I'm currently watching a history series, and today they published an episode about some of the human rights abuses committed by Germany's army (the Wehrmacht) during World War (part) Two.
It's horrifying stuff - especially the allocation of food to prisoners: 2,200 calories to those who worked, nothing to those too ill to work or who refused to work.
Although far less extreme, I am also disturbed by the attitude of those today who think people have to "earn" human rights by meeting responsibility (what "responsibility" do I have to meet to not be tortured or murdered?) or that there is a price to pay to earn social security.
There is a price to pay by insisting such prices exist as a gatekeeping barrier between human decency and those in need: our soul as a nation.
Neoliberals would do well to reflect on that.
