuse common courtesy with respect.

dragoness_leclerq · 2016-02-12T02:13:09+00:00

No. I think we all have a right not to be openly disrespected, but respect - as we generally understand it - is hardly a 'basic human right'.

seeing_red_ · 2016-02-12T05:38:57+00:00

Respect should be earned. The author feels entitled to it.

Not surprising.

Timonidas · 2016-02-12T02:05:36+00:00

A Human Right? Certainly not.

leftajar · 2016-02-12T02:51:26+00:00

No. Fuck no.

Basic human rights are like what's in the Constitution:

Life (meaning people can't hurt or kill you)
Liberty (meaning you cannot be enslaved or compelled to work)
Pursuit of happiness (meaning people can't take your stuff)

peacockpartypants · 2016-02-12T02:26:10+00:00

Would the world be a better place if everyone made an attempt to be respectful to all people? Probably.

Not as in a legal right, but where treating someone with respect is inherently expected without question.

Is that not the norm already? For the most part? There's a minority who are not, teenagers some of which are rebelling, cranky elderly people at times, but on the whole I find most interactions with adults relatively pleasant. I tend to treat people kindly, so I'm sure that skews my results.

Atlas_B_Shruggin · 2016-02-12T03:57:18+00:00

no, rights dont apply to private citizens. you have no rights vis a vis other people unles syou contractually agree to them. rights are something your born with and are asserted against the sovereign, who has a monopoly on the use and threat of licit force

in what other sense could you use the word "rights"?

LifterofThings · 2016-02-12T03:35:50+00:00

By this definition of respect from ze dictionary (a feeling of admiring someone or something that is good, valuable, important, etc./ a feeling or understanding that someone or something is important, serious, etc., and should be treated in an appropriate way), no, I don't believe people are inherently entitled to be treated like they're good, valuable or important.

I treat people with courtesy, until they convince me to do otherwise, but respect implies a degree of admiration, to me, that people aren't entitled to without any vetting.

Timonidas · 2016-02-12T02:16:35+00:00

I treat all people with respect as long as they do the same.

fizolof · 2016-02-12T03:35:32+00:00

I think women disrespect me each time they refuse to have sex with me. Therefore, since respect is a basic human right, I have a basic right to sex.

(In other words, what some people see as "respect" is different from how other people see it)

[deleted] · 2016-02-12T03:25:45+00:00

That depends;

If you believe that respect isn't earned, and means that you think that you are entitled to respect, then you're going to say yes.

However, if you are like me, and think that respect is valuable, and needs to be earned through your actions, then no.

wazzup987 · 2016-02-12T09:23:10+00:00

Respect in what sense? in the you should treat people with certain basic level of dignity sense? or in the reverence sort of sense?

If it the former then yeah duh no shit. it fucking expectation in civil society.

If you mean the latter then no its not right stop whiny and go do something worthy of respect.

redmachines · 2016-02-12T02:33:15+00:00

The article does not explain how this is going to increase your chances but how to preserve her self esteem which is already sky high based on the fact that you approached her. Reading these kind of articles are a waste of time.

kick6 · 2016-02-12T02:20:39+00:00

I would say that in the West, there is a concept that all humans have a right to be treated with dignity. But this mostly has to do with how people are treated by the state and its representatives, not necessarily how they are treated by Randy Randerson on the street.

redmachines · 2016-02-12T02:36:53+00:00

Respect is a feeling. It is a feeling that you feel under specific circumstances. You can't... you can't fucking tell someone to feel it without these circumstances.

As with most "pretty" leftist catchphrases, this doesn't even make logical sense.

exit_sandman · 2016-02-12T02:44:47+00:00

Freedom of expression is an inalienable basic human right, so respect technically can't be. You can't have the inalienable right to disrespect people at the same time as they have the contradictory right to be respected.

A basic modicum of respect is an expectation of common decency. From that standard, basic, minimum level of respect, somebody might earn worse or better respect.

That said, the word "right" isn't always used to mean one enumerated by law, safeguarded in executive conduct, and considered in judicial rulings. Somebody may say that you have a "right" and mean that it's a basic, reasonable expectation.

despisedlove2 · 2016-02-12T03:14:06+00:00

Since it has to earned in most contexts, no.

It is a common human goal.

appencapn · 2016-02-12T04:15:34+00:00

By the government, its institutions and anything that uses its money yea. Should people be respectful? Yes. Fuck the golden rule. Why not the platinum rule? "Treat others as they want to be treated."

apumpkinpi · 2016-02-12T06:00:54+00:00

For an esteemed respect, it is not possible give everyone special treatment and to hold them in a relative high regard to others. I will disregard this definition for respect because it would be a paradox.

