Why aren't we outraged?

I will not post the whole of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – even though it is just two pages in length. It is easy enough to find on line. 

But I intend, in what follows, to highlight the egregious, even contemptuous disregard of this vital document by some nations – even the fact that the USA, for some unfathomable reason, has not agreed to implement all thirty articles. China and Saudi Arabia are amongst the worst offenders – as is Israel.

We should all be outraged at the failure of many nations to hold by the Articles of this Document that they have signed.

Read on:- 

Article 1:- All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

NB. Australia, USA, Saudi Arabia, Israel, China ….. Take note.

Article 3:- Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

NB. Australia, USA, Saudi Arabia, Israel, China …. Take note.

Article 5:- No one shall be subject to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

NB. Australia, USA, Saudi Arabia, Israel, China …. Take note.

Article 9:- No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

NB. Australia, USA, Saudi Arabia, Israel, China …. Take note.

Article 11 (1):- Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence. 

NB. Australia, USA, Saudi Arabia, Israel, China…. Take note.

Article 17 (1):- Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.

Article 17 (2):- No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

NB. Israel especially take note, in relation to their treatment of the Palestinians.

Article 23 (2):- Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.

NB. Australia (and I’m sure many other countries) …. Take note.

Article 25 (1):- Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well being of himself and his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

NB. Australia, USA and I’m sure many other countries …. Take note.

Article 26 (1):- Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages …

NB. Australia …. Take note.

Article 30:- Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person and right to engage in any activity or to perform and act aimed at the destruction of any rights and freedoms set forth herein.

NB. All nations …. Take note.

What Gandhi said.

In light of the present day – and world wide - investigations into corruption, fraud and, shall I say, a disinclination to tell the truth, in government, business, sport and finance, what Gandhi said may be of relevance. Gandhi (Mohandas  Gandhi, 1869 to 1948) said that one of the seven deadly “sins” (as he described them) of the modern world was “Commerce without Morality”. 

What did he mean by this and is it true? 

We need first to ask ourselves two questions; what is morality? Is it important?

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) defines Morals inter alia, as “… of or pertaining to the distinction between right and wrong, or good and evil in relation to the actions, volitions, or character of responsible beings; ethical; …” ; and Ethics, inter alia, as “… the moral principles by which any particular person is guided; the rules of conduct recognized in a particular profession or area of human life”.

Ethics and morality then are the flip sides of the same coin. One cannot exist without the other.  Someone who is moral must, by definition, be also ethical and be what we would call a ‘good’ person. Such a person we would consider trustworthy, someone we would like to deal with, to call upon for help, advice and guidance. Someone who’s word is their bond.

In the Analects of Confucius (551 BC to 479 BC) translated by Simon Leys, there is a quote about the importance, in ancient China, of the notion of the word ‘gentleman’.

“Originally it meant an aristocrat, a member of the social elite: one did not become a gentleman, one could only be born a gentleman. For Confucius, on the contrary, a ‘gentleman’ is a member of the moral elite. It is an ethical quality, achieved by the practice of virtue, and secured through education. Every man should strive for it, even though few may reach it.” 

It is my contention that Morality is common to all peoples in all places and at all times. As human beings, we naturally, seldom continuously think about things we do not like, or try to do something we would not normally like doing. We generally try to do things that make us happy. We, through our actions, try to express ourselves, what we choose to be, in the eyes of our fellow beings, and at a deeper level, in our own eyes. We naturally try to do ‘good’ and to be true to ourselves. To do or be anything else is always stressful and will certainly reduce our chances of leading a fulfilling life with a good work-life balance. 

In many respects what has been forgotten in today’s frenetic world is that there has been an impoverishment of the concept of MAN (homo sapiens) as a human being. For instance people who look for measurable success live only a one dimensional existence (e.g. a CEO always expected to maintain or increase earnings per share year on year). There is a need to distinguish between succeeding for the sake of winning, and a desire for success that will enrich our lives and lead to fulfilment and a feeling of well being. We need a balance between success, as a human being and success in activities (not always the same thing).

