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Raquel Evita Saraswati
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What do you see as the greatest human rights crisis of our time?
May 5, 2008 - 07:19 PM
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What do you think is the greatest human rights crisis of our time?
How does this crisis relate to you?
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SlicNic5150
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Re: What do you see as the greatest human rights crisis of our time?
May 6, 2008 - 01:59 PM
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The greatest human right crisis of our time has occurred in every age. It occurs in time of peace and times of war. It occurs everywhere that human rights take a back seat to power struggles to the extent that gangs of armed (whether it is with guns, clubs, machetes or rocks) thugs walk the streets. It occurs in middle class neighborhoods in “Middle America.” It happens to American soldiers on the military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The first victims of this specific human rights crisis are always women and young girls. I’m talking about rape and the degradation of women.
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Incia Zaffar
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Re: What do you see as the greatest human rights crisis of our time?
May 8, 2008 - 04:10 PM
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Uneven development !
The immense wealth and resources that are available at the disposal of the Global North while the South is perishing in poverty !
This post was edited on: 2008-05-08 at 04:10 PM by: InciaZ
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Genie
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Re: What do you see as the greatest human rights crisis of our time?
May 9, 2008 - 01:25 AM
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Aren't the human rights violations the same as they've always been? Enslavement, disempowerment of the masses, abuse of power, graft, intolerance, oppression, genocide, terrorism, war.... you name it. I think what's different now is that we have the media to report on a lot of it whereas before, it went on without global awareness. I'd like to think there have been improvements overall. I hope so. But there has still been no solution to putting a stop to it on a large scale except war. We can say "no more!" But how do we (America) enforce it without becoming dictators ourselves? How do you safely and intelligently empower people to stand up against their own tyrants?
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Ritchie
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Re: What do you see as the greatest human rights crisis of our time?
May 10, 2008 - 08:44 PM
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One of the most callous human crisis of of our time is capacity underutilization. This accounts for more than 30% poverty of the African continent and that of the developed world. It is a blank rape on the human ingenuity and intelligence respectively.
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Genie
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Re: What do you see as the greatest human rights crisis of our time?
May 10, 2008 - 09:37 PM
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eRichie wrote:
One of the most callous human crisis of of our time is capacity underutilization. This accounts for more than 30% poverty of the African continent and that of the developed world. It is a blank rape on the human ingenuity and intelligence respectively.
Capacity underutilization? Please explain.
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Raquel Evita Saraswati
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Re: What do you see as the greatest human rights crisis of our time?
May 13, 2008 - 08:13 AM
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Genielorene wrote:
eRichie wrote:
One of the most callous human crisis of of our time is capacity underutilization. This accounts for more than 30% poverty of the African continent and that of the developed world. It is a blank rape on the human ingenuity and intelligence respectively.
Capacity underutilization? Please explain.
Perhaps this speaks to the enormous amount of people whose potential has never been realized. This can be due to internal, cultural and religious oppresion or, for example, colonialism - which has in a vast majority of cases worked to keep the colonized "in their place". (Yes, in some cases, colonizers have permitted some level of entrepreneurship - usually, not so much).
I can see how compromising the potential of a people can be responsible for poverty. Sure. That's rather straightforward.
However, it is not addressing behaviors of those who stifle the potential of others. It almost seems to suggest that they might "use people better".
But, I think the end question is this: eRichie and others: how do you see those who are in cases like those you mention (ie those in poverty on the African continent) - being truly empowered such that they can realize their full, limitless potential? What role do people outside of the situation have to play?
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Raquel Evita Saraswati
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Re: What do you see as the greatest human rights crisis of our time?
May 21, 2008 - 11:48 PM
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ArnoldYasin wrote:
InciaZ wrote:
Uneven development !
The immense wealth and resources that are available at the disposal of the Global North while the South is perishing in poverty !
This post was edited on: 2008-05-08 at 04:10 PM by: InciaZ
I think this indeed is the most important one as this is the most continious thing which harms the largest amount of people.
Wars are hell, but mostly are for certain periods at the time. Hunger, famine, diseases, no development or education which again results in no equal rights for women, these have been non-stop for the last century, because the resources haven't been shared equally.
Can you say more about why you think this is a global north versus global south issue?
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Genie
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Re: What do you see as the greatest human rights crisis of our time?
