I'm pretty sure nkoren's point has just flown over your head.
You're talking about the obligations of the US Government. The US Government clearly only has the obligation to secure the rights of its own citizens.
nkoren is talking about the rights of the US Government. Just look at the language of the very first clause. All men are guaranteed these rights. It makes no mention of citizenship. That the US Government has the obligation to protect the rights of only US citizens does not mean that it has the right to violate the rights of non-US citizens. I don't buy the bullshit that the government can only protect my rights by violating the rights of others. That's small-minded thinking.
I agree with 4891 that nations act like criminal gangs. I seem to be one of very few who believe they shouldn't, though.
nkoren is talking about the rights of the US Government.
No, he is talking about the behavior of the US Government and the behavior of its citizens, and inferring motivating principles from that. Nkoren appears to have concluded that the US and its people have abandoned the founding enlightenment ideals in favor of utter selfishness.
I don't buy the bullshit that the government can only protect my rights by violating the rights of others.
Sorry, but that's just the way life is. Maybe someday we can live in a world without prisons, without police, without armies, and without weapons but until that utopia comes people will infringe the rights of others, and the only way to stop them is return violation. That is not to say that every time a government claims it is acting to protect the rights of its citizens it is actually doing so, or that the violations it commits are justified. Or even worth the monetary cost. Small-minded thinking is not being able to make distinctions between John Yoo, Drone Strikes, and PRISM because you think universal human equality is the only enlightenment ideal that matters.
Small minded thinking is being unable to step out from behind the 'protection' offered by authority figures because the world just seems too scary to you.
If the cost of belief in the rights of humanity to freedom, dignity and self determination is high, that is because the rewards are great.
Stop being cynical, and stop being scared. Look up. The sun is shining :)
You're talking about the obligations of the US Government. The US Government clearly only has the obligation to secure the rights of its own citizens.
nkoren is talking about the rights of the US Government. Just look at the language of the very first clause. All men are guaranteed these rights. It makes no mention of citizenship. That the US Government has the obligation to protect the rights of only US citizens does not mean that it has the right to violate the rights of non-US citizens. I don't buy the bullshit that the government can only protect my rights by violating the rights of others. That's small-minded thinking.
I agree with 4891 that nations act like criminal gangs. I seem to be one of very few who believe they shouldn't, though.