Marry Devine S.

Villasor BSAT-III
History103 September 07, 2017
“The Struggle for Human Rights”
By Eleanor Roosevelt

If we look back in the history of different countries in the world, their common denominator
would be the attainment of freedom. The meaning of freedom is broader than we think it is. Freedom is
something that is worth sacrificing for for everyone. Just as what Sartre said, man is “condemned to be
free” and “man, in essence, is his freedom”. But before we attained this “peace” and “freedom” that we’re
enjoying right now, our ancestors and their ancestors had spent their lives fighting for this “freedom”.
They wanted to be free from slavery and unjust systems. They wanted a freedom to be themselves.
However, it costs a lot of lives and it took centuries to get here. To get in this time when our freedom is
given back, when we can now make use of our rights as humans.

Eleanor Roosevelt talked about the importance of our rights and freedom, the difference of
democracy and totalitarian. And the importance of the establishment of the United Nations. The United
Nations helps to preserve the freedom and peace in the world through its purposes of establishment as
Roosevelt has mentioned, “International cooperation in solving international conflicts” and “universal
respect”. If we think about it, the establishment of United Nations is significantly amazing for the
countries like Germany, Japan, France, Britain and USA, countries who took a big part in World War 3
are unified in one organisation, despite of their past, the leaders agreed to move forward to the future
thinking about the welfare and freedom of the people giving them back their rights through the
declaration of Human Rights and through treaties they forgave one another for the sake of peace. Through
democracy people can make use of their rights as according to Roosevelt, like the right to vote, freedom
of speech, etc. Her idealistic approach of democracy is convincing enough to make people believe in the
power of it. Criticizing communism and using freedom is a great way for capitalists to brainwash
people… ,as what the conspiracy theorists have said. Well, I think establishing United Nations does not
come with one or two intentions like preserving freedom or giving back the rights but I think with more
intentions we could think of…

But the point of all these, is that without the struggles and sacrifices of the people who fought
their lives for freedom and the brains and sympathy of the leaders, we wouldn’t have these so called
Human Rights that enable us to live with dignity and pride as individuals today.