May 22, 2008 - 01:46 AM
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RaquelEvita wrote:
.
What role do people outside of the situation have to play?
While I'm not a fan of intolerance in general, I think it's time for the world all over to stop tolerating the oppression and starvation of anyone anywhere. But how can we do this? America finally said "enough" to the atrocities being committed by Al Qaeda--although it took us way too long and we waited until what was happening "over there" finally made a big and undeniable impact on our own soil.
But should America go to war every time it sees another country denying its people their human rights on a wide scale? In this day and age, how can war be the only way to stop such atrocities? Isn't there a better way?
What can we hold over any country to make them change except war? And, obviously, war hasn't stopped Al Quaeda from continuing their activities.
The only thing I can think of that could make a difference is education. But how to implement that on a wide enough scale to make a difference is beyond me.
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SlicNic5150
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Re: What do you see as the greatest human rights crisis of our time?
May 22, 2008 - 08:32 AM
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But should America go to war every time it sees another country denying its people their human rights on a wide scale? In this day and age, how can war be the only way to stop such atrocities? Isn't there a better way?
“I can understand the theory of people wanting to be free. I just don’t think we should go hellfire damnation around the globe freeing people, unless it is directly related to our own national security.” - Former President Gerald Ford
This post was edited on: 2008-05-22 at 08:33 AM by: Slic
This post was edited on: 2008-05-22 at 08:33 AM by: Slic
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prieten47
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Re: What do you see as the greatest human rights crisis of our time?
May 24, 2008 - 07:57 PM
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All of the above problems are indeed human rights issues. As much as we have failed to solve any of them, we should keep trying. Unfortunately, I am afraid two very major environmental/agricultural problems are swiftly approaching which will change the world as we know it and probably bring great suffering and new human rights crises.
I am talking of course about the possibility that we have reached peak production of oil and that its production will decline in the future. And the second problem is global warming.
Much of life on this Earth is dependent in more ways than we realize on the availability of petroleum products. From transportation to plastics, to fertilizer for farmers, to heating for our houses, to industrial production, all are heavily dependent on oil products.
Humankind has grown to almost 7 billion people and 9 billion is expected by mid-century. Certainly scientific advances in medicine have played an important role in this rapid growth (there were only 1 billion people in 1860). But the availability of cheap energy was vital to supporting this world population.
Yes, obviously America, Europe and Japan deserve much criticism for their consumerist societies that rely heavily on constant economic growth and heavy use of energy and raw materials. Now China and India are seeking their place "at the table."
We can always hope that science will find some new fix to replace our dependence on oil, but I am afraid we have reached the end of the road. Now is the time for every country, or even community, to concentrate on rebuilding its local network of food and energy production. Over-reliance on globalization to provide your basic necessities is a disaster waiting to happen.
I don't have much room to discuss the Global Warming problem, but it is obvious that it will lead to flooding of important food producing river deltas and increasing desertification and loss of farm land, not to mention the disappearance of coastal and island communities.
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Raquel Evita Saraswati
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Re: What do you see as the greatest human rights crisis of our time?
May 27, 2008 - 09:09 AM
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prieten47 wrote:
All of the above problems are indeed human rights issues. As much as we have failed to solve any of them, we should keep trying. Unfortunately, I am afraid two very major environmental/agricultural problems are swiftly approaching which will change the world as we know it and probably bring great suffering and new human rights crises.
I am talking of course about the possibility that we have reached peak production of oil and that its production will decline in the future. And the second problem is global warming.
Much of life on this Earth is dependent in more ways than we realize on the availability of petroleum products. From transportation to plastics, to fertilizer for farmers, to heating for our houses, to industrial production, all are heavily dependent on oil products.
Humankind has grown to almost 7 billion people and 9 billion is expected by mid-century. Certainly scientific advances in medicine have played an important role in this rapid growth (there were only 1 billion people in 1860). But the availability of cheap energy was vital to supporting this world population.
Yes, obviously America, Europe and Japan deserve much criticism for their consumerist societies that rely heavily on constant economic growth and heavy use of energy and raw materials. Now China and India are seeking their place "at the table."
We can always hope that science will find some new fix to replace our dependence on oil, but I am afraid we have reached the end of the road. Now is the time for every country, or even community, to concentrate on rebuilding its local network of food and energy production. Over-reliance on globalization to provide your basic necessities is a disaster waiting to happen.
