Hilary Clinton on Human Rights

Hilary Clinton casually dismissed Chinese issues of Human Rights in Beijing on Saturday, saying "Human rights cannot interfere with the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis and the security crises" (link).

I get her point. She is trying to emphasize cooperation with our Chinese friends in the wake of our global economic crisis. And I surely can't argue against the fact that far more serious human rights violations would occur (globally) if the world's economic stability were to go up in flames (considering this hasn't already happened).

While many Chinese human rights violations, like the lack of religious expression and the freedoms of speech and media, may be independent of our current global economic issues, others are not all together a completely separate matter.

Many of the Chinese human rights violations, like the issues of child labor and substandard working conditions, are directly related to the source of our current economic instability: the "dark side" or "underbelly" of unbridled capitalism in terms of exploitation, greed, and the lack of regulations.

We need not disregard China's poor track record of human rights, not solely because they are oftentimes associated with economic issues, but because they interfere with the natural rights and dignity of mankind. These are, I dare say, far more important (serious, noble) issues. For those who believe that the market system and morals (natural rights, equality, etc) are incompatible, please reread Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations."