Identify which speech you read. I read a speech by Eleanor Roosevelt regarding the need for an international declaration for basic human rights in 1948 following World War II.

What is the author's claim(s)?
First Lady Roosevelt’s claim was that after the Soviet actions during World War II, there was an international need for basic human rights. This was presented to the United Nations with the desire to have this universally adopted by all participating countries.

Who is the audience for this speech?
This speech was addressed to the fellow delegates of the United Nations.

What is the tone, purpose, and voice of the speech?
The tone of this speech is one of necessity. The purpose is to get all the participating countries to agree on the Declaration for Human Rights and have a collective understanding that civility and striving for the greater good should be adopted by all. Upon further research, I have found an infographic of these rights summed up below. These were not outlined in the speech, so it was difficult to understand from this speech exactly what she was trying to do. The voice of the speech is a representation of the United States government, on whose behalf I believe she was speaking.

What are possible counterarguments to the author's claim(s)? (There may be more than one. List as many as you can think of.)
It was a great idea in theory. But I honestly didn’t know this document, or “Declaration” existed before reading this speech. The Declaration of Independence is one that we abide by with much more attention. The Declaration for Human Rights seems to not have had a proper way to be executed by our government or any of the others. Of course, we all know about basic human rights, but I had no idea that there was ever a plan to get 58 countries on board with the same basic idea. A counterargument could be that some communist countries just don’t want to be a part of that. That is not the way they have ever run in the past, and they could maybe have lots of challenges in adopting such a Declaration. Some governments are/were afraid to empower their citizens. Another counterargument is that today, half of these basic human rights are violated on a daily basis in the United States, and furthermore around the world.

What are possible rebuttals to the counterarguments you listed above?
Possible rebuttals to the counterargument could be that maybe those communist countries just don’t participate in implementing or executing the Declaration of Human Rights. A rebuttal to the second counterargument is that times have changed and of course we are violated. This is America. We are a divided nation. We have hate groups and social justice warriors and they have the same rights, but they still violate each other and each other’s rights. Yes, basic human rights being adopted universally was a wonderful idea, but it seems to be far reaching to me, personally. A lot of us have seen how other countries are run, and the “basic human rights” their citizens have, and there is just no way to ensure that everyone in the world has the same rights. We cannot police other countries, their governments, and their social systems. It’s more like, “you do it your way and we will do it our way. And stay in your lane.” Furthermore, it is difficult enough to ensure that citizens of the same country have the same rights, let alone the entirety of the United Nations’ participating countries. I hate to feel like a cynic here, but you could almost play bingo with how many of your own human rights on this list have been violated. My favorite one is, "you have a right to leisure and rest of work." I don't know if any of you are working three jobs, taking care of kids, and trying to complete your degree, but if you are, then you should know that according to this Declaration, you have a right to rest. But who is going to enforce that for you?

In your responses to your classmates, address the following:

What is the most compelling counterargument your peer listed? Why?
What is the least compelling counterargument your peer listed? Why?
What is the most compelling rebuttal your peer listed? Why?
What is the least compelling rebuttal your peer listed? Why?