U Thant, the Burmese Secretary General of the United Nations from 1961 to 1971, spoke about the Declaration of Human Rights: This great and inspiring instrument was born from 'an increased sense of responsibility of the international community for the promotion and protection of fundamental human rights and freedoms. The world has clearly realized that freedom, justice and world peace can only be ensured through the international promotion and protection of these rights and freedoms. The prescient quote above is a succinct summary of the purpose and purpose of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It was not presented as a lofty set of utopian ideals, but rather as a basic structure under which nations should agree and express the rights enjoyed by all peoples of the world. Yet the statement is not without its detractors. Among them, philosophers Maurice Cranston, Robert Nozick and Henry Shue, each of whom in their unique view, oppose the rights listed in the declaration, particularly the economic rights listed. The distinction between political rights and economic rights can be difficult to distinguish because there are different uses. of each term. For the purposes of this essay, I will use political and economic rights as they are used in the context of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. Political rights are defined in Articles 3 through 21 of the Declaration, such as the right to life and freedom from slavery while Economic rights are found in Articles 22 to 27. Within this framework, political and economic rights are human rights that nations must also respect and protect. The first part of the rights mentioned in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are political and civil and serve to pr...... middle of paper ...... which is supposed to be protected by society if it it lacks the essential elements for a reasonably healthy and active life. Lack of livelihood can be just as deadly, disabling or painful as violations of physical security. The resulting damage or death can prevent the enjoyment of any right at least as decisively as the effects of security violations. » Subsistence rights are not a means to an end, but they are fundamental to enjoying all other rights. Henry Shue believes that human rights “lower the limits of tolerable human behavior…rather than high aspirations and exalted ideals.” Shue uses the terms fundamental rights and human rights in the same way. According to Shue, to affirm the existence of human rights is to insist not only that it is wrong to violate fundamental human interests, but also that these interests must be protected..