It would be nice if people like Sharon could do at least a little math. Yes I know such a thing is an anathema to professors of humanities, which is why we get these fool articles.

If only they could add 2+2, & look at the answer a few years down the track, the world would be a better place. Harder perhaps than right now, but less like to suffer a total collapse of the things that make it so good for us today.

Yes it is great, but already a bit too good. We have gone too far with our entitlement society, & will have to take a few steps back, lest the whole thing collapse, & we get nothing.

Surely even a professor of humanities should be able to look at Greece & Spain among others, & see our future, if we don't stop the rot now. They can't of course, which helps hasten the day of loss of more than a few educational privileges.

when the rights of unborn babies are heard I will take 'human ' rights seriously.

‘morning Sharon,

Your article highlights the case for a reduction in the number of humanities academia. As the ACR grants for such mischievous post graduate studies dries up, we will see less and less of the socialized rhetoric you have just thrown out.

<< Human rights are supposed to have absolute priority over any political lobbying or economic trade-offs.>>

I guess we are “entitled” to whatever level of human rights are available in our country, given the politics and the socio-economic circumstances prevailing.

There are those in North Korea who perhaps feel the same way as you but with an arguably greater passion.

If these sentiments you express are a true reflection of your rationale, I highly recommend that you stay in the protected environment you currently enjoy, I fear the shock of the real world and its priorities might be too much for you.

Any plans for a productive career or are you happy to remain a professional student?

Sharon, just an observation..... The moment you start to draw parallels between Australia and Hitler and the Nazis you lose the argument. Re read Big Nana above before any further comment ok?

The Australian budget and 'human rights'.... You drew a bow so long that it snapped.

Actually, there's no need for governments at any time, to 'balance the budget'. Authoritarian politicians often use the ploy of a phoney crisis as a smokescreen to attack citizens' liberties, or to intensify the class war, the scam doesn't always work.

As so often happens, proponents of a Declaration of Human Rights overlook the simplest realities.

"The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, after World War II."

That is more than sixty years ago. How has everybody fared since than, Human Rights-wise?

Burma: how does our government's action compare, in human rights terms, to Burma's military depriving the entire Burmese people of their democratically elected leader, by placing her under arrest for twenty years?

Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran etc: as a woman, how do you feel about the education system in these countries? Sixty years after their signatures on the UDHR, how closely are their goals today aligned to those they subscribed to back then, do you think?

With such devotion to the principles of the UDHR shining through in its signatories' every move, it is a foolhardy notion indeed to measure our own politicians against its tenets.