2015 marks the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta:
One of the first tipping points in favor of the recognition of human rights took place on English soil in the year 1215. The rule of aristocracy was set aside when King John of England signed (rather reluctantly) a document later known as “The Magna Carta.” This granted rights to everyone, hitherto only afforded to the ruling class and wealthy Barons of the land.
And it’s not that this was the first document ever to formalize human rights. Heaven knows, many virtuous and well wishing people, along with spiritual leaders through the millennia, have tried. But the acceptance of this document by the prevailing human race indicates that the average consciousness of the mass of people living at that time – had finally risen to the level of valuing every human life.
The
historical importance of the Magna Carta is immeasurable:
It inspired a number of other documents, including the US Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The marks of civilization. The highest achievements of humanity.
But, in contrast, the year 2014 saw a disquieting battle for the soul of America, below:
America has become a society addicted to violence and indifferent to the suffering of people without power. Whenever there is a combination of a culture of violence and an ethic of heartlessness, fatal abuse of authority will escalate, and the legal system will fail to address it. ...
They are the natural products of a culture that has steadily mutated into embracing destructive hyper-individualism. The for-profit healthcare system, the prison-industrial complex, and the bitter segregation along race and class lines in the public education system are also natural products, along with deranged and violent police who face no consequences for shedding blood. The victims of this culture, whether they are the children caught in the crosshairs of drone strikes or the women beaten in police stations, are made invisible or insignificant by myths of American exceptionalism and benevolence.... "We know how to survive apart, but we must learn how to live together.”
The acknowledgment of America’s need to learn to live together has a simplicity that masks its profundity... Mass shootings, rates of violent crime higher than the rest of the developed world and outrages like Garner’s and Brown’s deaths demonstrate that the inability to peacefully coexist in America goes beyond race. It is a bone-deep dysfunction with social costs, political implications and spiritual disasters. Inequality will continue to grow and injustice will continue to worsen until America is made to actually deal with its levels of selfish indifference to suffering, from ordinary people on grand juries to those who occupy the highest thrones of power.
The sane minority might ostensibly protest the racism of the criminal justice system, but they are actually demanding that America become a civilized society. No civilization would tolerate what America has recently done, but it is that very concept —the idea of civilization—that the silent majority so fiercely seems to hate and reject.
Ah, America. And the legacy of the cheerleading whore of unregulated capitalism, Ayn Rand.
Where is our Magna Carta?