In Our Own Best Interest: How Defending Human Rights Benefits Us All

By William F. Schulz

Book Overview

Sierra Leone, Kosovo, East Timor, the Bronx. The nightly news brings vivid images into our homes of the mistreatment of people all over the world. In the secure comfort of our living rooms, we may feel sympathetic to the victims of these atrocities but far removed from them. "What does all this have to do with a person in east Tennessee?" is the question, from a radio program host, that prompted William Schulz to write this book. Schulz provides answers with an insightful work, generously laced with compelling stories of women and men from all continents, which clearly delineates the connection between our prosperity here in the United States and human rights violations throughout the globe. The book reveals the high cost of indifference not only in ethical and moral terms, but in terms of the political, economic, environmental and public health consequences in our own backyards. Consider, for example, the high cost to U.S. military personnel and their families of radical political instability in the Balkans-costs that might well have been avoided if the United States and the international community had conscientiously defended human rights. Or the devastating economic impact on U.S. businesses of systemic corruption in Asia. Or the serious environmental hazards of nuclear fuel leaks in Russia, the spread of drug-resistant tuberculosis, and the expensive dangers of inhumane prison conditions in the United States, to name just a few examples. At the heart of each of these problems lies the abuse of basic human rights. Through the stories of Natasa Kandic and Alexander Nikitin, of Samia Sarwar and Han Dongfang, of Jaime Garzon and Sister Dianna Ortiz, Schulz introduces us to the front line of the international battle for rights and builds a powerful case for defending our own interests by vigorously defending the human rights of people everywhere. "Entertaining is not a word one normally associates with the struggle for human rights, and yet that is the perfect word to describe this book by William Schulz. Entertaining, yes, and moving, and complex, this assault against indifference is also an urgent blueprint for action and a guide full of wisdom for the perplexed." -Ariel Dorfman "This is the strongest case I ever read for support of human rights. Eloquently written, well argued-it makes a case not just for professionals, but for all who care." -Amitai Etzioni, author of The Spirit of Community "If any foreign policy primer could be called a page-turner, it is this one by the executive director of Amnesty International USA. What the human rights community needs to do, argues Schulz in this well-written clarion call, is find 'the compelling reasons why respect for human rights is in the best interests of the United States.' . . . Schulz has written a clear and provocative book that should be read by all concerned with human rights and U.S. foreign policy and will draw new supporters among the general public." -Publishers Weekly, starred review Dr. William F. Schulz is the executive director of Amnesty International, USA. and former president of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. He travels throughout the country and the world to advocate for universal human rights, and to investigate and detail human rights abuses. Mary Robinson is the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0807002275
• ISBN13: 9780807002278
• Release Date: May 2002
• Publisher: Beacon Press
• Length: 262 Pages
• Weight: 0.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.6" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Concise, readable, and wide-ranging; a superb summary

Let's start with the negative. The author comes from a religious background. The first chapter promotes the concept that commitment to human rights is related to religiosity, the most destructive force ever created by our species. If he ever mentioned the role of religious fundamentalism in war, torture, and human rights abuse in general, it was a minor comment. To be fair, he did explain that he was pragmatic ,and he obviously wants to reach politicians and CEO's, who rather effectively exclude atheists and secular humanists from their ranks. However, his comments in the first chapter were totally unnecessary and inappropriate. Virtually every advance in human rights has been opposed by mainstream religion and fundamentalist sects, and supported by atheists and agnostics.Aside from the first chapter, the tempo builds, although it is not for the very squeamish. The litany of abuses is interspersed with detailed descriptions of individual experiences, and usually prefaces and followed by comments on the economic impact. Some examples were familiar to me, most were not. It is too easy to get lost in the stories and forget the main point that all life on this planet is interdependent, but there are enough reminders for the intelligent and attentive. (Of course GW5-4B will not read it!) The volume of references is impressive.The issues balance in geography and American participation is difficult to judge. He fairly presents cases in which the United States is culprit and hero, but he slights the role of Arab regimes.

What ordinary citizens can do to promote human rights

William Schulz is the Executive Directory of Amnesty International USA. In Our Own Best Interest: How Defending Human Rights Benefits Us All is an articulate explanation and defense of our using personal, economic, political, national, and international resources to intervene in behalf of victims of governmental and paramilitary atrocities wherever in the world we encounter them. Very highly recommended reading for anyone with an interest in the politics and perpetuation of human rights, In Our Own Best Interest explains the moral underpinnings respecting the never ending struggle for human rights; the role of human rights in promoting democracy and peace, why human rights are good for business; and the role played out by the struggle for human rights in the world at large. Other issues informatively covered include public health and human rights; the economic rewards arising from a defense of human rights; human rights violations occurring within the United States of America; and what ordinary citizens can do to promote human rights at home and abroad.

Human rights everyone can understand

"In our own best interest" takes a look at many different aspects of the human rights debate. The first chapter of the book examine the moral and ethical debates of human rights with the following chapters looking at the human rights of health care, environment, work place protection and many other signifcant topics. Many of Schulz arguements also examine the cost benefits and ethnical mores of aiding third world and other nations.While it took me quite a while to make it through the opening chapter of this book once I begun to examine the chapters looking at health care, environmentalism, and other topics the book began to gell for me. This book allows for human rights to be understood by everyone

He makes the case.

Why does it matter to a factory worker in Kentucky if a young divorced woman in India gets killed by her mother's hired murderer?Schulz lays out the reasons in this clear, compelling, and somewhat whipsaw book: one moment you are laughing at his comments, the next, you are horrified beyond measure by his examples. The connections are there. The impacts are there. "Pragmatists" have been lying to themselves and to the rest of us about where our national interest truly lies, and no nation gets spared the clinical laser of Mr. Schulz' eye. Read it.

Candle in the Dark

As compelling and page-turning as it is necessary. An effort to make the subject of human rights accessable and interesting to the American Public. Excellent work.