Topic of the month: Democracy and the problems thereof

Fysh

simu wrote:

Well, the UN Human Rights Convention is also an arbitrary set of rules ...

As is pretty much any set of rules. But at some point we have to try and work out what we all have in common as a species, rather than building systems specifically designed around what differentiates us from each other. And I would agree that a right to have an influence on the leadership of the society one is a member of should be open to all.

DadaKopf

Interesting. This is something I'm typing up in my thesis right now. Some would argue that particular forms of democracy are, quite simply, universal. The same goes for human rights. Others rightly point to the 'fact' that the political concepts sweeping the world are not only Western in origin, and therefore relative, but that their 'universality' is grounded in the West's supremacy over the world's politics, economics and culture. Rights are a modern concept, while duty and dignity characterise other region's moral systems. The form of democracy being advocated is specifically a Western liberal democracy. And it just so happens that these two ideas (1) support each other and (2) give moral weight to the West's political and economic ambitions. Although, it has to be said that brutal dictators hid behind these accusations when it meant they could preserve their rule.

We nevertheless like to imagine that there's something exceptional about our epitome of moral achievement.

Nevertheless, whatever the context of power, many of our human rights covenants were internationally negotiated and should, at least to a significant extent, enjoy a status nearing 'universality', but stopping way short.

Having watched The Power of Nightmares last night, I'm even more scared by the possibility that any group of people could ever lay claim to transcendent, universalist knowledge about right and wrong, good and evil.