Hacker News Reader

I've heard this broadly expressed as America being focused on (abstract) rights, when most of the rest of the Western world focuses on justice (of outcomes).

A pointed example of this is the criminal justice system, where people in the US have the right to stay silent, talk to a lawyer, etc, but still get screwed sideways with profoundly unjust outcomes due to plea bargaining, mandatory minimums, etc.

View on HN

It's in the nature of the US as such Rights are part of the first governing document (Constitution). The beginning says it all: "We hold these rights to be self-evident". The US was founded on opportunity, not outcomes (we can talk about all the people who were left out of that but it's a discussion for another time).

We hold these truths (not rights) to be self evident." And it's the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution.

"these truths" being that we are endowed with unalienable rights.

Sure. But that doesn't make the quote correct.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com