Letter of Appreciation

Abstract

T HIS IS A BELAYED LETTER of appreciation for Kenneth Thompson's New Reflections on Ethics and Foreign Policy: The Problem of Human Rights (JOP, November, 1978). I was struck by the identification of the domestic political significance of President Carter's human rights policy; but I recognize that the major intention of the report is to achieve a rational framework within which to think about human rights. On this subject I have some thoughts. I became concerned some time ago about the Atlantic Charter and its Four Freedoms. Freedom of thought and of religion are in the classical tradition. But freedom from want and from fear strike me as very bad ideas. How can one tell people not to fear death or, often worse, the death of a loved one? There are many other things for which fear is natural and wise, e.g., rattlesnakes, mad dogs, and tornadoes. Rare is the person who does not encounter people whom it is a mark of intelligence to fear. More profoundly, in their religions people are taught that it is a mark of faith to fear God (under whatever name). I realize that we have many fears that can be lessened or even eliminated, such as the fear of flying. It is also proper to ameliorate some fears such as fear of aging and dependence through a social security system (but we are just beginning to get some perception of the trap which our own SS system constitutes). So far as want is concerned, if it means that no one should go hungry or without shelter or without some level of medical care, this is unexceptionable, and I believe that many countries at least try to provide such needs or say they do (although such relief may be confined to those carrying the proper ID's which may be denied heretics