With the explosion of machine learning and artificial intelligence, the ever decreasing cost of storage and compute, and the apparent disregard for individual privacy on the part of both government and industry, which rights would you include in a "Bill of Modern Rights"?
Ask HN: What would you like to see included in a 21st Century Bill of Rights?
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Re: Ask HN: What would you like to see included in a 21st Century Bill of Rights?
#2I can't answer this question, but just to put it in context, the United Nation'a Universal Declaration of Human Rights, put together after World War II, is a truly beautiful document. I had never read it or really knew anything about it, but if you read through it, it's an absolutely inspiring vision of humanity and of a world that one day might exist. It's wording is concise, clear, and beautiful.
Here's the foreword from the most recent published copy:
"The Universal Declaration promises to all the economic, social, political, cultural and civic rights that underpin a life free from want and fear. They are not a reward for good behaviour. They are not country-specific, or particular to a certain era or social group. They are the inalienable entitlements of all people, at all times, and in all places — people of every colour, from every race and ethnic group; whether or not they are disabled; citizens or migrants; no matter their sex, their class, their caste, their creed, their age or sexual orientation."
And here is the original document:
"Article 1.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."
Sorry not to hijack this thread and I know you technically said Bill of Rights, which is also very inspiring, but I feel like less well known in the US."
Re: Ask HN: What would you like to see included in a 21st Century Bill of Rights?
#3I can't answer this question, but just to put it in context, the United Nation'a Universal Declaration of Human Rights, put together after World War II, is a truly beautiful document. I had never read it or really knew anything about it, but if you read through it, it's an absolutely inspiring vision of humanity and of a world that one day might exist. It's wording is concise, clear, and beautiful. Here's the forewor…
Theoretically beautiful, like most utopian visions. The reality is that most places that the UN is involved in are human rights hellholes.
Re: Ask HN: What would you like to see included in a 21st Century Bill of Rights?
#4Free access to internet and online university for those that can't pay for brick and mortar degrees would be reasonable in terms of cost and efficacy.
Re: Ask HN: What would you like to see included in a 21st Century Bill of Rights?
#5The right to total privacy in email and messaging communications.
The right to a speedy trial - you get freed from jail ROR if not tried within 3 months.
Re: Ask HN: What would you like to see included in a 21st Century Bill of Rights?
#6Free access to internet and online university for those that can't pay for brick and mortar degrees would be reasonable in terms of cost and efficacy.
I feel one of the bigger challengers for online university is the examination system as much as the course.
If someone could organise a monthly 'exam hall'. Over time you could even build prestige on these courses same as large university if you can guarantee the examination process is robust.
Thinking about it... I think you'd need;
- A place where people have to physically turn up.
- Paid/volunteer monitors do a proof of person ID check and some photo or physical ID check as students notoriously do other student exams in some unis.
- Exam content has to be original to avoid rote leaning form doing past exams.
- Exam content to be provided at test commencement on individual screens, communal projector or print out in the room that only get released as the exam starts. This way People cant gain early access to anything.
- Web cams must be set up to show the exam room so effectively there is another level of monitors and the physically present monitors are monitored too. This again would reduce the risk of graft.
- Exam paper/results must be collected immediately from exam with something to ensure the person who did the work uploads their own, e.g. At the end of the exam people are called by name to walk to the front of the hall and scan their paper.
I'm sure there would be a bunch more to it than that but it seems to me once you could guarantee results are genuine there is a great opportunity to have recognised online courses that can have all the prestige of unis (less networking effect). Without believable results it will always be a challenge and learning will be for learning sake, not the recognition factor universities provide.
Re: Ask HN: What would you like to see included in a 21st Century Bill of Rights?
#7I can't answer this question, but just to put it in context, the United Nation'a Universal Declaration of Human Rights, put together after World War II, is a truly beautiful document. I had never read it or really knew anything about it, but if you read through it, it's an absolutely inspiring vision of humanity and of a world that one day might exist. It's wording is concise, clear, and beautiful. Here's the forewor…
Theoretically beautiful, like most utopian visions. The reality is that most places that the UN is involved in are human rights hellholes.
You make a good point actually.
It made me think and I'd even take it a step further and say most of the places the US (military) is involved in are not great like Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, Uganda, Haiti, etc. which is interesting because this thread originally asked about our (US) Bill of Rights.
Obviously the UN (and thus all of its mistakes) is typically supported by Democrats...
But also Paul Wolfowitz, neoconservative extraordinaire and also the world's worst human being and the only person I know who can be singularly blamed for the deaths of hundreds of thousands in Iraq and now Syria, was a Republican idealist who was going to spread human rights values by attacking Iraq and paying for the $50 billion dollar war (turned out to be $3 trillion) with captured oil revenues from the temporary, "month long" occupation of southern Iraq...
So, the question is, do good inspiring rights-based documents cause disastrous foreign policy decisions when countries try to implement them in real life?
The opposite of all this by the way is realpolitik, advocated by Henry Kissinger. But then again that was during Vietnam...a war of comparable brutality to Iraq.
In the end...I would say since everything seems to fail...go with the inspiring, come up with a list of actions that will never be justifiable so that "going to far" and "failure" is never a matter of debate but only a matter of proof, and get good leaders.
Re: Ask HN: What would you like to see included in a 21st Century Bill of Rights?
#8Freedom from imposition by any non-public government process. If the government does anything it must be open to public knowledge and scrutiny.
Re: Ask HN: What would you like to see included in a 21st Century Bill of Rights?
#9Freedom of Information:
Its rediculous that one can be jailed, thieved or killed for: possessing someone else's number, telling someone a secret number, or refusing to share the correct number with someone.
These problems only exist because society believes in, and enforces, ownership of ideas
Re: Ask HN: What would you like to see included in a 21st Century Bill of Rights?
#10I can't answer this question, but just to put it in context, the United Nation'a Universal Declaration of Human Rights, put together after World War II, is a truly beautiful document. I had never read it or really knew anything about it, but if you read through it, it's an absolutely inspiring vision of humanity and of a world that one day might exist. It's wording is concise, clear, and beautiful. Here's the forewor…
Theoretically beautiful, like most utopian visions. The reality is that most places that the UN is involved in are human rights hellholes.
And to answer OP's original question...
Right to Birth Control: we're never going to agree on abortion but can we at least get this? A long time ago women would usually stop getting their periods after 20...because they were constantly pregnant until 50 when menopause started. Having larger amount of children might very well be unsustainable in a world with less jobs and that demands a lifetime of learning (by both spouses) to stay employed and take care of yourselves, let alone 3, 4, 5+ children. If male birth control ever comes out I think this would become even more viable too.
Right to Internet: I don't have great reasons for this but can anyone think of a bad one for this? Like birth control could be found to have terrible side effects, perhaps some welfare plan might cause mass dependency, but literally is there any bad reason for guaranteeing internet?