Today is
International Human Rights Day, marking the passage, in 1948, by the United Nations General Assembly of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
In reflecting on this, I was reminded of a
speech I wrote 2 years ago to mark this same event. At that time, a primary theme of the speech was the build-up to the Iraq War, but one of the main points still applies today, perhaps more-so:
The most fundamental human right is to be recognized as human.
Obvious, right? This essay says some more very obvious (and even cliche'!) things along these lines...
Sadly, it seems like we are no nearer to the laudable goals of the original declaration than we were 56 years ago. The UN's human rights chief
warned today that "the vision and promise of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are under considerable strain".
On Thursday, I was saddened to read about the UNICEF report that half of the children on this planet (more than one billion!) are "suffering the effects of poverty, war and HIV/AIDS, denying them a healthy and safe childhood". (To say the statistics in this report are sobering is an understatement. I hope others have diaried about this topic.) Turning to other news, I read a (high-level) piece on the treatment of our "detainees" in Guantanomo Bay, and then tonight another story on Wangari Maathai's acceptance speech for her Nobel Peace Prize in which she reportedly said:
"Activities that devastate the environment and societies continue unabated.
...
"Today we are faced with a challenge that calls for a shift in our thinking, so that humanity stops threatening its life-support system.
...
"I call on leaders, especially in Africa, to expand democratic space and build fair and just societies that allow the creativity and energy of their citizens to flourish.
Further, industry and global institutions must appreciate that ensuring economic justice, equity and ecological integrity are of greater value than profits at any cost."
[emphasis added]
Right now, it's hard for me not to see all of these as related.
But what all of these had in common when I orignally read them was that they were easy for me to dismiss!
Indeed, after reading them, I continued to read other news stories, even getting a snack and checking out the Onion before going about
my daily activities.
Now it may be that I am just a callous and uncaring excuse for a human being, as my wife frequently claims. (But if so, I assert that I'm not the only one!) The ironic thing is that it really bothers me now that I wasn't more moved then. This is what caused my reflection that reminded me of my two-year-old speech about the Iraq war.
I feel that one of the reasons stories like the above fail to "hit home" to me is because they are usually written in abstract or impersonal terms. The effect of hearing that 1 billion children are suffereng, or of learning 100,000 Iraqis were killed in this unnecessary war, doesn't move me to tears, yet sometimes watching a good movie does!?!
The first instances are just numbers.
Sure, I can and do recite the 100,000 number in discussions with friends about the justification and ramifications of the Iraq war, trying to use it as a persuasive tool. But it is invariably ineffective. People are different, and everybody is persuaded by different things. But if you're like me, it is very hard to grasp the magnitude of the number 100,000. It goes beyond imagining two football stadiums full of people being killed, because, for every one of those lives, dozens of other living people -- the family members and friends left behind -- suffer in incalculable ways as well (and here I'm not just talking about a period of grief that ends after a bounded amount of time).
In contrast, recently, I was very moved by LiberalRakkasan's diary a couple of weeks ago that described just one example of the human consequences of the Iraq war. (That trauma has been multiplied a million-fold, thanks to Bush!) And, one of the tools that was instrumental in my convincing my Republican mother that the Iraq war was wrong was having her read blogs from people in Iraq. (This, after I quoted statistics to her until I was blue in the face to no avail.)
Numbers dehumanize.
Everyone hates to be treated as just a number.
People crave recognition.
In fact, this seems to get "truer" as the population of the earth increases. Nowadays, it's harder to stand out. We're all lost in the crowd. (Indeed, I believe one reason I'm writing this blog entry right now is to satisfy my innate yearning for recognition.)
So my prayer today is that each and every one of us takes time to reflect on what makes us all the fundamentally same, especially the good things. And then remember that hunger, fear, pain, loneliness and despair feel the same no matter where you are from.
I'll close with a quote that I like a lot that is tangentially related. I found this on the internet somewhere years ago and I've no idea
if it's legit, but I think it makes a good point anyway:
If you are coming to help me, you are wasting your time.
But if you are coming because your liberation is Bound up with mine, then let us work together.
--Australian aboriginal woman
My human rights are bound up with --
depend on -- the human rights of all people around the world.
Including you.