The Rotary Club of Pismo Beach / Five Cites
Gesenia Echeverria, Second Place
Grade 8, Judkins Middle School
Teacher: Miss Christie Richards
4-Way Test
For prolonged time, discrimination, oppression, racism, inequality, and other forms of injustice have been present in the world, thus negatively affecting many victims’ lives. To protect the victims of intolerant acts, human rights have emerged: the rights and freedoms inherent to every individual human being. Human rights have long been the center of discussion between people with opposing opinions; there are those who view them negatively and those who have a positive view on the matter. In order to determine whether human rights bring upon negative or positive effects, one can use the guiding principle, known as the The 4-Way Test, to analyze the actions of human rights by answering four main questions: Is is the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill or better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned? By using the 4-Way Test, human rights can be justified to be the truth, to be fair, to build goodwill and better friendships, and finally to be beneficial to all concerned.
In response to the first question, “is it the truth?”, human rights are indeed the truth. Notions of human rights state the truth, such as the statement that everyone is created equal; some may have a higher social status or more opportunities, yet that does not mean that they are superior and dominant, nor that the others are inferior and lack quality. Many hold the belief that others are lesser than others based on race, religion, sexuality, gender, etc. However, the truthfulness of human rights states that all humans are created equal; no individual or group should be viewed as superior compared to others that do not “fit in” or are viewed as superior compared to others because they do not follow the norms that society embraces. Regardless of contrasting opinions and negative views, human rights’ statements of equality hold valid truth, thus meaning that fairness is in fact involved as well.
As for the second question, “is it fair to all concerned”, human rights does involve fairness for everyone involved. The main purpose of human rights is to disperse equality among everyone; everyone is a human, thus meaning everyone deserves the same. With this firm belief encompassed in human rights, it is clear that fairness among everyone is a main objective; human rights strive to obtain equality for every individual human being regardless their sexuality, skin color, race, etc. Human rights aim to overpower inequality across the world; everyone should receive the same rights and freedoms regardless of their life and background. Human rights are aimed for everyone, thus providing fairness and creating positive effects for all as well.
The response for the third question, “will it build goodwill and better friendships”, is yes. Human rights does build goodwill and better friendships since it involves positive effects for everyone. With everyone having equality and human rights, many of the world’s problems can be solved; discrimination, for example, can be overpowered with equality, thus ending hostile behavior between many and creating goodwill among different groups and individuals. Human rights can also build better friendships in the way that it ends conflicts, disputes, and other difficulties. Inequality creates opposition and hostility, however, with human rights, opposing individuals or groups can end their contradicting views and beliefs by coming to terms with their differences. Goodwill and friendships can be built by human rights, thus making these effects benefit many as well.
The response for the final question, “it is beneficial for all concerned”, is human rights does create beneficial impacts on all. When humans are entitled to their deserved rights, benefits ensue for them, such as more opportunities, equity, justice, etc. When equality is granted upon individuals, their lives improve and difficulties diminish, thus benefiting them greatly. Every benefit that comes with human rights can definitely have a significant, positive effect on their lives, despite social status, background, etc. When human rights take place, benefits arise.
The fundamental rights that humans are inherent to by the fact of being human are known as human rights. The 4-Way Test can be used in order to justify the responding statements: human rights are the truth, they are fair to all concerned, they build goodwill and better friendships, and finally human rights are beneficial to all concerned. Often, there are conflicting views, acts, and other situations that are the center of discussion and do not seem to find a final decision or come to terms; The 4-Way test can be applied to almost any aspect of life by using it as a moral code to analyze life’s acts, situations, or views, thus helping solve the disputes and conflicting decisions present in the world.
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