[Peace-discuss] opinion shaping in the entertaiment media

[C. G. Estabrook]

Someone has suggested "Predator drones...perhaps emblazoned with the image of 
MLK..."

Chomsky, in his lecture this summer at the UN General Assembly attacking 
"responsibility to protect" (R2P):

    "The discussions about R2P, or its cousin 'humanitarian intervention,' are 
regularly disturbed by the rattling of a skeleton in the closet: history, to the 
present moment. Throughout history, there have been a few principles of 
international affairs that apply quite generally. One is the maxim of Thucydides 
that the strong do as they wish while the weak suffer as they must...

    "The maxims that largely guide international affairs are not graven in 
stone, and, in fact, have become considerably less harsh over the years as a 
result of the civilizing effect of popular movements. For that continuing and 
essential project, R2P can be a valuable tool, much as the Universal Declaration 
of Human Rights has been. Even though states do not adhere to the UD, and some 
formally reject much of it (crucially including the world's most powerful 
state), nonetheless it serves as an ideal that activists can appeal to in 
educational and organizing efforts, often effectively. My suspicion is that a 
major contribution of the discussion of R2P may turn out to be rather similar, 
and with sufficient commitment, unfortunately not yet detectable among the 
powerful, it could be significant indeed."

E.Wayne Johnson wrote:
> The Obama Perversion seems to be way past Orwellian.  It's incredible 
> but not surprising that the Great Poseur invokes Dr. King for a complete 
> reversal.  One would hope that this would be the mene mene tekel 
> upharsin moment for Mr. Obama.  There can be no doubt there are very 
> powerful forces behind the Obot.  He's certainly got a damn good 
> battery... He keeps going like the Energizer Bunny.
> 
> ***
> 
> I am not wanting to disagree with you Karen.
> 
> The Universal Declaration has a lot of really good points in it.
> 
> But it modifies the Lockian triad of Life, Liberty, and Property to 
> Life, Liberty and "Security" which is going to be troubling language for 
> many. Article 17 seems to restore part of the Lockian right to property, 
> but really Article 3 is going to cause many to reject this Declaration.  
> There are those who rather eschew security and mistrust those who seem 
> to offer it.
> 
> The Patriot Act and other Authoritarian measures seem to guarantee 
> security to the appropriately submissive ones.  "Cruel, magnificent, 
> roasting your people.  I am secure at the end of your rod." - Hitchcock
> 
> *
> 
> I am also a bit suspicious of these phrases:  " ... acts contrary to the 
> purposes and principles of the United Nations.",
> and "These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to 
> the purposes and principles of the United Nations."
> 
> I guess that's because I do perceive the UN to be "Biggest Brother".
> 
> articles 28 and 29 I would interpret as being quite Authoritarian as 
> written---
> Article 28
>> Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the
>> rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully
>> realized.
> 
>> Article 29
>> Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full
>> development of his personality is possible.
>> In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject
>> only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the
>> purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and
>> freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality,
>> public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
>> These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the
>> purposes and principles of the United Nations.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Karen Medina" <kmedina67 at gmail.com>
> To: "Peace-discuss List" <Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
> Sent: Thursday, December 17, 2009 12:18 AM
> Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] opinion shaping in the entertaiment media
> 
> 
>> Sheesh it is late or something.
>>
>> Should have been:
>> As if they are saying: "It is Good and Just and Moral if WE do it."
>> The writers seem stuck in an immature stage of understanding what
>> justice and morality are. The writers are not the only ones.
>>
>>> "There will be times when nations - acting individually or in concert
>>> - will find the use of force not only necessary but morally
>>> justified."
>> - from Obama's Nobel peace prize acceptance speech
>>
>> "Violence never brings permanent peace. It solves no social problem:
>> it merely creates new and more complicated ones." - MLKing
>>
>> "instruments of war do have a role to play in preserving the peace." - 
>> Obama
>>
>> "Where force is necessary, we have a moral and strategic interest in
>> binding ourselves to certain rules of conduct. And even as we confront
>> a vicious adversary that abides by no rules, I believe that the United
>> States of America must remain a standard bearer in the conduct of war.
>> That is what makes us different from those whom we fight. " - Obama
>>
>> "Those who claim to respect international law cannot avert their eyes
>> when those laws are flouted." (except when the flouter is the US and
>> Israel)
>>
>> -------------------------------------
>> How did we get from the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" to
>> today's short-sighted and immature understanding of peace, justice,
>> and morality?
>> 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.
>> Article 2
>> Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this
>> Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour,
>> sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or
>> social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no
>> distinction shall be made on the basis of the political,
>> jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to
>> which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust,
>> non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.
>> Article 3
>> Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
>> Article 4
>> No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave
>> trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
>> Article 5
>> No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading
>> treatment or punishment.
>> Article 6
>> Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before 
>> the law.
>> Article 7
>> All are equal before the law and are entitled without any
>> discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to
>> equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this
>> Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.
>> Article 8
>> Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent
>> national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted
>> him by the constitution or by law.
