"The predominant yardstick of your government is not human rights but national interests"
About this Quote
A polite accusation dressed as measurement. By calling national interests a "predominant yardstick", Breytenbach isn’t debating policy so much as exposing the hidden ruler governments use to grade their own behavior. The word choice matters: a yardstick implies something practical, portable, even banal - not a lofty constitution or moral compass, but an instrument you pull out to justify whatever you were going to do anyway.
The intent is confrontational but strategic. Breytenbach, a South African writer shaped by apartheid and exile, knows how states talk about principle while practicing expediency. He’s not claiming governments never invoke human rights; he’s saying they deploy rights as a language, a press release, a flag pinned to decisions made elsewhere. National interest becomes the real criterion, and "human rights" the after-the-fact gloss that helps a state look clean while acting dirty.
The subtext is aimed at the listener as much as the state. "Your government" implicates the citizen who wants to believe their side is different, the voter who prefers a moral narrative to a real inventory of power. It’s also a warning about selective outrage: rights matter intensely when they can be leveraged against rivals, and become "complicated" when allies are involved.
What makes the line work is its calm certainty. No metaphorical fireworks, no pleading - just a flat diagnostic that lands like a lab result, leaving the audience to sit with the uncomfortable gap between self-image and operating system.
The intent is confrontational but strategic. Breytenbach, a South African writer shaped by apartheid and exile, knows how states talk about principle while practicing expediency. He’s not claiming governments never invoke human rights; he’s saying they deploy rights as a language, a press release, a flag pinned to decisions made elsewhere. National interest becomes the real criterion, and "human rights" the after-the-fact gloss that helps a state look clean while acting dirty.
The subtext is aimed at the listener as much as the state. "Your government" implicates the citizen who wants to believe their side is different, the voter who prefers a moral narrative to a real inventory of power. It’s also a warning about selective outrage: rights matter intensely when they can be leveraged against rivals, and become "complicated" when allies are involved.
What makes the line work is its calm certainty. No metaphorical fireworks, no pleading - just a flat diagnostic that lands like a lab result, leaving the audience to sit with the uncomfortable gap between self-image and operating system.
Quote Details
| Topic | Human Rights |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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