Make a noise. Be heard.
I have a confession to make: I lead a double life. Besides being an intern at Greenpeace International, I also do a master's degree in International Law. International Human Rights Law has a prominent place in the program I follow, and I think that between this and my internship, I'm more informed than most people about what rights we have, simply by existing.
At university, I hear a lot about protecting from torture, the right to free elections, the right to life, the right to a family life. At work, I promote the right to a clean and safe environment. These rights are all equally important, they are interlinked. It's not much use to have a right to life if this life is lived under oppression. It's not much use to freely elect a government if this government is going to destroy the environment you live in. It's not much use to have a clean environment if your life is threatened every day in this environment.
The video below serves as a good reminder.
Today is the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. For some this means nothing, because it is not enforced in their country. For others it means too little, because they forgot that human rights were repressed not long ago where they live. It shouldn't be that way. Whether people live in a war zone where they're afraid for their lives every day, or whether a coal power plant is going to be built near them, destroying their village and polluting the air, or whether they're afraid that their country might disappear underwater because of climate change, or whether they're silenced by governments officials for denouncing a crime, all these people have their human rights violated.
Today is both something to be proud of (go back to your history books and see how amazing it is that we even have a Universal Declaration) and a day to be disappointed (because as you and I know, human rights are violated everywhere on this planet).
Today, make a noise. Talk about human rights at lunch break. Mention a situation that doesn't get enough attention. Human rights progress everywhere when people talk about them. Be heard.
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Comments
Hi.
I'm from a country that before 1972 it was a dictatorship with a colonial war with several African countries - Portugal.
My grandfather knew very well what was censorship and repression. Prison and torture by "PIDE" (Political Police) were to common at the time. My fathers knew the value of silence and in their generation escaping an unfair and dangerous war was their main goal. At the time any neighbor or any friend could be an informer of the political police. You couldn't trust anyone except some close relatives.
I was lucky enough to live in a time where freedom is more abundant. However as in any Western European country torture and censorship are rare, but didn't disappear completely.
Cheers,
Osvaldo
Posted by: Osvaldo Gago | December 10, 2008 3:00 PM
Anything and everything seems to be getting in the way of meaningfully discussing in an adequately reality-oriented manner the predicament that appears before humanity. This primarily and distinctly human-driven predicament is already visible, even now, on the far horizon.
If you please, your assistance is requested.
Seven days ago the "AWAREness Campaign on the Human Population" submitted an idea for how we think the Obama Administration could change America. It's called "Ideas for Change in America."
I've submitted an idea and wanted to see if you could vote for AND COMMENT on it. The title is: "Accepting human limits and Earth's limitations". You can read, vote for and comment on the idea by clicking on the following link:
http://www.change.org/ideas/view/accepting_human_limits_and_earths_limitations
Fourteen votes are been received so far. That is about 2 votes per day. If you agree, then vote. If you disagree, please comment. Of course, should you wish to vote AND COMMENT, please feel free to do so.
The top 10 ideas are going to be presented to the Obama Administration on Inauguration Day and will be supported by a national lobbying campaign run by Change.org, MySpace, and more than a dozen leading nonprofits after the Inauguration.
Thanks for any assistance you choose to provide.
Sincerely yours,
Steve
Steven Earl Salmony
AWAREness Campaign on The Human Population,
established 2001
Posted by: Steven Earl Salmony | December 15, 2008 7:58 PM
If the next generation does not do better than my "Not So GREAT GREED GRAB Generation" of elders has done to protect Earth from reckless environmental degradation and resource dissipation, then I cannot even imagine what the future will look like for those who are alive 40 years from now. The "pale blue dot" may not be so beautiful a place to inhabit in 2050, I fear.
Our children will do better; but first they will need to understand that the patently unsustainable overproduction, overconsumption and overpopulation activities which their elders so adamantly and relentlessly advocate will have to be forsaken....soon. Accepting human limits and Earth's limitations, and behaving accordingly, could be a goal worth achieving.
Posted by: Steven Earl Salmony | December 25, 2008 1:24 PM