From hidden to face-to-face: Seeking truth and global ethical human rights.
Anthony Ravlich
Chairperson
Human Rights Council (New Zealand)
10D/15 City Rd.
Auckland City.
Ph: (0064) (09) 940 9658
www.hrc2001.org.nz
The following post, dated 26 November, 2012, is a continuation of the discussion on Facebook between myself and Jennifer Chim, President and Founder of the World Peace Elite Association (WPEA).
The beginning of the discussion can be found in the article, ‘Are serious flaws within the UN fatal? The Global ethical human rights vision for world peace’, (see anthony ravlich’s blog, guerilla media).
The WPEA, which appears linked with the UN and many human rights organizations around the world, describes itself as an NGO dedicated to educate and promote human rights for world peace by the UN Charter and the UDHR. The following is my response to Ms Chim’s latest post which can be found at the end.
Dear Jennifer Chim,
Pope Benedict XVI when he visited Cuba last March called for an “authentic freedom”.
He stated: “The truth is a desire of the human person, the search for which always supposes the exercise of authentic freedom,”.But, he added: “Many, however, prefer shortcuts, trying to avoid this task.” (‘Pope calls for authentic freedom in Cuba’, New York Times, Randal Archibold et al, March 28, 2012).
But, in my view, the Pope may just as well have been addressing not just authoritarian but also neoliberal States which I see as also exercise a fanatical top-down bureaucratic control coupled with the Corporations.
The ethical approach to human rights, development and globalization is universal ensuring all the core minimum human rights in the UDHR. It gives humanity sufficient ‘authentic freedom’ to enable the individual to seek truth.
This is the main reason why I suggest having televised human rights debates – to facilitate this seeking of truth (also the UDHR allows freedom of speech which also allows those who disagree with human rights).
By contrast neoliberalism requires the omission of many human rights resulting in many human rights truths being hidden by the global human rights/political/academic establishments.
A very interesting sculpture firmly embedded in a street close to where I live in Auckland depicts kiwis (a two legged flightless bird, the national emblem) in hiding under a cardboard box i.e. We Are Hiding From One Another!
:
John Stuart Mill in On Liberty also gives a piercing insight which further supports the need for such ‘face-to-face’ debates:
“Not the violent conflict between parts of the truth, but the quiet suppression of half of it, is the formidable evil: there is always hope when people are forced to listen to both sides; it is when they attend only to one that errors harden into prejudices, and truth itself ceases to have the effect of truth, by being exaggerated into falsehood. Mill, John Stuart, On Liberty (p. 34), Kindle Edition.”
While your organization and PDHRE intend a global mass distribution of the UDHR is an excellent step forward but it took me about 17 years to understand the UDHR and why, although told I lived in a human rights country, there seemed to be an ever increasing gap between the UDHR and reality.
I eventually I came to see how UN human rights instruments permitted States to give a fraudulent neoliberal interpretation of human rights (a middle class focus is not for all!) to execute what I see as a fanatical top-down control which maintains the status quo (the economic parallel reflecting the human rights omissions is called Rogernomics in NZ).
People could be easily fooled into thinking especially given the likelihood of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights shortly entering into force that the UN is upholding both sets of human rights and therefore the UDHR when in actual fact it permits States to adopt neoliberalism.
Consequently in addition to the mass distribution of the UDHR as well as televised human rights debates I would like humanity to be aware of the ethical human rights approach, which, for example, emphasizes a bottom-up democracy and development.
Why ‘reinvent the wheel’ when people only need to verify the research findings of the latter and, if they agree with it, can fight to have the ethical approach to human rights, development and globalization for World Peace (to replace neoliberalism) reflected in domestic and global international human rights law.
Recently, the Christchurch Press, in the Christchurch earthquake zone, NZ, informed me that my public notice would appear on Tuesday, 20 November 2012. It was as follows:
Ethical approach to human rights, development and globalization for World Peace – to replace neoliberalism. For example, the former emphasizes a ‘bottom-up’ approach to development for the rebuilding of Christchurch e.g. in Australia, Tony Abbott, Opposition Leader plans to double the number of small businesses in Australia. NZ could too and attract expats back to invest.
By contrast the present neoliberal approach is largely ‘top-down’ bureaucratic/Corporate control.e.g. CBD to have fewer small businesses. For further information on this ethical human rights global vision see my articles in anthony ravlich’s blog, guerilla media, anthony_ravlich@yahoo.com,ph Tony (09) 940.9658.
Now if I can get this into the mainstream media, albeit only in the public notices, why can’t the UN!?
Jennifer Chim, November 19, 2012.
Dear Anthony Ravlich,
Thanks for your long letter and links. They let me appreciate more about your initiatives for human rights and world peace.
Ms Eleanor Roosevelt ever said that universal human rights begin in the world of the individual person. “Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.”
Therefore, WPEA has posted the UDHR in 360 languages http://www.worldpeaceelite.org/index.php/udhr-over-360-languages and delivered the UDHR booklets around the world. We’ve tried our best to uphold human rights close to home on the basis of the Universal Declaration of human Rights.
I do not fully understand your proposal about televised human rights debates. Please drop more lines. You could upload videos about your ethical human rights approach at http://ireport.worldpeaceelite.org/. It’s a good platform for human rights education and experience sharing.
UDHR over 360 Languages
www.worldpeaceelite.org