...Is multiculturalism compatible with individual rights? Multiculturalism can be defined as a form of identity politics which aims to link personal and social life, seeing individuals as embedded in a particular cultural, social institution or ideological context, advocating equality, rights and cohesion between all different cultural groups. Therefore it is rooted in communitarianism, the idea that we are shaped and defined by the community we live in, and advocates minority group rights. Individual rights are a liberal idea which advances the interests of every individual person, rather than the rights of a group of people. Liberals hold a central belief in the rights of the individual, stemming from the belief that we are all rational, autonomous beings capable of making our own decisions in our own best interests, protecting our own individual freedom. Multiculturalism on the other hand does not specifically extend the rights of the individual, instead, advancing the rights of minority groups as a whole, embedded in the idea of group and social identity. Therefore, Liberals have accused multiculturalists of being ‘just another form of collectivism’ not respecting the rights of individuals. For example, Amartya Sen attacked ‘solitaristic’ theory which underpins multiculturalism. This suggests human identities are formed by membership of a single social group, which can lead to miniaturisation of humanity and increases violence as people identify with only their own monoculture...
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...This topic is a very debatable one because, in my opinion, there is no perfect solution. For a democratic government to protect either only individual rights or only collective rights would be wrong so there definitely has to be a line drawn somewhere across this equation. My opinion tends to lean more towards protecting the collective rights of citizens though. I believe in fairness and equality so it seems like more of a viable option from my point of view. There will always be flaws in the system with perfectly functioning people that decide to stay at home and not work while getting money from the government but as said before, there is no perfect solution, just one that would be better overall. As Dahl said in his book, “the issue is not whether a government can design all its laws so that none ever injures the interests of any citizen ... [It is] to do less harm to the fundamental rights and interests of its citizens” (Dahl, p.48). That being said, having a program that promotes fairness and equality might not be perfect for everyone, but it is definitely the less harmful and better option overall. I do not think that the more fortunate should have to pay an incredible amount of taxes to compensate for the ones who are capable of working hard and decide not to but I do believe that the wealthier should hold a certain responsibility towards their fellow citizens. A fair chance of succeeding has to be given to both the person born in a wealthy family and the person born...
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...Nazarov Philosophy 246 Paper #1 Individual rights and group differentiated rights are an important role in society that is consistent with the liberal principles of individual freedom. In a democratic nation, a common citizenship is required in order to treat individuals identically, regardless of their class or group affiliations. Therefore, when a group asks for accommodations or exemptions from certain set of laws, they are treated differently, specifically based on their group affiliation, which may strike others as a violation of a vital liberal belief. In Kymlicka’s Multicultural Citizenship, specifically chapter 9, Kymlicka starts off by presenting an argument which is a concern for many liberal theorists that the group differentiated rights for national or ethnic groups undermines, what he calls, the “shared civic identity” of the sovereign. The existing notion that this group differentiated rights will be the source of disunity and...
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...Constitution rough draft #1 Individual Rights are very important to both our government and people because it is what gives us the freedom to do what we want and to say what we want. This principle of the constitution affects us in many different ways by giving us the freedom that we luxuriate in. There are still many ways and possibilities that if we never had this principle in our government, negative impacts and more problems would come up. Individual Rights we have are very valuable to us because of how we have so much freedom to almost do whatever we like. The first three most important amendments of Individual Rights are the freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition. Then comes the right to bear...
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...Unit 2: Equality, Diversity and Individual Rights in Health and Social Care Task 2: Promoting Equality, Diversity and Rights Explain how national initiatives promote anti-discriminatory practice: The Equality Act is a legislation that every private, public and voluntary organisation must follow and not discriminate against employees and people that use their services. The Act brings together any past equality laws, making them easier to follow, more effective and simpler to understand. There are nine characteristics that the equality act protects, these are age, disability, gender, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, sex and sexual orientation. Everyone will fit into these categories meaning that everyone is protected by the Equality Act. This act prevents discrimination as it gives everyone equal rights without any favouritism or making it unfair by giving people more rights than others. It is also a legal framework so if people were to go against this act they would be breaking the law; it also gives any that has been discriminated against a leg to stand on as they know that they don’t have to put up with that kind of behaviour and that what the other individual is doing is against the law. Legislations, such as The Mental Capacity Act, are a group of laws that are put together by the government. If the legislation is not being followed in any way, it is classed as breaking the law. As legislations are an extremely big...