I don't have much room to discuss the Global Warming problem, but it is obvious that it will lead to flooding of important food producing river deltas and increasing desertification and loss of farm land, not to mention the disappearance of coastal and island communities.
Thank you for your thorough post. What would you suggest that activists in other arenas do to help?
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davyk
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Re: What do you see as the greatest human rights crisis of our time?
May 28, 2008 - 05:42 AM
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prieten47 wrote:
All of the above problems are indeed human rights issues. As much as we have failed to solve any of them, we should keep trying. Unfortunately, I am afraid two very major environmental/agricultural problems are swiftly approaching which will change the world as we know it and probably bring great suffering and new human rights crises.
I am talking of course about the possibility that we have reached peak production of oil and that its production will decline in the future. And the second problem is global warming.
Much of life on this Earth is dependent in more ways than we realize on the availability of petroleum products. From transportation to plastics, to fertilizer for farmers, to heating for our houses, to industrial production, all are heavily dependent on oil products.
Humankind has grown to almost 7 billion people and 9 billion is expected by mid-century. Certainly scientific advances in medicine have played an important role in this rapid growth (there were only 1 billion people in 1860). But the availability of cheap energy was vital to supporting this world population.
Yes, obviously America, Europe and Japan deserve much criticism for their consumerist societies that rely heavily on constant economic growth and heavy use of energy and raw materials. Now China and India are seeking their place "at the table."
We can always hope that science will find some new fix to replace our dependence on oil, but I am afraid we have reached the end of the road. Now is the time for every country, or even community, to concentrate on rebuilding its local network of food and energy production. Over-reliance on globalization to provide your basic necessities is a disaster waiting to happen.
I don't have much room to discuss the Global Warming problem, but it is obvious that it will lead to flooding of important food producing river deltas and increasing desertification and loss of farm land, not to mention the disappearance of coastal and island communities.
I couldn't agree more prieten47.Well Said!
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Genie
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Re: What do you see as the greatest human rights crisis of our time?
May 29, 2008 - 10:10 AM
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Slic wrote:
“I can understand the theory of people wanting to be free. I just don’t think we should go hellfire damnation around the globe freeing people, unless it is directly related to our own national security.” - Former President Gerald Ford
I'm not fond of that mentality. I don't care whose national security is being threatened. I'm part of the human race first, an American second. When it comes to human rights, borders should not exist. But, in this world, borders will always exist and an idealistic approach will never work. Yet I think it's criminal for any country not to act on human rights violations until such time as it affects a country's own national security.
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SlicNic5150
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Re: What do you see as the greatest human rights crisis of our time?
June 1, 2008 - 12:40 PM
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Genielorene wrote:
Slic wrote:
“I can understand the theory of people wanting to be free. I just don’t think we should go hellfire damnation around the globe freeing people, unless it is directly related to our own national security.” - Former President Gerald Ford
I'm not fond of that mentality. I don't care whose national security is being threatened. I'm part of the human race first, an American second. When it comes to human rights, borders should not exist. But, in this world, borders will always exist and an idealistic approach will never work. Yet I think it's criminal for any country not to act on human rights violations until such time as it affects a country's own national security.
The Ford Quote means to me: It's not the roll of our Government to extend humanitarian aid & education or boost the quality of life beyond our boarders. It is the roll of our people.
It’s a philosophy I agree with. Charity has to begin at home. As long as there are hungry, homeless & uneducated people in this country, my tax dollars should not cross a boarder unless it is in support of our National Interests. My charitable donations (& in some cases commercial spending) should be enough to support our global neighbors in their times of need.
I applaud companies like Proctor & Gamble who are donating feminine hygiene products to school girls in Africa. They’ve also launched a program called “Children’s Safe Drinking Water” where you redeem their coupons from P & G products you already use, the Company donates one liter of clean drinking water to parts of the world where waterborne diseases are leading causes of sickness & death. This is how it should be. Charities & Corporate America (redeeming their good names) lending a helping hand internationally.
I don’t know about most Americans, I’m very careful about the charities I donate to directly. I have very limited discretionary income but I am generous with what I do have. Consequently when I do gift my money or time to a charitable or corporate entity (as in the case of P & G) I want to know I can trust & believe in not just the cause but the organization as well.
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