Longing for a safe haven
|
'The
Great War' (1914-18) left mankind in a state of confusion. In a sense,
we tried to continue 'as usual', neglecting that nothing was 'usual'
anymore. Without knowing better (we could have known better already),
we declared winners and losers as has been the habit in the old days
without realizing, that we all were losers. This negligence begot
nothing but new hatred and conflict, and in company with technical
advancement the next nightmare was unleashed.
|
This
further outbreak of global violence (1939-45) lasted longer than the preceding
one and claimed an even higher death toll. Most frightening, it
culminated in attempted (and to some part completed) genocide of
minorities by a population that had been highly appreciated for its
cultural achievements; and in the application of newly developed mass
destruction weapons against civilian targets. Once more confronted with
the necessity of a new start, this time the responsibles saw enough
reason to distrust the old ways.
|
Nothing
less was decided than to relaunch human history by pressing the reset
button under totally new conditions. These conditions were declared as
'The Human Rights'. The subjects of these rights were all human beings,
independent of ethnicity, religion, homeland or sex. All humans were to
share these rights to the same extent.
|
Not
all nations of the world embraced this new directive with undivided
enthusiasm, but over the years most of them signed the declaration. The
incorporation of the 30 articles into the respective national laws,
however, turned out as a much slower process. Apparently, not all
nations were happy with the prospect of billions of free and equal
individuals.
|
Maybe
we all missed the secret side-letter of these paragraphs. There-in
human traditions as we knew them were declared as useless, null and
void, having failed their purpose as demonstrated by the atrocities
exchanged in two world wars. Likewise, nations were declared as futile
and to no avail. Humans were encouraged to take possession of this
world whereever they wanted, they should be welcome at any place. No
borders should impede their journey. Parts of this tacit addendum
transpired to John Lennon's 'Imagine' and appear as graffiti along world-wide refugee itineraries.
|
After
3 quarters of a century, we still suffer from the traumas of the two
global wars, and we still miss a workable strategy to prevent their
repetition. At least something better was done after world war two than
after The Great War. Maybe it will help to understand in more detail
what exactly the difference was.
|
You
can never be sure about secrets, but as far as we know in the year
2024, there was no addendum to the Human Rights Declaration of 1948
(Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UDHR).
Nevertheless, it may
have raised (all too optimistic) hopes for the advent of an era of
persistent peace. While it is true that since the UDHR's proclamation
the label 'World War' was not attributed to any major military
conflict,
unfortunately an 'era of persistent peace' is still not in sight. The
main problem is that mankind still comes in populations, not
in individuals. It doesn't help to simply ignore this fact.
|
Each
human being longs for a safe haven. Fulfilment of this desire is
impossible to add to the list of basic human rights. Societies appear,
persist and vanish as other biological entities too. We can only hope
that during the centuries to come human populations learn how to
deal with each other in mutual respect and without resorting to
violence.
|
8/24 < MB 8/24 > 10/24
|
safe.haven.org