Analysis Of 'Not So Pure Anymore'

The way individuals think about human rights is different than the way the government does. Samuel Moyn publishes Human Rights, Not So Pure Anymore, to influence the readers of the New York Times that their definition of human rights does not align with western governments. Attempting to persuade the liberal adults of New York City, among other readers of the New York Times, Moyn creates the argument that corruption has changed the definition of human rights from being about personal welfare to political gains. Although he introduces several observations regarding the unfair treatment of human rights by governments, his emotional bias and lack of solid evidence prevents him from thoroughly proving his argument.

In his article, Moyn opens his

He tries to sway the reader’s opinions by saying “...the main difference between then and now is that the whole idea of human rights has lost some of its romantic appeal and moral purity. Today, the issue of human rights is no longer just about limiting power in the global arena but also about how to deploy it.” (SOURCE??) His use of the words “romantic” and “moral purity” conjure up a specific image in the readers minds, probably of a simple, carefree idea that is not longer available. That romantic idea of human rights that used to exist is now deployed as a weapon, he argues, but in whose eyes? Moyn does not specify whose idea of human rights has changed, because western government was based on slavery, which defies human rights completely, and has always had a corrupt definition of how to treat people, so he must not mean the government. But if he is referring to the average human, why would he need to write his article explaining how the definition of human rights has changed if he is saying it clearly has? This confusion is not an effective way to make a point, so he needs to be more concise with his wording to really leave an impact. However, many of the adjectives Moyn uses, such as romantic, are commonly known to have very specific connotations that can draw clear images in the reader’s minds.Although he uses the adjectives in the wrong way, his use of commonly known words was a smart choice to conjure up a very clear picture of what he is trying to