Is the state the source of human rights? According to Wikipedia, “Human rights are moral principles or norms for certain standards of human behavior and are regularly protected in municipal and international law.” We as humans have rights to only three things. These are our life, liberty, and property. A lot of people think that we have rights to other things like food, water, and shelter. Those aren’t rights, they are needs. This is because we need these to survive. You don’t have a right to something unless you own it. If we had a right to food, we could go and get some free food anytime you wanted. If you had a right to shelter it would force the builder of the house to just give it to you. 

Is the state the source of human rights? According to OHCHR, “Human rights are rights we have simply because we exist as human beings – they are not granted by any state. These universal rights are inherent to us all, regardless of nationality, sex, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, language, or any other status. They range from the most fundamental – the right to life – to those that make life worth living, such as the rights to food, education, work, health, and liberty.” So no. If the state was the source of our rights they could take it away whenever they wanted. They cannot take our rights away because we are humans and these are human rights. If ours can be taken away, it means theirs can too.