Here are some excerpts from the European Charter of Fundamental Rights. I’m picking the ones that are the most critical and most frequently violated (in the United States):
Conscious of its spiritual and moral heritage, the Union is founded on the indivisible, universal values of human dignity, freedom, equality and solidarity; it is based on the principles of democracy and the rule of law. It places the individual at the heart of its activities, by establishing the citizenship of the Union and by creating an area of freedom, security and justice.
The principle of rule of law is routinely violated in the United States and selective enforcement is common.
TITLE I
DIGNITY
Article 3
Right to the integrity of the person
1. Everyone has the right to respect for his or her physical and mental integrity.
MASSIVELY VIOLATED – violation of physical and mental integrity is rampant and routine in the United States. As one example, the human mind is deemed a valid target of manipulation for the sake of profit. Just comporting oneself outdoors exposes one to this type of violation. Physical integrity is also massively and routinely violated. For example, the recent increase in “boom cars” and the prevalence of deafeningly-loud motorcycles which can often be heard over one kilometer away is an outrage. Then there is violation which occurs through the addition of chemicals to drinking water, and the the products which are sold as “food” that contain harmful ingredients.
2. In the fields of medicine and biology, the following must be respected in particular:
(c) the prohibition on making the human body and its parts as such a source of financial gain;
This is a serious problem in the United States where Big Medicine is running amok, and there are increasing attempts to profit off the human body and knowledge of it. Biomedical research is routinely conducted first and foremost for the sake of generating profit, not for the benefit of humanity.
TITLE II
FREEDOMS
Article 6
Right to liberty and security
Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person.
See my comments under TITLE I: DIGNITY above.
Article 7
Respect for private and family life
Everyone has the right to respect for his or her private and family life, home and communications.
It took the heroic actions of whistleblower Edward Snowden to reveal the massive, routine violation of aspects of TITLE II: FREEDOMS. Mr. Snowden is still being treated as a criminal by the government which violated basic human rights.
Article 8
Protection of personal data
1. Everyone has the right to the protection of personal data concerning him or her.
Similar to above, but this extends to business as well. That is, any business which collects or handles personal data has a fundamental responsibility to protect that data. This was severely violated by the federal government against millions of its own employees recently.
Article 11
Freedom of expression and information
1. Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers.
People who criticize the government or who express views that are considered politically challenging are routinely subject to surveillance or may have their travel restricted. People who report news about issues which are politically challenging are often subject to surveillance, travel restrictions, or other abuses.
Article 12
Freedom of assembly and of association
1. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and to freedom of association at all levels, in particular in political, trade union and civic matters, which implies the right of everyone to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his or her interests.
American citizens are routinely subject to arrest and detention for congregating. This has happened to many people protesting wars. Groups which meet for a wide variety of purposes, including religious or special-interest groups, are subject to surveillance.
Article 13
Freedom of the arts and sciences
The arts and scientific research shall be free of constraint. Academic freedom shall be respected.
PBS is one example of the way in which the federal government can exercise extreme leverage over media. Academic research is often highly subject to politicization. Universities will kill research projects and even fire faculty who engage in some types of research which are deemed politically or commercially unacceptable (for example research into widespread GM contamination or health issues).
Article 14
Right to education
1. Everyone has the right to education and to have access to vocational and continuing training.
2. This right includes the possibility to receive free compulsory education.
All that can be said is that the status of education in the United States is abysmal except of course for the entitled classes.
Article 15
Freedom to choose an occupation and right to engage in work
1. Everyone has the right to engage in work and to pursue a freely chosen or accepted occupation.
2. Every citizen of the Union has the freedom to seek employment, to work, to exercise the right of establishment and to provide services in any Member State.
TITLE IV
SOLIDARITY
Article 31
Fair and just working conditions
1. Every worker has the right to working conditions which respect his or her health, safety and dignity.
If you are poisoned or made sick in your workplace you are immediately regarded as a criminal suspect in the United States and subject to an adversarial prosecutorial process. Instead of focusing on caring for a sick individual and investigating any problems, victims are subject to a degrading process that attempts to minimize the liability of the employer.
Article 35
Health care
Everyone has the right of access to preventive health care and the right to benefit from medical treatment under the conditions established by national laws and practices. A high level of human health protection shall be ensured in the definition and implementation of all the Union’s policies and activities.
Healthcare is appalling in the United States. Obamacare was a massive giveaway to the middlemen who make enormous profit. None of the fundamental issues pointed out in Michael Moore’s film Sicko have been fixed and in fact have become much worse.
Article 37
Environmental protection
A high level of environmental protection and the improvement of the quality of the environment must be integrated into the policies of the Union and ensured in accordance with the principle of sustainable development.
Noise issues were mentioned above and I will mention them again here because they are a severe, deliberate, and rampant source of human rights violation within the United States.
Article 38
Consumer protection
Union policies shall ensure a high level of consumer protection.
Lack of consumer protection in the United States is appalling. Mobile phone carriers’ massive lobbying and bribery of the government is one example. Banks and food producers are other industries where there are severe consumer rights violations.
Regulatory agencies in the United States do not exist to protect the public, but to indemnify companies which prey upon and abuse citizens and the environment for the sake of profit.
TITLE V
CITIZENS’ RIGHTS
Article 41
Right to good administration
1. Every person has the right to have his or her affairs handled impartially, fairly and within a reasonable time by the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the Union.
Elected officials at the local level routinely ignore communication from citizens. More often than not they see their jobs as selling out their constituents to their customers – businesses – similar to what companies like Facebook do to their “users” who are really their product.
The court system in the United States has serious problems. The idea that there are basic principles guaranteed by law which, if violated, one can take recourse to in courts of law is simply not the case for the vast majority of Americans. The idea of getting a fair trail, or being able to even have a trial, simply does not exist for a majority of people.
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