UNITE FOR RIGHTS BLOG

War again! Having just returned to the U.S. from Poland and talking with people from Bucha where Putin used cluster bombs over civilian residences and then bombed the hospitals after they went to remove the shrapnel stuck in them, the most common comment I hear is “I can’t believe what Putin is doing.” Believe it. It’s no surprise; it’s a repeat.

After WWI, Eleanor Roosevelt argued strenuously that we needed to have a World Court based on fundamental rights to prevent despots from seizing control and waging war. Unfortunately, political forces, including in the US, prevented this from happening. Then came Hitler.

After 60 million killed, Eleanor again tried to empower humans to restrain despots through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Again, it hasn’t worked. It’s not her fault, it’s our fault. As much as human rights organizations trumpet the UDHR, it has not been sufficiently implemented, it lacks the power of law. Incremental efforts have been insufficient – hence we have another war.

This is not to say that incrementalism has been worthless. It has cultivated the ground to where people internationally are unwilling to live under despots, as the Ukrainians are courageously showing the rest of us. We must arm them and support them. Putin’s outdated authoritarian view of the world must be thwarted, even if it means using heavy military to stop him.

But we must also plan for the peace. Eleanor and others did this long before the end of WWII. They called for and worked for an “International Bill of Rights,” enforceable in the courts of all countries. It’s time to look back to see our way forward. There will always be brutes and despots. The only way, even in democracies, to be free of authoritarian rule is if there are independent courts and judges, with the power to enforce a Bill of Rights.

So if you don’t like the war, stop saying you don’t believe it and act. That’s what Eleanor did. Continue her movement by becoming a “light for rights” on this website showing the world that you support the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Eleanor’s greatest accomplish, with others, on its 75^th anniversary.

Fight war; fight despotism; take 30 seconds to join with others. Be a light for rights!

Eleanor Roosevelt was a champion of democracy. The first book that she wrote was “The Moral Basis for Democracy.” She gave many reasons for democracy and one of them was her religious beliefs.  She felt that democracy best reflected God’s intent for humans. She said “Men who have the instincts for dictatorship are always a danger in any society. Free citizens must be constantly alert to preserve their liberties.”

By this she meant that democracy requires constant viligence. There will always be men and women with athoritarian tendencys: this is reflected in the saying “power corrupts – absolute power corrupts absolutely.” One way to curb this tendency is through a Bill of Rights and an independent judiciary. They are our bulwark against athoritarianism.

It is fitting to write this blog on International Democracy Day. The restraint of athoritarism is not just a nicety, it is a right. Democracy is a human right closely connected to free speech. Authoritarians almost always limit what can be said about them. This is mental slavery. Most people can readily agree that physical slavery is a violation of human rights anywhere in the world, so too is mental slavery.

There is a genuine danger between the connection of populism and athoritarianism. Our human traits as primates make us suceptible to the seeming security of the dominant ape. We must resist this outdated false sense of security and efficiency – it may be more work, but it’s a better result when we pick our leaders through a democratic process, not have them foisted upon us based on herediary background or religious beliefs. We are our own rulers.

To this end, become a light for rights – take a stand for democracy on International Democracy Day.

We all have power. The question is how do we use it? The most powerful thing that any of us can do is combine our power with the power of others. Collectively we can accomplish more than any one person, nonprofit or business can ever accomplish, regardless of how great their wealth, or how prominent their position. The ultimate power is a movement.

Eleanor Lives! aids each of us, every person, nonprofit organization and for-profit business to participate in a movement together.

As a facilitator for a movement started by Eleanor and others, Eleanor Lives! is not judgmental: we offer a coalition of everyone. As Eleanor said: “We all go ahead together, or we all go down together.”

Eleanor continuously sought out participation from others to support an International Bill of Rights, even if their actions, be it as an individual, organization, business, or government included a past violation of rights. She did not judge whether they were suitable to participate – so it is with Eleanor Lives!

For our two program pieces, our Lights for Rights Campaign, and our Drafting Through Dialogue, any person, nonprofit or for-profit can become a light for rights, and any person, organization or business can submit their suggestions for the wording of an International Bill of Rights.

Becoming a light is supporting the idea of an International Bill of Rights. It’s coming to the table, not a commitment to a particular document or set of rights that is on the table.

Eleanor Lives! has placed a draft document upon the table. It is not an epiphany, it is an amalgam – including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, all United Nations human rights instruments and the Bill of Rights of all states and countries that have them – which is most of the countries on Earth. 

Every suggestion made for adding to, removing, or changing the wording of the document on the table is given equal consideration, even if it comes from an anonymous source. When a suggestion is made by a person, nonprofit or for-profit as to the wording of the IBOR document, it is an offer, there is no guarantee of acceptance, but there is a guarantee that it will be considered and that there will be a response on the website so that the suggestion and answer are observable to all – complete transparancy. Every suggestion is given equal weight; it is the weight of the idea, not the source of it, that matters.

