In Our Own Best Interests: How Defending Human Rights Benefits Us All Summary and Reviews

In Our Own Best Interests: How Defending Human Rights Benefits Us All
by William Schulz Director

In Our Own Best Interests: How Defending Human Rights Benefits Us All
List Price: $17.00
Our Price: $5.44
You Save: $11.56 (68%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


or

Book Summary Information

Author: William Schulz Director
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2002-05-11
ISBN: 0807002275
Number of pages: 256
Publisher: Beacon Press

Book Reviews of In Our Own Best Interests: How Defending Human Rights Benefits Us All

Book Review: In Defiance of Kant...in respect of common sense
Summary: 3 Stars

To be honest, I really don't care to make people believe it's in their own self interest to care about human rights. I'd rather people give up caring about their own self interest altogether. But if I'm truly concerned about human rights, and dedicated to working for change, perhaps it has to be any port in a storm. If torture, rape, starvation and abuse are stemmed by the voice and demands of millions of people motivated by the wrong reasons, they are stemmed nonetheless. Right?

I think William F. Schulz would agree with me, and I venture a guess that such an argument convinced him to write this book. It is a well-researched and clearly written exposition of the ways that it truly is in our own best interest to care about human rights. He shows that political "realists" who believe that a country cannot afford to make human rights a priority when forming and implementing foreign policy are, despite their hard-nosed and pragmatic appearance, naive to believe that human rights don't matter.

For instance. Working democracies very, very rarely go to war with other working democracies. Thus it is in the best interest of the US to promote democracy across the world, and thus make stable allies. Of course, the definition of "working democracy" has to do with human rights -- democracy in itself is fundamentally based on a respect for each individual's voice and decision-making power, and where this is not respected (as in Milosevich's Yugoslavia) the stability does not exist.

For instance. As globalization races across the planet, political stability in a country is a vital element in a solid investment choice. The 3 basic factors that enhance political stability -- lack of corruption in government, rule of law, and feedback loops (freedom of press, independent investigation, etc.) are all intimately tied to human rights issues. Countries that abuse human rights are notoriously unstable. And instability scares away investors.

For instance. Crowded and unsanitary prison conditions are breeding grounds for disease. And in a world that gets ever smaller due to the ease of intercontinental travel, a super-strain of tuberculosis developed in a prison cell in China can easily have reached the other end of the world -- that's us in America -- in no time at all.

For instance. Torture not only provides unreliable information, it hardens whole communities againt their oppressors. To torture one terrorist may provide you with the names of five others, but likely motivates fifty others to become terrorists. And in a world as interconnected as ours is, where they will strike out has become wildly unpredictable.

And the instances continue. Schulz makes an incredibly convincing argument that we can no longer "let well enough alone". There are no isolated places, no isolated incidences in the world anymore, and it is indeed naive to think that such destructive forces as human rights abuses will have no effect on us. James the brother of Jesus tells us that if we know what good we ought to do and do not do it, we sin. And if that is not motivation enough, it is in our own best interest.

