Tribe Pride and Pandering (self-centeredness) Costs and Consequences

Contemporary Poll Tax—Distraction, Disunity, Depletion, Disempowerment

O

n their Never-ending, 24/7, road to the Polls, Politicians exploit (use, abuse) and manipulate the population causing the whole society and societal needs suffer.

• Early June 2019, U.S. Department of State says no to U.S. embassies request to fly rainbow flag on state property.

Schizophrenic Trump representative in Germany, who has a penchant for lecturing the German government on how to handle its domestic affairs, is said to be “leading the” (no rainbow flags on embassies) “‘Trump administration’s campaign’ to decriminalize homosexuality” in scores of countries—no doubt those U.S.-occupied, colonized or otherwise prey to U.S. might — “outside the United States.”

• First of June, “on the eve of ‘Pride Month,’” vandal(s) set rainbow flags alight outside a bar in Harlem, New York, and a social media son (or daughter) reportedly threatens: “Whoever burned a set of rainbow flags outside an LGBTQ bar in Harlem needs to watch their back.”

New York’s governor declares himself “honored to raise the LGBTQ flag over the State Capitol … proudly stand(ing) with the LGBTQ community, during ‘Pride Month’ and always, even if the Trump administration does not.”

• Mid June, California’s governor declares California “celebrates and supports … our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community’s right to live out loud — during ‘Pride month’ and every month”; and that the rainbow flag will top the State House through the month of June.

Civil war still on: Vandalism strikes again

• Mid June Vandals spray paint Confederate monument in Nashville, Tennessee’s Centennial Park. Metropolitan police tell the New York Daily News the “political” content of the graffiti is a first. 

I

n no way do I oppose human rights. I stand for the principles never fully achieved set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights published in 1948.

• I am against self-serving tribalism, either in the partisan political sense or in the ethnic sense.
• I am against acts and tactics of manipulation. 
• I am unsupportive of those who succumb to such manipulation whether among ordinary people or among politicians, mass media or other power sources or influences. 
• I am against those who fail to see; or who deliberately or inadvertently undermine the chances of all people in all places in all times achieving basic human rights.
• I also believe in the clear and sharp separation of church (however defined or manifest) and state; 
• I also oppose the imposition, in a public sphere (open-air or broadcasting), of someone else's religion, dogma or proselytizing. 

 

U

niversal Declaration of Human Rights (excerpts)

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)—

“… a milestone document in the history of human rights drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world” and “proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on December 10, 1948 (General Assembly resolution 217 A) as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations.”

Preamble (excerpt) recognizes …

“the inherent dignity” and “the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family (as) the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world”

3

0 Articles (excerpt)

• 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 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: (1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. (2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work. (3) 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. (4) 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: (1) 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. (2) 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: (1) 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. (2) 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. (3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

• Article 27: (1) 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. (2) 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.

T

hose who disregard established principles and conventions of United Nations, those who oppose or ignore the UN or consider it passé are concerned neither with society at large nor with fundamental rights due all people. Their concern (politician or ordinary person) does not reach beyond self. Regardless to the face or pretense they put on it, theirs is the pursuit and achievement, exclusively, of their own private, narrowly drawn interests and goals.

News sources

New York Daily News “Rainbow flags set on fire outside Harlem bar on eve of Pride Month, ” Muri Assunção, June 1, 2019 http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-cuomo-harlem-lgbtq-lounge-pride-flag-burned-20190601-3iwegrekrvc45f357gqyyngro4-story.html

New York Daily News “Trump administration blocks U.S. embassies from flying rainbow flags for Pride month,” Dave Goldiner and Chris Sommerfeldt June 7, 2019 http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-trump-embassy-flag-pride-lgbt-gay-20190607-z54i7j3nivgm5csjinba25qd2i-story.html

Washington Examiner “State Department rejects US embassy requests to fly LGBTQ pride flags on flagpoles” Tim Pearce, June 7, 2019 https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/state-dept-rejects-us-embassies-requests-to-fly-lgbtq-pride-flags-on-flagpoles

New York Daily News “Confederate monument in Nashville park vandalized with ‘They were racists’ graffiti” June 17, 2019 http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-nashville-confederate-statue-racist-20190617-gthuuhihyjbx3k7ysndnach5gu-story.html

United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights

https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/

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