Expectations of measurable success and the activities required to meet them, possibly even exploitative actions, diminish the perpetrators.  Such people are reduced to a one-eyed perception of Life. This is what I believe Gandhi was thinking about when he made the statement that leads this article. The aim of life is the unfolding of man’s creative powers; the potential of Life’s process is a transformation of Society into one governed by compassion, justice and truth.

Those with long memories may recall a businessman (the late Albert Dunlap) nicknamed “Chainsaw”, who, quite a few years ago now, was engaged to reinvigorate a large appliance manufacturing company in the USA. They may also recall his business fate. 

The need for moral and ethical conduct was well known in earlier times. People received instruction about the Natural Laws, by way of fables and myths. These highlighted, in often graphic detail, the consequences of irresponsible actions and the operation of the unwritten “Law” of cause and effect. 

This may be more directly stated as in the old saying, “You reap what you sow”.

For those interested, the 'Seven Sins' according to Gandhi were:- 1: Knowledge without character. 2: Science without humanity. 3: Wealth without work. 4: Commerce without morality. 5: Politics without principles. 6: Pleasure without conscience. 7: Worship without self-sacrifice.

Supposed season of good cheer!

Australia – as with many developed countries is a wealthy nation; high standard of living; high standard of education and the under-privileged are (relatively) well cared for. But we have a blot on our Nation’s Escutcheon – that of our treatment of those “illegals” – “queue jumpers” – “boat people” or whatever other derogatory name they are given by politicians. They are still people in need.

This time of year – Christmas time – is a time to reconsider our commitments and the one time of year, if at none other, when we should help those less fortunate. Sometimes it is good to remind ourselves of what others have said about this.

The following quote is from Charles Dickens timeless “A Christmas Carol” (written December 1843):

“But I am sure that I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come around – apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that – as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.”

We need to closely attend these wise words. We need, also, to recall that these  people, politically diminished voyagers from another country, are fleeing persecution or abuse; they are human beings; they are not aliens. They have hopes and aspirations just like you and I. And just like you and I they bleed when hurt. And just like you and I they can be emotionally scarred by the actions and behaviour of others.

What are we doing to ourselves by our nation’s politically motivated mis-treatment of these unfortunate people?

We are diminished as a people and as a nation.

Why dance to someone else's tune?

This is an interesting question which needs an answer particularly when considering the increasing influence of social media. As my one loyal reader has asked for my comments on this question I thought it would be a good idea to explore the subject.

Just spend a moment to think about it. Life is a process but we are pushed and pulled, manipulated and categorized by all organizations, both commercial and governmental, and by some individuals who want us human individuals to behave in a certain regular, rational, manner such that this behaviour may be more easily statistically analysed or somehow meet with their approval.

The problem is that we humans are neither always regular in our activities nor are we always rational in our behaviour. We are not clones. The reliance on statistics to analyse behaviour reduces individuals to a collective; to a deviation from the mean; to a statistical probability. But I am not a statistical probability. I am me; unique. My thumb print tells me so, as does the pattern of my iris. Similarly the way I walk; my mannerisms; my height; the span of my fingers; the shape of my toenails – are all unique to me as are my thoughts and my life experience that shapes my behaviour.

As the American scientist Lewis Thomas said, “The social scientists have a long way to go to catch up, but they may be up to the most important scientific business of all, if and when they finally get to the right questions. Our behaviour towards each other is the strangest, most unpredictable, and almost entirely unaccountable of the phenomena with which we are obliged to live.”

Marketers and advertisers obviously do what they can to gather information about our “habits” to try and improve “market penetration” because it pays. We are subjected to hours of advertising on TV and on radio; magazines and the media generally are saturated with advertising exhorting us to buy this or that product because we “deserve it”. We are “channelled” into the aisles in supermarkets; our purchases are tracked by loyalty cards; we are asked to complete surveys and given the prospect of a “reward”; our personal details are “shopped” to any organization that may want to pay for them.

However, there is nothing in life that is certain except for the fact that if this is being read a birth took place. If a birth took place, a person was born, and the fact that a person was born means that someday there will be a death (and the payment of taxes in the by-going!). We may be unwilling to dwell on this but it is true. Apart from those two facts nothing is certain. Not the economy; not relationships; not possessions; not one’s job. Nothing!

