Motus Mentis

20 Comments

1. Frederik Von smellsburg says

   I’m moving there.

   Posted April 20, 2010 at 11:29 pm | Permalink
2. Malcolm says

   Better hurry.

   Posted April 20, 2010 at 11:33 pm | Permalink
3. Jesse Kaplan says

   Article 24 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights reads: “Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.”

   Posted April 21, 2010 at 3:13 pm | Permalink
4. Malcolm says

   I don’t think it says anything about “traveling for tourism”.

   Posted April 21, 2010 at 3:19 pm | Permalink
5. Malcolm says

   The whole thing’s ridiculous, anyway. I worked freelance for decades, and never had “periodic holidays with pay”. Somehow, though, I never had the sense that my human rights were being violated. And if so, by whom were they being violated?

   Posted April 21, 2010 at 3:21 pm | Permalink
6. Jesse Kaplan says

   First you object to vacations, and now you object to human rights?!

   Posted April 21, 2010 at 3:25 pm | Permalink
7. Malcolm says

   Are you kidding? I love vacations.

   But seriously: if tourism with pay is now a “human right”, what isn’t?

   Posted April 21, 2010 at 4:03 pm | Permalink
8. Horace Jeffery Hodges says

   Most of my holiday trips have been vacations in Hell. I feel that my human rights have been violated, for if I am entitled to a vacation, then I am surely entitled to a pleasant vacation.

   Where do I go to pick up my money?

   Jeffery Hodges

   * * *

   Posted April 21, 2010 at 4:25 pm | Permalink
9. Jesse Kaplan says

   How arch. A nuanced position. Which evades for yourself the label “grump,” but still limits human rights AND vacations.

   Posted April 21, 2010 at 5:12 pm | Permalink
10. Malcolm says

    “Arch”??? “Nuanced”?

    Sure, what the hell. I’m being stingy. Lobster thermidor and mojitos for all. I’m sure somebody‘ll pick up the tab. Human rights are great!

    Posted April 21, 2010 at 5:20 pm | Permalink
11. Jesse Kaplan says

    This must be a record: 10 comments, and every one of your commenters disagrees with your position!

    Posted April 21, 2010 at 5:20 pm | Permalink
12. Malcolm says

    Not even close.

    Posted April 21, 2010 at 5:40 pm | Permalink
13. Jesse Kaplan says

    Yes, well, you will have to expect voluminous disagreement when you stake out such extreme positions, however nuanced. You are like nuancing with yourself in a dark closet, while everyone else is vacationing in the sun. That was a generous 180 on human rights, though; which surely is the broader principle.

    Posted April 21, 2010 at 6:01 pm | Permalink
14. Malcolm says

    Yeah, I was toying with the idea that the purpose of government isn’t to extract money from the productive members of society to provide vacation travel with full pay for all as a basic human right. That’s pretty extreme, I’ll grant you.

    Posted April 21, 2010 at 6:06 pm | Permalink
15. Malcolm says

    But now I’ve definitely seen the light. You know, there’s a really nice Sonor double-bass drum-kit I’ve had my eye on for a while now, in a human-rights-y kind of way…

    Posted April 21, 2010 at 6:13 pm | Permalink
16. Jesse Kaplan says

    Certainly a non-starter for most of us since WWII. Article 28 makes it clear: Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

    Posted April 21, 2010 at 6:39 pm | Permalink
17. Jesse Kaplan says

    … there you go!

    Posted April 21, 2010 at 6:40 pm | Permalink
18. Malcolm says

    What’s great about all these “rights” is that as soon as I’ve got a right to something, a nice trip to Cancun or a new car or whatever, somebody else is on the hook to provide it to me. The sky’s the limit. Gotta love it!

    Jeez, what was I thinking, working so hard all these years?

    Posted April 21, 2010 at 7:21 pm | Permalink
19. Jesse Kaplan says

    You were exercising your human rights under Article 23.

    Posted April 21, 2010 at 8:13 pm | Permalink
20. Malcolm says

    Yeah — what a dope!

    Posted April 21, 2010 at 8:23 pm | Permalink