Human rights - the concepts, values and norms – their collectively and internationally negotiated definitions – codify the ways in which each of us is precious, unique, equal. Human rights do not prevent our diversity – they protect it; don’t limit our diverse expression – they ensure it; don’t restrict our enjoyment of culture, belief or opinion – they guarantee it and, what’s more, human rights set out the terms and conditions under which we may exercise our rights without cost to any other person’s rights. And, the opposite of human rights upheld? Selfishness, bullying, bigotry, injustice, tyranny and oppression – toxic stepping stones – the perverse paving of pathways to privation, suffering, conflict and, ultimately, atrocity. Not my parents nor my teachers foresaw silk roads redrawn as China’s “one belt, one road”; trade routes made virtual too; policy pivots reduced to a tweet; the personal no longer merely the private; the local somehow now less geographical and more digital; distance between us contracted down by a so called social media which is so anti-social that actual location is no longer proximity to neighbor and community for many is now mainly about opinions and beliefs – superficial, subjective, short-lived sparks of data thrown out into cyberspace through pages, apps and chat rooms. Even change itself is changing – accelerating, working at a pace and with a reach for which most of our institutions, leaders, and even our own thought processes are poorly designed and ill equipped. And add into the mix – global shocks pressing unwanted consequences onto our systems of governance – shocks such as 9/11 and its aftermath the 2008 financial crisis – and its consequences. Our reactions to the callous, dehumanizing impact of terror crimes perpetrated around the world on the one hand, and the callous, dehumanizing impact of fickle financial bubbles burst on the other – have driven us off the path otherwise promised to us - the path to greater dignity and deeper democracy. Hyper securitization has managed to do to fundamental civil and political freedoms what deep-purse austerity has done to economic and social rights – both rusting away public trust in public institutions just when trust is needed most - forging unstainable distance between democracies’ elites and democracies’ constituents -
Human rights - the concepts, values and norms – their collectively and internationally negotiated definitions – codify the ways in which each of us is precious, unique, equal. Human rights do not prevent our diversity – they protect it; don’t limit our diverse expression – they ensure it; don’t restrict our enjoyment of culture, belief or opinion – they guarantee it and, what’s more, human rights set out the terms and conditions under which we may exercise our rights without cost to any other person’s rights. And, the opposite of human rights upheld? Selfishness, bullying, bigotry, injustice, tyranny and oppression – toxic stepping stones – the perverse paving of pathways to privation, suffering, conflict and, ultimately, atrocity. Not my parents nor my teachers foresaw silk roads redrawn as China’s “one belt, one road”; trade routes made virtual too; policy pivots reduced to a tweet; the personal no longer merely the private; the local somehow now less geographical and more digital; distance between us contracted down by a so called social media which is so anti-social that actual location is no longer proximity to neighbor and community for many is now mainly about opinions and beliefs – superficial, subjective, short-lived sparks of data thrown out into cyberspace through pages, apps and chat rooms. Even change itself is changing – accelerating, working at a pace and with a reach for which most of our institutions, leaders, and even our own thought processes are poorly designed and ill equipped. And add into the mix – global shocks pressing unwanted consequences onto our systems of governance – shocks such as 9/11 and its aftermath the 2008 financial crisis – and its consequences. Our reactions to the callous, dehumanizing impact of terror crimes perpetrated around the world on the one hand, and the callous, dehumanizing impact of fickle financial bubbles burst on the other – have driven us off the path otherwise promised to us - the path to greater dignity and deeper democracy. Hyper securitization has managed to do to fundamental civil and political freedoms what deep-purse austerity has done to economic and social rights – both rusting away public trust in public institutions just when trust is needed most - forging unstainable distance between democracies’ elites and democracies’ constituents -