This overall uncertainty seems to inspire us all to strive for some certainty in life that leads many to seek some assurance, for something to ‘hang our hat on’. Hence the desire for plans, budgets, for exactitude in anything and everything. But a process (which is what life is) can never have certain results. In a process there are variables and reliance on anything or anyone (even oneself) is a gamble – sometime it comes off, sometimes it doesn’t.

To get round the problem of life’s inability to provide any certainty many of us give up and simply conform to society’s ‘norms’. We ignore, or most likely forget, that life is, actually, a process. This presents a paradox. To conform means to follow others. But to do what others do or want us to do, means losing our identity. By conforming to what others consider normal behaviour we gives up a great deal, and risk becoming a dumbed down version of who we really are. It means approval by others to be part of the ‘team’. It means being led by others; to do what the majority do; to think the way the majority think, whether or not this is a comfortable situation. We adjust our behaviour to meet the accepted “norms” or expectations of society, the community, a group, or some other person.

Is this really a natural choice? We are each an individual, with our own hopes and aspirations and, to be quite frank doing what others suggest or direct, is not going to help anyone develop as a human being or to lead a fulfilling life. Trying to do so is stressful. It may be ok for a while, but deep down there will always be that question, ‘what if ...?’

The answer is in establishing our individual values; that set of core beliefs that form our character and cannot be transgressed without long term angst and discomfort. This not always easily done, because of the desire, or requirement to conform. To stand out from the crowd takes courage and possible vilification; certainly some hard words will be said and heard. It is, however, absolutely necessary for our long term mental harmony.

Very few of the judgements we make on a daily basis, about what is “right” or “wrong” are made by us, based on our true understanding of the situation as presented. It often seems that the more important the decision, the less likely we are to use our own thoughts and ideas, based on our own experiences. In most cases we have chosen to accept someone else’s decisions. Someone who came before and who, presumably, must know better. Otherwise why accept their decision?

Everything we do is as a result of a thought; this is fundamental to the process that is called life, which is dynamic. To move (mentally) is to grow. To stay still is to stagnate, to risk the death of ideas, thought processes and initiative. Living in the past was never possible. The present moment, now, is the only time that Life is actually present. The past is but a memory and the future still a dream. Thus the process of life can only take place with full recognition of what is happening at this precise moment. Here, now.  

When all is said and done we are all Human Beings not just Human Doers. Just doing what others tell us to do has not got us very far – in fact it has got us into a great deal of trouble! If only we could learn to be what we choose to be, and then strive to become that.

No one can solve our problems in the way we can; no one can react the same way that we will, to life’s trials and tribulations so, as I said at the beginning of this post, “Why dance to someone else’s tune?”

Wall St Road Kill

Why do I get the feeling that America has lost something during the last two weeks of financial carnage? Something that will take a long time to regain and that is the “Moral High Ground”. The American moral high ground has not been very high for some years now (think Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, and not being bound by the World Court decisions), but the last few days, to me as an interested and concerned outsider, has seen the US of A become another Wall St road kill victim.

The last thing I want to do is to seem sanctimonious or “holier than thou”, but if you forget people, and ignore humanity, in the broadest sense, then sometime down the line you are going to cop a hiding. If you ever think that you are better than anyone else, or know better, or put money or possessions before the welfare and well being of human beings, you might as well light a fuse – put a match to the blue paper and commend yourself to your ancestors. Ignore humanity, forget about people and something unpleasant is going to happen to you. It is just a matter of when. Dealing with people is about ethics, about building trust, about treating people the way you would like to be treated. Ethics is not a disposable item to be used only when deemed expedient.

People used to be taught from the fables and myths of the past. Not many read Aesop any more – more is the pity. Read this one, there is a lesson in it somewhere:

Aesop’s fable (CIV)

The goose with the golden eggs

Their was once a man who was lucky enough to own a goose that laid him a golden egg every day. However, since the process was so slow and since he wanted the entire treasure at once, he became dissatisfied and eventually killed the goose. After cutting her open, he found her to be just what any other goose would be.

The more you want the more you stand to lose