The same is true for those who fund Eleanor Lives! to build a coalition and draft an International Bill of Rights. We do not judge funders as people, nonprofits or for-profits, but they should understand that whether they give a small amount or a large amount, in any currency, or in art or items of value, their suggestions carry equal weight as to the content of the IBOR document, even equal to those who do not give funding at all.

Buckminster Fuller, one of the great thought leaders of the 20^th century, liked to think of himself as a “trimtab,” the small piece on the rudder of a huge ship that can help it steer and change direction.

Bucky was indeed a trimtab. There are millions of trimtabs out of billions of people, nonprofits and businesses. It’s time for them, and for the rest of us, to focus together using the new technologies that empower us all to simultaneously read and write together at the table of humanity.  As we do, since we are the one species with the ability to read and write, we have an obligation to include all life on Earth as we draft and implement our agreement to live together, so that we may include all life and live as an Earth community.

Eleanor guides us as we become lights – increasing our intensity with each new light: “We must do the thing we think we cannot do.” Use your power.

 

 

 

 

For 26 years Eleanor never stayed in the same town for more than 10 days. She was indefatigable.

I often see people at the UN in Geneva who are infatigable – “tireless”, and  I have respect for them. It is these people who have brought about the progression of human rights to where we can now make it an enforceable agreeement to live together based on law in courts, not reports to Geneva.

These people should now add something to what they are doing: the end game. They, as individuals, organizations, businesses, or nation states, can become lights on the website and help carry on Eleanor’s legacy and to move from the peririfery to the core of a movement for enforceable rights. 

I lack Eleanor’s endurance. I sleep more than she did, I play in the outdoors more than she did, but in admiration of her, and because her plan is the best plan for humanity that has ever been concocted, I continue. 

Please continue too. The tightest chains that bind us are those that we place up0n ourselves.  Break them. Become a spark of light on our website.

 

This year Easter Sunday (April 4, 2021) is followed by the United Nations International Day of Conscience (April 5^th), which reminds me of a story about Eleanor and how an act of conscience lead to an Easter concert.

The year was 1939. FDR was President, and Eleanor was in the White House as First Lady. Segregation and racial injustice were openly and deeply embedded in not only the beliefs and actions of white individuals, but also in the laws and systems of society.

For example, a few years earlier after white patrons had complained about the failure to segregate blacks sufficiently away from whites, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) had enacted a rule that excluded African American artists from performing in their venue, Constitution Hall in Washington D.C. In February of 1939 and acting pursuant to that rule, DAR barred Marian Anderson, a world-renowned African American singer, from performing on their stage.

Eleanor was a DAR member at that time, but she was not personally associated with either this rule or decision. Even so, guided by her conscience Eleanor injected herself into the situation by condemning the action and resigning in protest, stating in part: “[F]eeling as I do this seems to me the only proper procedure to follow.”

DAR’s written response failed to address Eleanor’s concerns specifically and replied generally that “our organization is engaged in the education of citizenship and the humanitarian service in which we know you to be vitally interested,” claiming there was a “misunderstanding” about the “attitude of the society.”

While DAR’s response was anemic, Eleanor’s act of conscience resulted in widespread attention on Anderson, DAR’s exclusion of her, and the issue of racial discrimination. The story culminates on Easter Sunday of that year (April 9, 1939) when Anderson, acting upon an invitation from the U.S. federal government, performed at the Lincoln Memorial before an audience of 75,000 people. This story is one of many from Eleanor’s life that offers a good example of the power of acting on one’s conscience.

Perhaps you may feel that you and I are too far removed from Eleanor’s high-profile roles for her to serve as a practical example for us. But the global adoration and impact of her life, which is apparent today, did not exist in 1939. Eleanor simply knew and understood the value of acts of conscience: “I have no illusions that anyone can change the world in a short time. Things cannot be completely changed in five minutes. Yet I do believe that even a few people, who want to understand, to help and to do the right thing for the great numbers of people[,] instead of the few[,] can help.” (emphasis added)

Years later on Easter Sunday in 1944, Eleanor encouraged us with these words: “This is the season when we are reminded that faith and hope are a part of our religion. And surely this year, and at this particular season, we need both as part of our everyday consciousness.” Although written during a different season (WW II), these words are befitting today. I hope for a better future for all, and I have faith that if you and I take action when and how we can, then we can change the world for the better.

Steady and seemingly small steps by even a few people not only can but will change the world. The only questions are: what steps, by whom, and in what direction. Never underestimate even a single gesture that you can take. I invite you to take a step with me for enforceable rights for all and sign on as a Light for Rights.