[TLDR (too long didn’t read): If you are reading this, chances are you care about HR. This Reader is about how the ‘democracy’ most of us live under is not so democratic. For a quick overview, just read the bolded text]. Traducir/traduire los/les Readers; usar/utiliser deepl.com
Are we already there?
1. UNDP identifies three layers of uncertainty affecting the prospects for development and a better human rights (HR) outlook: a) political polarization in-country and globally leading to erosion of democracy and violent conflict; b) transition to a digital world bringing about social dislocation (but also some benefits?); and c) planetary changes making development efforts unsustainable. (Pedro Conçeiçao)
2. Why do I ask if we are already there? Because there are so many horrors we see happen with humanity being hypnotized by (or in the name of) the magic word ‘democracy’. It is the magic word, but it allows so many politicians to organize dirty deals that destroy peoples, livelihoods, rights, economies and the environment. The worst thing is that ignorant or gullible populations believe that politicians are working for the good of the people. (Alberto Portugheis)
Since democracy literally means rule of the people, Capitalism is the enemy of democracy (Susan Rosenthal)
3. If we lived in a democracy, we would have a fully public health system, simply because the majority wants it. The fact that we do not have such a system proves that we do not live in a democracy. Any form of collectivism (prioritizing public needs) is considered a threat to private enterprise —because it really is!
- There is no democracy in the economy. The majority gets no say over what is produced, how it is produced, and for whom. The result is toxic pollution, deforestation, species extinction and global warming.
- There is no democracy in foreign policy. You and I have no say; we can only shake our head in despair.*
- There is no democracy at work. Workers have no say.
*: We should not confuse democracy at home with peace abroad: A basic point to keep in mind is that liberal democracy has little to do with a peaceful foreign policy. Foreign policy is about relative power. Britain used its vast relative power advantage to conquer large parts of the world, and for the parts that it did not conquer, it invaded at various times. Global security clearly means protecting the weak from the strong anywhere through collective security mechanisms such as the United Nations. (Jeffrey Sachs)
4. To maintain capitalist rule, we are not allowed to vote on anything that might disrupt the flow of profit. The entire social system is structured to transfer wealth from the working class to the business class. Every human activity is treated as an opportunity for profit-making.
As we all know, Capitalism is based on the conversion of common property into private property. In the current privatization of public services, capitalists strive to transform what belongs to all into what belongs exclusively to them. Their wealth is built on our deprivation (and the deprivation of our rights), as well as built on their power to subjugate us. Their greatest fear is a working class rebellion that could end their rule. Decision-makers respond to majority demands only when their power is threatened.
5. Since the mid 1970s, the working class has suffered decades of setbacks and defeats (in HR included), losing much of what they won in the past, including solid unions and decent jobs, the 40-hour week and robust public services. The more workers retreat, the more the business class push their agenda, regardless of which political party is in office. Experience shows that the problems created by Capitalism cannot be solved by electing different politicians or parties to office. No matter who is in charge, a social system that is structured to exploit majorities and nature for profit cannot be made to do the opposite.
6. The goal of Capitalism is capital accumulation –which it does extremely well. The call to prioritize HR is a call to change the goal of society. This is no easy task. A different social goal requires a fundamentally different social system –one that only the international working class can put together. Strikes are not merely means by which workers achieve gains in the workplace. Rather, they are moments in the process by which workers constitute themselves as a class –building solidarity, raising class consciousness, creating their own norms and institutions and discovering their own forms of class power. Conversely, an electoral focus limits what can be achieved to what Capitalism allows. (S. Rosenthal) …wither democracy.
And then, there are laws to administer and preside over democracy
–When a law exists, it can only read: “What the elites dictate is law” (Franz Kafka, Cuentos Fantasticos)
7. Generally, our laws are a well-kept secret of the small group that governs us.** It is extremely mortifying to be governed by laws that are unknown to so many. Not all the people can democratically participate in their interpretation, so the possible interpretations are very limited. Moreover, the elites have no reason to allow themselves to be influenced by how laws are interpreted by the people, particularly the youth. (The youth are unhappy about this so that a justified discontent rises among them).*** In reality, the apparent intentions of the laws can only be suspected; they too often go against the tradition and the HR expectations of the people; they thus give people a false security. (F. Kafka, op cit)
**: Let us not forget that around the holders of the interests of the elites gathers a brilliant and yet obscure crowd of courtiers and cunning charlatans purporting to be friends and unconditional servants disguised as friends, but perpetually directing poisoned darts at them.
***: The people and the youth should be considered by the elites since the elites have in the people their ultimate support. …but…
8. There is faith that the time will come when the law will belong only to the people and the elites will have disappeared. (No one has said this with hatred for the elites, since no one dares to repudiate the elites…).
Claudio Schuftan, Ho Chi Minh City
Your comments are welcome at schuftan@gmail.com
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Postscript/Marginalia
—A little fable: Alas, said the mouse. The world gets smaller and smaller every day. At first it was so big that I was afraid of it; I ran and ran, and I was certainly glad to see those walls right and left in the distance. But those walls are narrowing so fast now that I find myself in the last room and, there, in the corner, is the trap over which I must pass. “All you have to do is change course,” said the cat — and it ate him. (Franz Kafka, Cuentos Fantasticos)