Housing as a Human Right

By Ben D’Alessio

Ben D’Alessio is the author of the novels Binge Until Tragedy, Lunchmeat, and The Neon God. Visit his website to learn more. 15% of royalties are donated to the The Kitty Krusade. Follow him on facebook, twitter, and instagram.

After the general public had witnessed the atrocities of man in the aftermath of the Second World War, a progressive wave for the expansion of rights took hold in the budding free nations of the world. The United States, the ultimate champion of the war, assumed the role as the leader of the movement.

In his 1944 State of the Union address, President Roosevelt declared that the United States had adopted a “second Bill of Rights.” This Bill became the Bill of Economic Rights that President Roosevelt envisioned existing commensurate with the Bill of Political Rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Within this “Second Bill” was the right to a good education, the right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health, the right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment, and the right of every family to a decent home, among others. Only through the assurances of economic rights, in tandem with the guarantees of constitutional political rights, could Americans fully realize their “pursuit of happiness.”