Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1

I’ve decided to start a thinking excercise for myself in which I look at 1 of the 30 articles in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights at a time and try to understand it, apply it to the conditions I see around me and try to offer solutions to improve the conditions around me. I open the forum to everyone to add their voices and reflections and to develop I dialogue on each article.

To start this excercise I want to share with you the language the UN uses to address the potency of the human rights declarations:

Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

 I am struck by the idea of nation states striving to educate & “promote respect for these rights and freedoms”. My first reaction is that many of my peers have likely never even seen these 30 basic human rights written out. They may be able to generate their own list off the top of their heads, however they may not realize some of the basic human rights that are not fully being carried out in thier own nation state.

Article 1.

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

I witnessed a gross display of human inequality last night. Now I know you are likely expecting me to describe something graphic and violent. Brace yourselves…I was staying in a hotel this weekend for an ice hockey tournament I played in. As I was leaving my room to go to dinner last night a group of preteen girls was sitting on a couch in the lobby. One girl was leaving for her room as another girl loudly called to her from the couch “if you liked me you’d come over here and [blah blah blah blah] before you went to bed” which was then followed by “you can’t go to bed until you come over here and [blah blah blah blah]“. The speaker was clearly the ring leader, as she had just through these statements identified herself as superior to the girl wanting to go to bed and that girl inferior. I was so appalled by this minipulation of power that I nearly jumped in and made several pointed remarks to the ring leader.

If I had been armed with Article 1, it would have been the ideal remark to make to the ring leader. I was disgusted to witness this all too common adolescent display of power. Maybe I am off point in relating this to Article 1 but to me, the girl trying to go to bed was being manipulated into a role of less dignity and unequal rights.

On my way to work for several months, I would drive past a billboard that was quite weathered. I loved this billboard because it was the place holder the advertising company used when no customers where renting ad space. It read “Always Be Kinder than Necessary”. This is a personal mantra I have adopted and feel helps me to treat others ”in a spirit of brotherhood”.

Now, to offer solutions, this is the hard part. It is so easy for us to identify problems, but to offer practical, appicable solutions is quite a feat. Challenge on Virginia…*gulp*. We as humans, can take it upon our shoulders to lookout for our neighbors. In the sense that, if I witness a 13 year old bully picking on another 13 year old and pushing her down a level to in turn elevate herself, I will not silently walk by, painfully identifying with the underdog, I will instead speak up and take the opportunity to teach the bully and the posse the simple act of equality through human kindness. What would I say? Last night I wanted to say “oh boy you sure are manipulative”, but that would not solve the problem it would only feed my ego and elevate me while pushing down the bully. It may or may not have elevated the girl trying to go to bed. I think a better approach we could adopt would be to say something like “don’t you mean to wish her goodnight and send her on her way so that she may be well rested for tomorrow?” Since it is a question as opposed to a remark it causes the listener to think and chose their own action, though guided, and allows both the bully and the girl being picked on freedom, dignity and equality.

While these thoughts are mere anecdotes from my life and experiences, I hope they may be applicable on a larger scale and in the environments you all find yourselves. Again, I invite you to contribute your own reflection on Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Peace be with you.