PHA-Exch> Food for one-liner thoughts

[Claudio Schuftan]

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Human Rights Reader 171

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*MORE IRON LAWS THAT AFFECT HUMAN RIGHTS: USE THEM!*

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[Human Rights (HR) being  very much on our agenda, what follows is a
collection of (not always related) mostly one-liners that are true iron laws
in the work we are supposed to do as activists. They will come handy for use
in your discussions with others].



*General:*

1. Half truths are like half bricks: you can throw them further.

2. The rich countries perpetuate the myth that expertise is the prerogative
of the few.

3. If we made poverty and malnutrition contagious across the globe, their
elimination would be remarkably rapid.

4. The rich like to speak of one world, but actually they are worlds apart
of the realities of poverty with its ongoing HR violations.

5. When poor people are suffering and oppressed, the last thing they need is
a God of docile love and meekness.

[We say man is created in the image of God. I refuse to imagine a god who is
miserable, poor, ignorant, oppressed, wretched --which is the lot of the
majority of those whom he created in his image.  Julius Nyerere].

6. In international affairs (including international HR law), countries of
the South most often react, but just reacting limits their choices.

7. "If  I am not for myself, then who is for me? And if I am not for others
who am I? And if not now, when?".

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*Action-oriented:*

8. Stop reinventing the wheel. Start putting wheels on the wagon.

9. The future has many names: for the powerful few it is status-quo, for the
bold (among the not-yet-powerful-many) it is an opportunity for needed
structural changes (that will tackle HR violations at their roots).

10. Struggle is a principle of development; to be is to do.

11. Faith in the power of doing is better than doing nothing at all.

12. Either we unite, organize and cooperate closely or many more will
continue dying unnecessary deaths… United, we all have an opportunity to
make a difference… Divided we beg, united we demand (… among other, demand
autonomy and political voice for grassroots communities plus demand
governments, corporations and multilateral/bilateral institutions be held to
account).

13. Action unites more than words; the latter usually divide.

14. "Raise hopes, don't destroy illusions".

15. We are not to preach, but to organize mass actions.

16. The name of the game is: Focus on lasting/sustainable results, not on
any dogma!

17. Because men and women experience poverty differently, we need to work
harder on the rights of women (and those of minorities).

18. Perhaps it is unrealistic to expect poor women to overcome deeply
ingrained socio-cultural barriers just because we empower them financially
through micro-credit operations and/or we train them in leadership. For
their rights to be ultimately respected, more than that will be needed…



*Economics- and globalization–related:*

19. An economic system that has little or no use for better than half of the
world's population can and must be radically transformed.

20. The world economic order works for the advantage of 20% of its
population.

21. Neoliberalism globalizes poverty, not development.

22. The debt of poor countries has already been paid by
ever-falling-terms-of-trade. (That is why the HR-based framework calls for
debt relief for the poorest countries).

23. Money equals force in the market; therefore, those with money dominate.
So, world trade is a means of domination of the rich countries.

24. The laws of supply and demand can fix the market price of bread,
tortillas, cassava or rice, but they do nothing to alleviate hunger as a key
HR violation.

25. The invisible hand of the market has no capacity to imagine or create a
decent society for all.

26. Globalization does not have a human face; it has a cynical human mask.

27. In the era of globalization, progress means inequality and, for its
staunch promoters, reason means self-interest.

28. There is enough for everyone's need, but not for everyone's greed.

29. In the struggle for the alleviation of poverty, the check has come back
from the 'Bank of Justice' marked "insufficient funds".

30. Income for the poor is perhaps the best guarantee of health and food
security.

31. It took Britain the exploitation of half the globe to be what it is
today; how many globes would India need?



*More directly HR-related:*

32. As the threat from the many HR violations we see worldwide increases, so
does the cost of inaction.

33. Social justice and the universal respect of HR will not succeed if it
remains the sole concern of intellectuals.

34. Death is a social disease: How often do we overlook this axiom?



Claudio Schuftan, Ho Chi Minh City

cschuftan at phmovement.org  NEW ADDRRESS

[All Readers can be found in www.humaninfo.org/aviva under No.69]

Adapted from here and there.
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