Moving on, the most applicable definition of respect would therefore be:

a feeling or understanding that someone or something is important, serious, etc., and should be treated in an appropriate way

While it might sound awkward to word that respect is a basic human right, isn't the concept of basic human rights inherently the same as idea that a human is important and should be treated appropriately?

There is no way to acknowledge human rights as important while also ignoring respect as important because they are one and the same; it's recognizing others as human in the first place. Being impolite is simply the most minor offense.

[deleted] · 2016-02-12T08:22:30+00:00

I don't believe respect is a basic human right. Nor is love and/or sex. Both are things that you, in a sense, have to earn.

So I am totally on board with a woman labelling my attempts to approach as creepy. I simply don't meet her criteria. That could be for a million different reasons, so it's time to walk out. Of course, if she starts acting all entitled and unreasonable, she won't have my respect either.

It's not so difficult to understand...

[deleted] · 2016-02-12T18:54:18+00:00

[permanently deleted]

scallopkid · 2016-02-12T10:15:09+00:00

Define respect.

[deleted] · 2016-02-12T10:54:36+00:00

No, obviously not.

midnightvulpine · 2016-02-12T11:31:25+00:00

I think a modicum of respect is appropriate. Perhaps not a 'right', but conducive to a society that doesn't claw at what binds it together. Not full respect, but at least a basic level of civility.

exit_sandman · 2016-02-12T12:02:10+00:00

No, just no.

Apart from the fact that you it isn't a human right; it's also entirely subjective. By assuming there's a human right for respect, we're opening up an avenue to people claiming human rights abuses because of imagined slights. Not that I expected anything else of a feminist, though.

iEliteTester · 2016-02-12T12:06:59+00:00

I'd say you have a right to not be disrespected, but respect higher than the "default" has to be earned.

[deleted] · 2016-02-12T13:40:48+00:00

No. As sad as it is, realistically the only reason we have any rights at all is because our government says so. The law of the jungle is "might makes right", but of course the jungle isn't moral or ethical. But if we strip away all the layers of civility, humans are still animals living in the jungle.

Now if we want to go on the assumption that we DO have basic rights, I still maintain that no, we do not have a right to respect. I'll say that we all should treat each other with common decency, but "should" is the key word there.

[deleted] · 2016-02-12T15:51:16+00:00

"Respect" is expected in the workplace for obvious reasons. To imagine that we should all collectively take a step backwards in civil discourse when we are outside is a major Libertarian and RP belief.

Their belief in their RIGHT to act like assholes trumps other people's right to respect.

[deleted] · 2016-02-12T15:51:16+00:00

"Respect" is expected in the workplace for obvious reasons. To imagine that we should all collectively take a step backwards in civil discourse when we are outside is a major Libertarian and RP belief.

Their belief in their RIGHT to act like assholes trumps other people's right to respect.

winndixie · 2016-02-12T22:51:52+00:00

Yes, for a woman to tell me what i can or cannot say to avoid hurting her feelings is disrespect.

DivinePrince2 · 2016-02-18T01:04:59+00:00

I don't see it in my country's charter or rights, so, no.

dontlookatmynameok · 2016-02-12T02:07:40+00:00

Absolutely. For both sexes.

dakru · 2016-02-12T02:25:14+00:00

People range quite a bit in what they mean by "respect". For some, it's earned esteem for traits and accomplishments. For others, it's basic decency in interactions. I don't think either should be considered a "human right". For the first one it's obvious why it doesn't make sense. Earned esteem is earned, not given out automatically.

I'd still argue against the second one as a human right, though. The term "human rights" has connotations of basic issues of life/death, freedom, and dignity. Take a look at this page on human rights abuses. It's about military use of children, forced marriage, torture, lynching, massacres, extrajudicial killings, prisoner abuse, etc. When people talk about human rights abuses in China, they mean people being imprisoned for their political beliefs, not people who experience others being mean to them. Some people talk about "lighter" human rights issues like education and a lack of discrimination, but "having no one be mean to me" doesn't even hold up to those.

I mean, if by "respect" we mean "basic decency in interactions" and we consider that a human right, then you're having your human rights violated most times that you play a console shooter game on multiplayer.

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Title	Is respect a basic human right?
Author	gavinok
Upvotes	11
Comments	74
Date	February 12, 2016 1:51 AM UTC (10 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/PurplePillDebate
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/PurplePillDebate/comments/45cdja/is_respect_a_basic_human_right/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/PurplePillDebate/is-respect-a-basic-human-right.276291 https://theredarchive.com/post/276291

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