>> Article 9
>> No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
>> Article 10
>> Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by
>> an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his
>> rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
>> Article 11
>> Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed
>> innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at
>> which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
>> No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act
>> or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national
>> or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a
>> heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the
>> time the penal offence was committed.
>> Article 12
>> No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy,
>> family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and
>> reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law
>> against such interference or attacks.
>> Article 13
>> Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the
>> borders of each state.
>> Everyone has the right to leave any country, including their own, and
>> to return to their country.
>> Article 14
>> Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum
>> from persecution.
>> This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely
>> arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the
>> purposes and principles of the United Nations.
>> Article 15
>> Everyone has the right to a nationality.
>> No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the
>> right to change his nationality.
>> Article 16
>> Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race,
>> nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a
>> family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during
>> marriage and at its dissolution.
>> Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of
>> the intending spouses.
>> The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is
>> entitled to protection by society and the State.
>> Article 17
>> Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association
>> with others.
>> No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
>> Article 18
>> Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion;
>> this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and
>> freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or
>> private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice,
>> worship and observance.
>> Article 19
>> Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this
>> right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to
>> seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and
>> regardless of frontiers.
>> Article 20
>> Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
>> No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
>> Article 21
>> Everyone has the right to take part in the government of their
>> country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
>> Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in their 
>> country.
>> The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of
>> government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine
>> elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be
>> held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.
>> Article 22
>> Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and
>> is entitled to realization, through national effort and international
>> co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of
>> each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable
>> for his dignity and the free development of his personality.
>> Article 23
>> Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just
>> and favourable conditions of work and to protection against
>> unemployment.
>> Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for 
>> equal work.
>> Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration
>> ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human
>> dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social
>> protection.
>> Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the
>> protection of his interests.
>> Article 24
>> Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable
>> limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
>> Article 25
>> Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health
>> and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing,
>> housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right
>> to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability,
>> widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond
>> his control.
>> Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance.
>> All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same
>> social protection.
>> Article 26
>> Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least
>> in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall
>> be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made
>> generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible
>> to all on the basis of merit.
>> Education shall be directed to the full development of the human
>> personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and
>> fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and
>> friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall
>> further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of
>> peace.
>> Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall
>> be given to their children.
>> Article 27
>> Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of
>> the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific
>> advancement and its benefits.
>> Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material
>> interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic
>> production of which he is the author.
>> Article 28
>> Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the
>> rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully
>> realized.
>> Article 29
>> Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full
>> development of his personality is possible.
>> In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject
>> only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the
>> purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and
>> freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality,
>> public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
>> These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the
>> purposes and principles of the United Nations.
>> Article 30
>> Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any
>> State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to
>> perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and
>> freedoms set forth herein.
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> 
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