Law Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Books I want to be reading
The Chomsky Trilogy: Secrets, Lies and Democracy/The Prosperous Few and the Restless Many/What Uncle Sam Really Wants (The Real Story) ImageThe Chomsky Trilogy: Secrets, Lies and Democracy/ The Prosperous Few and the Restless Many/ What Uncle Sam Really Wants (The Real Story)
by Noam Chomsky
Odonian Press; Published: 1995-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.46
Price in other shops: $24.00
The Immaculate Deception: Bush Crime Family Exposed ImageThe Immaculate Deception: Bush Crime Family Exposed
by Russell S. Bowen
Bridger House Publishers Inc; Published: 2000-09-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.85
Price in other shops: $12.95
The COINTELPRO Papers: Documents from the FBI's Secret Wars Against Dissent in the United States ImageThe COINTELPRO Papers: Documents from the FBI's Secret Wars Against Dissent in the United States
by Ward Churchill, Jim Vander Wall
South End Press; Published: 1990-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.00
Price in other shops: $22.00
Culture Jam: How to Reverse America's Suicidal Consumer Binge--And Why We Must ImageCulture Jam: How to Reverse America's Suicidal Consumer Binge--And Why We Must
by Kalle Lasn
Harper Paperbacks; Published: 2000-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.16
Price in other shops: $13.95
The Case Against the Global Economy: And for a Turn Toward the Local ImageThe Case Against the Global Economy: And for a Turn Toward the Local
Sierra Club Books; Published: 1997-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.95
Price in other shops: $17.00
Living Downstream: A Scientist's Personal Investigation of Cancer and the Environment ImageLiving Downstream: A Scientist's Personal Investigation of Cancer and the Environment
by Sandra Steingraber
Vintage; Published: 1998-07-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $79.72
Trust Us, We're Experts: How Industry Manipulates Science and gambles with Your Future ImageTrust Us, We're Experts: How Industry Manipulates Science and gambles with Your Future
by Sheldon Rampton, John Stauber
Tarcher; Published: 2000-12-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $7.92
Price in other shops: $24.95
In Our Own Best Interests: How Defending Human Rights Benefits Us All ImageIn Our Own Best Interests: How Defending Human Rights Benefits Us All
by William Schulz Director
Beacon Press; Published: 2002-05-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.94
Price in other shops: $17.00
Who Will Tell The People? : The Betrayal Of American Democracy ImageWho Will Tell The People? : The Betrayal Of American Democracy
by William Greider
Simon & Schuster; Published: 1993-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.00
Price in other shops: $15.00
Stupid White Men ...and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation! ImageStupid White Men ...and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation!
by Michael Moore
Harper; Published: 2002-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops: $25.95
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
Basic Documents on Human Rights ImageBasic Documents on Human Rights
by Ian Brownlie, Guy S. Goodwin-Gill
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2006-08-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $50.00
Price in other shops: $65.00
Mass Rape: The War Against Women in Bosnia-Herzegovina ImageMass Rape: The War Against Women in Bosnia-Herzegovina
University of Nebraska Press; Published: 1994-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.93
Price in other shops: $20.00
International Law, Norms, Actors, Process: A Problem-oriented Approach ImageInternational Law, Norms, Actors, Process: A Problem-oriented Approach
by Jeffrey Dunoff, Steven R. Ratner, David Wippman
Aspen Publishers; Published: 2006-08-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $112.81
Price in other shops: $151.00
Documents on the Laws of War ImageDocuments on the Laws of War
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2000-06-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $53.13
Price in other shops: $70.00
Guantanamo: The War on Human Rights ImageGuantanamo: The War on Human Rights
by David Rose
New Press; Published: 2006-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.00
Price in other shops: $14.95
The Purpose Of Intervention: Changing Beliefs About The Use Of Force (Cornell Studies in Security Affairs) ImageThe Purpose Of Intervention: Changing Beliefs About The Use Of Force (Cornell Studies in Security Affairs)
by Martha Finnemore
Cornell University Press; Published: 2004-07-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.57
Price in other shops: $19.95
From Nuremberg to The Hague: The Future of International Criminal Justice ImageFrom Nuremberg to The Hague: The Future of International Criminal Justice
Cambridge University Press; Published: 2003-03-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $26.99
Price in other shops: $34.99
Genocide: A Comprehensive Introduction ImageGenocide: A Comprehensive Introduction
by Adam Jones
Routledge; Published: 2006-08-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $32.36
Price in other shops: $39.95
The Idea of Human Rights: Four Inquiries ImageThe Idea of Human Rights: Four Inquiries
by Michael J. Perry
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2000-02-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $36.21
Price in other shops: $40.00
Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice ImageUniversal Human Rights in Theory and Practice
by Jack Donnelly
Cornell University Press; Published: 2002-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.88
Price in other shops: $21.00