43 - Dignity Is The Basic Human Right

Summary

The so-called Arab spring that began with the public suicide on 17 December 2010 of a miserable Tunisian vegetable seller whose cart was towed away by the police is often denoted a pro-democracy movement.

That latter term is technically correct, seeing how it quickly led to the fall of dictators and to popular elections in certain Arab countries.

But the easy categorization of these momentous events as a struggle for democracy, besides reducing human yearning into a simple wish to vote, conceals a profound truth about human despair and political coercion.

Surely despairing for a right to vote was not what the Tunisian jobless graduate Mohamed Bouazizi had on his mind when he set fire to himself.

What was he protesting against? What was his despairing about? What was he wishing to draw attention to?

His poverty? His public embarrassment? The loss of his last chance to have some semblance of control over his own life? Certainly.

His was the final weapon of the weak. His loud death ignited uprisings throughout the region, showing how his situation was common to many.

Such spontaneous and dangerous protests carried out by so many in the face of military force tells us something very profound about the human condition, and it should remind us that democracy is a means only, though to a very important end.

That end is human dignity. I venture that it is the loss of dignity that brings the greatest despair.

What enrages any individual most if not an attack on his or her dignity or the dignity of someone close?

At a daily level, it is interesting to note that anyone attacking the dignity of another is most often deemed to be undignified. This tells us how central it is to our sense of propriety and fairness that we possess dignity, but that we respect the dignity of others.

The golden rule that Confucius formulated 2,500 years ago still holds— “Do not do unto others what you would not have others do unto you”. We value our dignity and therefore should know that such is the case for other human beings as well.

Of course, social relations are always difficult especially across cultural or class lines, and transgressions are made that are not meant. But that is why we have the word “Sorry”.