Topic 1: The Price of Liberty

The 17 July 1817 edition of the Vermont Gazette included the famous words ‘Eternal vigilance is the price we pay for liberty.’ This is never more true than in protecting human rights, which secure the liberty of all people.

Violations of human rights can be minor or major. Bullying in the school playground, name-calling and cyberbullying on social media are violations of human rights. Name-calling is the beginning of the process of dividing people into ‘OK’ and ‘not OK’.

Discrimination can also be the start of the slippery slope that ends with the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation, ethnic group, religion or language with the aim of destroying that nation or group. This is known as genocide, the planned elimination of a whole population. It involves crimes against humanity.