"Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time .." Winston Churchill, House of Commons, 1947
(December 19, 2016) As the Trump election "victory" in the USA descends into mayhem I would remind the world (or at least my world) of the founding principles of the United States of America. These principles, based on the philosophy of the Englishman John Locke, known as "the father of Liberalism" express a belief in natural, inalienable rights that cannot be repealed or restrained by human laws and a social contract.that limits the authority of the state over the individual.
To my friends from Asia, Africa and South America, I wish to say that I am not Euro or American centred. I believe that every world culture, large or small, has something fine to offer the human race and that international relationships should be based on respect, diplomacy and the desire for world peace. But I am from the west of the world and I also believe that it is time that the "west" went back to basics and to remember those humanist and individualistic principles that have been the rock on which our prosperity, our liberties and any "greatness" is founded. So, as the Electoral College of the USA meets to decide if a petulant, spiteful, selfish, ignorant and dishonest big baby with hardly a coherent policy to his name should be the one who inherits responsibility for the fate of our principles (and our lives!) I offer a voice of sanity. And a warning.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." Declaration of Independence of the United States of America July 4, 1776.
Destiny
Arvamus
TRENDING