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...Rights, Freedoms and Responsibilities of the Individual in Great Britain Contents Chapter 1 Historical Development of System of Human Rights in United Kingdom 1.1. Development of Human Rights in Kingdom of England from Manga Carta to Bill of Rights 1.2. Development of System of Human Rights in XVIII – XX Centuries References Historical Development of System of Human Rights in United Kingdom The origin of human rights law extends back to the beginning of Western civilization, to the Greeks and the Romans. Much of what we now consider modern human rights law can be found in the basis of fundamental rights widely recognized by Greek and Roman lawyers. Natural law, or what the Romans called “ius natural”, was a central theme of Roman political and legal thinking. When Saint Paul said, “Yes, I am [a Roman citizen],” he was insisting on those fundamental rights to which, as a Roman citizen, he was entitled. One distinction between Saint Paul’s statement and human rights today, of course, is that in Saint Paul’s time, only Roman citizens could enjoy fundamental human rights. It is important to be aware, however, that these ideas were not all concocted in the twenty-first century. They have been around a long time and have been elaborated on over the centuries by critical notions of Christian, Islamic, and Judaic teaching. In the times since the Greeks and the Romans, major developments in human rights law have also had an enormous impact on human rights in England....
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...Discuss how the rules governing stop and search as set out in PACE protects the rights of the individual whilst also allowing the police to investigate crime. The police and criminal evidence act was introduced in 1948 to carefully balance the rights of the individual against the powers of the police. There are a number of codes in this act which inform the police clearly up to what extent their power allows them to investigate a potential crime against an individual. For a police officer to carry out a stop and search, they must have reasonable grounds for suspecting that the individual or their vehicle is in possession of a stolen or prohibited item. A police officers can not raise these suspicions based on the persons age, race, ethnic background, nationality, faith or previous convictions. Also when carrying out a stop and search the police officer must record the incident in a written report as soon as possible. However when a police officer is actually searching an individual there are a number of concerns, for instance if the individual does not cooperate this could lead to the police officer misusing their power and could also go against the persons rights. However the police have very little to base their suspicion on, as some of the things they have to look out for are possibilities such as a person carrying an illegal item e.g drugs or a weapon or if they’ve been involved in a local crime such as burglary.In this situation it is hard for a police officer to...
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...patient has the right to make his or her own decision regarding treatment — including the right to refuse treatment — without being coerced by medical staff or family members. The principle of autonomy does not guarantee a person the right to do harm to oneself, due to the fact that even though the individual has the rational choice to make decisions in the best interest of his or her well-being, doing something harmful to oneself is not in the interest of the individual's well-being, and this harmful act tends to affect others in a negative fashion. An example of this concept, would be an individual severely lacerating his or her face with a razor, this situation will cause a great deal of money to have to be spent in relation to their medical treatment, even if it is spent by their health insurance company, due to the fact that the premiums of other individuals will go up due to excessive usage of insurance coverage. In addition, family members will also tend to suffer emotionally from an individual's self-mutilating actions. Time, effort, and medical supplies, will be used by healthcare professionals in response to this harmful act as well, so a harmful act to oneself, is also harmful to society at large. It is quite clear that an individual has no right to do something that is harmful to others based on the principle of autonomy, because an individual's freedom to make rational decisions in reference to their self-determination, does not give them the right to decide whether...
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...Tan Lines and Bar Codes Although refusing to conform to society guarantees a life as a social pariah and may present harsh consequences, the road to individuality gives one an opportunity to discover his or her purpose in life through uniqueness and their morals. In “A&P,” John Updike portrays an exceptional story of a teenager’s battle between doing what is right and going along with society. The teenager, Sammy, works as a cashier at the local grocery store where he is presented with a situation with three teenage girls who walk in the store with only their bathing suits. When the manager spots the girls, he asks them to leave, and Sammy decides that they were not treated fair, so he quits his job at the store. Sammy made a choice to stand up for the girls in hopes of they would recognize his bravery and talk to him. His choice to refuse society’s ways cost him his job, but it teaches the audience a valuable lesson. When stood with adversity between what is right and wrong, one must always stand up for what is right no matter what society will think of them and no matter the consequences. By being unique, one expresses his or her individuality by standing out from the norm of society either by the way they dress and/or the way they act. In a society, one will meet some interesting people who have chosen to be unique and refuse to follow the rules of the standard world. These people are on their way to discovering their purpose in life, but they are criticized often for...
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...Property Rights and Our Rights The two videos describe the importance of Property rights and our rights as individuals. In the first it discusses the importance of property rights. Although individuals at times feel that property rights are only for the “rich.” Though what people do not know is that property rights actually help us live together in peace and prosperity. Property rights pervade our social world, encouraging productive labor and reduce waste. For instance if there is a house that is foreclosed and no one has a clear understanding of who owned it the house would be left to ruin and waste away. Property rights are natural, they are essential for individuals living in societies; they establish happiness, peace, and prosperity. Though property rights are important for everyday life and everyday waste, actual rights establish moral concepts that establish the conditions within which we interact. Our rights establish a moral and ethical “code” that we live by. Rights condone rules, for example, say you want to make a square into a circle you are reasonably wrong; though wanting to murder someone that is ethically wrong and in violation of our rights. We need to understand the way our right are formed and how we need to follow them correctly. II enjoyed these videos because they tie into the Northwood idea. Property rights establish a way to preserve waste; much like we as individuals try to find way to preserve ourselves as individuals to be the best person we can be...
