Humans

Sunday marked the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, proclaimed by the United Nations Assembly on Friday, December 10, 1948. It was then considered that the human family had the right to freedom, justice and peace, and that ignorance of human rights causes acts of barbarism that outrage our consciences. Although it has already been translated into more than 500 languages, these are not good times for poetic declarations. The 75th anniversary coincides with the televised feast of its violations and the veto on a ceasefire in Gaza.

We are very much aware of how social networks invade our privacy and turn us into manipulable data. What perhaps escapes us is to what extent the corrosion of privacy represents a direct path to the degradation of the public sphere, to the shamelessness of characters and infamies that invade our world. When Machiavelli justified modern politics by speaking of “reasons of state,” the Spanish 17th-century philosopher Baltasar Gracián argued that these were really “reasons of stable.” On the way back into servitude, which is what international politics has become these days, we have “reasons of stable” in which economic and identity interests are worth more than human rights.

With eyes accustomed to Facebook, I scan the news through the eyes of people I may know. And yes, among the victims there are some well-known people, but there are many other people who deserved to be respected without distinction of race, gender, color or religion. A universal declaration defends the rights of human beings we do not know. These are not good times for celebrations. But I refuse to accept another one of today’s dynamics: the narcissistic cynicism of the nothing can be fixed, everyone is the same and it’s every man for himself attitude. I need to denounce those responsible for the evil. I need to applaud those who continue to believe in Human Rights.

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