Rights are not arbitrarily developed.

The development of the welfare state as it relates to socially  
insured and uninsured services is a clear example of that, meaning  
that civil, professional, industrial, and governmental relations are  
by no means arbitrary.

They may be historical and social and thus challenge conventional, or  
otherwise easy measurement, but this does not equate to arbitrariness.

In fact, of the list you provide:

> o Food, air and water,
> o Warm clothing and shelter,
> o Human contact (companionship, conversation, intimacy) and,
> o An activity (paid work, education, child raising, home making, etc)

All of these can be seen as encompassing a right and not just a need.

In that sense, people NEED food air and water, but they don't  
necessarily NEED warm clothing and shelter, human contact, or paid  
activities, but they surely aren't healthy if they don't have them.

Semantics I guess.

And I also think that rights are a much more active political  
concept, maybe a less savoury one I admit, but nonetheless very much  
active.

Whatever the case, it's positive to see such thinking.

CQ

On 22-Mar-07, at 12:36 PM, John Courtneidge wrote:

> Dear friends
>
> (Thanx Ivy!)
>
> It's worth noting that rights are arbitrarily determined, while a
> determination (and consequential) politics of needs is evidence-based:
>
> As such, a needs-based politics is becoming an active political  
> concept
> (well, by a small number of us!).
>
> I have shared the 'Four Component Needs' essay before (the essence is
> below along with a subsequent post-script) - see in the papers section
> at www.interestfreemoney.org - original essay without the postscript:
>
> ----------------------------------------------------
>
> *Original essay, October 1995:*
>
> "Four-Component Needs Theory":
>
> o Food, air and water,
> o Warm clothing and shelter,
> o Human contact (companionship, conversation, intimacy) and,
> o An activity (paid work, education, child raising, home making, etc)
>
> ------------------------------------------------------
>
> *Postscript, February 1999*
> In brief: our actions are determined by the struggle between our  
> selfish
> need-sets and our social need-sets. When we focus on our self-survival
> needs, we automatically lose out on fulfilling our social needs and  
> thus
> create all the ills of dysfunctional people, families, societies  
> and world.
>
> -----------------------------------------------------
>
> BTWs:
>
> 1) I can well imagine a Wiki that allows the sub-lists (in the  
> above) to
> be further enumerated - I hadn't, back in 1995, included 'worship' in
> the activity list, nor 'joy' likewise.
>
> 2) For those liking an even shorter needs theory:
>
> Our ordinate need is to live in a state of fairness* - ie one where  
> all
> incomes are equal - particularly our cash incomes - as list members  
> have
> been well taught by our epidemiologist friends. (And they by the  
> wider,
> deeper, it! )
>
> Love 2(u) all
>
> john
>
> * Hence The Fair World Project
>
> - where human fairness will necessarily cause eco-fairness - ie
> sustainability - to emerge.
>
> ****************
>
> Ivy Shiue wrote:
>
>> Guys,
>> Here’s a new UNFPA publication on human rights-based approach.
>> http://www.unfpa. org/upload/ lib_pub_file/ 680_filename_ hr_book.pdf
>> <http://www.unfpa.org/upload/lib_pub_file/680_filename_hr_book.pdf>
>> This handbook can help you turn the concept of a 'human rights-based
>> approach' into reality on the ground. It breaks down human
>> rights-based approach into its various components, and provides a
>> checklist for development practitioners to use in implementing and
>> evaluating their programmes.
>>
>>
>> Ivy Shiue, MSc student
>> Institute of Public Health
>> National Yang-Ming University
>> NO155, Sec. 2 Li-Nong St.
>> Taipei, 11221, Taiwan
>> www.ym.edu.tw/ihp
>> <http://www.ym.edu.tw/ihp>TEL: +886-2-28267000*5058
>> /Nous ne cessions d'y croire...
>> We've never stopped believing.../
>>
>> ___________________________________________________
>> 您的生活即時通 － 溝通、娛樂、生活、工作一次搞定！
>> http://messenger.yahoo.com.tw/ ------------------- Problems/ 
>> Questions?
>> Send it to Listserv owner: [log in to unmask]
>>
>> To unsubscribe, send the following message in the text section -- NOT
>> the subject header -- to [log in to unmask]
>>
>> SIGNOFF SDOH
>>
>> DO NOT SEND IT BY HITTING THE REPLY BUTTON. THIS SENDS THE MESSAGE TO
>> THE ENTIRE LISTSERV AND STILL DOES NOT REMOVE YOU.
>>
>> To subscribe to the SDOH list, send the following message to
>> [log in to unmask] in the text section, NOT in the subject header.
>>
>> SUBSCRIBE SDOH yourfirstname yourlastname
>>
>> To post a message to all 1200+ subscribers, send it to [log in to unmask]
>> Include in the Subject, its content, and location and date, if  
>> relevant.
>>
>> For a list of SDOH members, send a request to [log in to unmask]
>>
>> To receive messages only once a day, send the following message to
>> [log in to unmask] SET SDOH DIGEST
>>
>> To view the SDOH archives, go to:
>> https://listserv.yorku.ca/archives/sdoh.html
>>
>
> -------------------
> Problems/Questions? Send it to Listserv owner: [log in to unmask]
>
>
> To unsubscribe, send the following message in the text section --  
> NOT the subject header --  to [log in to unmask]
>
> SIGNOFF SDOH
>
> DO NOT SEND IT BY HITTING THE REPLY BUTTON. THIS SENDS THE MESSAGE  
> TO THE ENTIRE LISTSERV AND STILL DOES NOT REMOVE YOU.
>
> To subscribe to the SDOH list, send the following message to  
> [log in to unmask] in the text section, NOT in the subject header.
>
> SUBSCRIBE SDOH yourfirstname yourlastname
>
> To post a message to all 1200+ subscribers, send it to [log in to unmask]
> Include in the Subject, its content, and location and date, if  
> relevant.
>
> For a list of SDOH members, send a request to [log in to unmask]
>
> To receive messages only once a day, send the following message to  
> [log in to unmask]
> SET SDOH DIGEST
>
> To view the SDOH archives, go to: https://listserv.yorku.ca/ 
> archives/sdoh.html

-------------------
Problems/Questions? Send it to Listserv owner: [log in to unmask]


To unsubscribe, send the following message in the text section -- NOT the subject header --  to [log in to unmask]

SIGNOFF SDOH

DO NOT SEND IT BY HITTING THE REPLY BUTTON. THIS SENDS THE MESSAGE TO THE ENTIRE LISTSERV AND STILL DOES NOT REMOVE YOU.

To subscribe to the SDOH list, send the following message to [log in to unmask] in the text section, NOT in the subject header.

SUBSCRIBE SDOH yourfirstname yourlastname

To post a message to all 1200+ subscribers, send it to [log in to unmask]
Include in the Subject, its content, and location and date, if relevant.

For a list of SDOH members, send a request to [log in to unmask]

To receive messages only once a day, send the following message to [log in to unmask]
SET SDOH DIGEST

To view the SDOH archives, go to: https://listserv.yorku.ca/archives/sdoh.html