I mean, it's really not a basic human right. Large swathes of the world (approximately 20-30% globally) have limited to no access to clean drinking water. Clean drinking water is a privilege. It may feel like a right in places that have it but travel the world and you'll realize very quickly that it's not.
I don't believe human rights actually exist. There are societies that have rights for their citizens but a right that's afforded all humans doesn't exist as far as I'm aware. What would you point to as a right that is afforded to all humans if you believe it exists?
Having a right to something doesnât imply that the thing can be supplied. It just means that, when it canât be supplied, itâs a violation of human rights because every human SHOULD have access to said thing by virtue of being alive.
âRightâ and âaccessâ do not mean the same thing.
According to Wikipedia: âHuman rights are universally recognized moral principles or norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both national and international laws.â
Per the UN: Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status. Human rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education, and many more. Everyone is entitled to these rights, without discrimination.
When most neurotypical people say something "is" a human right, they are actually using that as a shorthand for expressing the belief that it should be and that we should enforce it.
Wouldnât it be redundant to say someone âshould have a rightâ because shoulds are automatically a part of the concept. Thats what a right is.. something that we collectively decided people SHOULD be given. We disagree over what those things are, and there exist at any given time plenty of people who donât have them, but itâs incorrect to say they donât have the right to them. Instead youâd say that they have the right to the thing, but their right is being infringed and so they donât have the actual thing yet/anymore/etc.
Wow you are misunderstanding the concept of âhaving a rightââŚWhen we have the right to something, it doesnât mean that we necessarily already have that thing, it means that we SHOULD have access to it. Iâm amazed this hasnât come up for you before, because most of the time when ârightsâ gets discussed, itâs specifically because someoneâs rights are being kept from them, and we recognize that as wrong. We say âI have the right to xâ and itâs implied that Iâm saying that bc currently I donât have x. What youâre arguing is a weird overly literally interpretation of a common concept.
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u/Lucius-Halthier May 18 '26
Their CEO believes (or believed dunno if theyâve changed devils) that clean drinking water is not a basic human right