EDITOR, The Tribune.
Good government is more than the use of sovereign power to create prosperity, productivity and happiness. Good governing is the imaginative use of intuition, skills and knowledge to administrate with the participation and consent of the governed.
Human Rights is a mechanism to win consent of all persons being governed because it ensures fairness and respect for everyone.
When the US constitution states that all men are created equal although the whites had black slaves and the wealthy lived better than the poor whites, it was to create the circumstances that we are all in the same boat. We will all sink or all float.
Everyone knows that some people are smarter, taller, richer and more athletic than others. So when the term equality is used it is a metaphor for a common destiny. The same is true for the French Revolution in 1789 Liberty, Equality and Fraternity was to inspire unity and that everyone has a stake in the success of the revolution – common destiny.
Human Rights are moral principles that set standards for human conduct.
In 1948, the United Nations General Assembly issued the Declaration of Human Rights as a response to the barbarism of the Second World War.
Many politicians and law enforcement find that respecting people’s human rights makes their job difficult.
Remove people’s human rights and you signal to them and their associates that they do not have a stake in our society. This is not mere philosophy, but reality.
Examine genocide in Rwanda, Guatemala Civil War, El Salvador Civil War and I will argue the high homicide rate of the Caribbean, including The Bahamas.
The vast majority of people commuting homicides are marginalised.
They will destroy the society with ease because they feel that they are not benefiting adequately from the current political and social order.
Why obey laws that are not benefiting them?
Apparently they do not have a right to an education, job and to be free from discrimination. They are treated less than others by many, including law enforcement and opportunity and support for social mobility is tiny.
Human Rights guarantee people the means to satisfy their basic needs. You either obey people’s human rights or move towards disunity and conflict.
Any analysis of history demonstrates that.
Check yourself before you wreck yourself.
BRIAN E PLUMMER
Nassau,
October 12, 2019.
Comments
Sickened 4 years, 6 months ago
Not everyone deserves equal rights. Equal rights has helped to get us into this mess. Career criminals for example should not be treated as equal to someone who has worked hard to save for their future and their children's future. That is simply ridiculous. People who murder often should not be treated the same as a doctor. Bad people need to be treated badly. There must be a deterrent. Mentally ill people should be treated as mentally ill. That is the only way they can get assistance to function in society.
Thinking everyone is inherently good or that they can be 'saved' is an immature thought.
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