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...D/601/1598 Level: 4 Credit value: 15 AIM The aim of this unit is to enable learners to explore how to empower individuals using health and social care services in order to maximise their independence. UNIT ABSTRACT It is essential for all health and social care professionals to understand that the service they deliver enables individuals to participate in the decisions that are made about their lives. First, learners will explore how legislation and the sector skills standards regarding the design and review of services promote independence, which in turn is captured within organisational policies and procedures. Second, learners will investigate factors that can affect participation, independence and choice, including systems for assessing and minimising risk. Finally, learners will investigate the administration of medicine and the effectiveness of policies and procedures for administering medication in achieving the best possible outcomes for users of services. Learners will study legislation and factors that affect the care that is received. Learners will also examine strategies to promote the best possible outcomes for individual users of services. INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES On successful completion of this unit a learner will: 1 Understand how the design and review of services promotes and maximises the rights of users of health and social care services 2 Understand how to promote the participation and independence of users of health...
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...Victims’ Rights and Vengeance Rudy Vasquez CJS/211 June-06-2016 Victims’ Rights and Vengeance In today’s justice system victims of crimes and family members who have been affected, have more rights than they have ever had in the past and they are able to let their concerns, pains, and emotions be heard. In 2002, a cousin around the same age of myself was shot multiple times on a busy street in central Fresno and a few short hours later, died in the hospital. At the time of the trial I was stationed in Japan and was not able to attend the court proceedings, because of my distance, my family asked me to write a letter to the judge. I was under the impression that it was just in case the judge was able to get around to it that he or she would. I wrote my emotional letter and eventually the case ended with the accused being sent to prison for a few years. In 2012 while I was deployed in Afghanistan, a horrible thing happened to a very young niece of mine. A family member was sent to jail, multiple families were torn apart, and months of court dates followed. I returned towards the end of the court proceedings, and the lawyer asked multiple family members to write letters of describing the emotional stresses that have occurred and how lives have been affected by this act of misplaced and horrible misuse of trust and if they would be able to read them in court in order to help with sentencing. Everyone let their emotions flow and sadness and grief took the...
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...healthier lifestyle but in no instance be forced or penalized for something non related to work. If it is the risk that obesity brings which alarms companies than driving a motorcycle is also a risk, speeding is a risk, airplanes are a risk, automobiles are a risk, crossing the street is a risk, everything has a risk. No one would be hired if one took into account the future risks. Controlling an employer’s lifestyle, especially that of their weight, is discrimination. Discrimination for altering premium prices for different weights. Employers have to draw a line and understand limits and individual rights. (2) Is ethical decision making involved? Explain Yes, deciding where to begin and to stop in the controlling of employee’s lifestyle is deciding how much power is being administered by the employer. When wanting to make choices for employees employers have to take in mind individual rights. The process of understanding what is ethically allowed of an employer takes into consideration many things. It...
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...Work is better completed by teams rather than by individuals. Many people have conflicting arguments either for or against the above statement. Some argue that more work can be completed by teams and some argue that individuals can complete more work. I, however, am going to argue that more work can be completed by an individual if the circumstances are right. Doing individual work allows one to have more freedom about doing certain things. All kinds of elements come in to play here. We have the time factor first off. If an individual is very pressed for time, as most are when working for an organization, projects can be done a day in advance. Although I wouldn’t recommend this, it most certainly happens day to day among individuals. With a group or team, deadlines must be met in order to collaborate with the group, adding more pressure upon a certain individual. For instance, I’m going to relate this to school, more precisely this semester. I have a “group” project coming up in roughly two weeks. With so many other tasks going on, due before this time I might add, I don’t have time to dedicate all of my focus on this project just yet. This doesn’t concern my group members. There is no communication amongst this group, and they tell me they want the power point slides in less than a week! Doing this adds all sorts of pressure to me. And let me add one more note. I didn’t have a say in when this power point was due. Saying this brings up another important point I believe is...
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...A dystopian society from our point of view, portrayed in Ayn Rand’s Anthem, promotes collectivism, or the practice of valuing the group over the individual. To maintain this mindset, there are numerous rules and restrictions that must be enforced to prevent the people from discovering individualism. These include being prohibited from valuing yourself over others, bonding with the opposite gender, and traveling to the uncharted forest. The most severe crime is articulating the unspeakable word, which is revealed at the end of the novel: ego. The first mentioned sin is to have private thoughts, which supposedly reduces the companionship of the group. Next it is mentioned that no citizen must ever be alone, as this is the root of all evil, because...
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