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Personal
Reflections on AfricanMatters!
Speaking of "editorial comments" -- this is the section
of AllAfricaMatters for which you have been anxiously
awaiting! Yes -- I do have my own opinions -- and I offer them "unedited"
in this section of the website. Hopefully, this section will be
tied soon to a "blog page" so that you can respond to
my ramblings. This section will expand in the future -- so visit
often to see what wild observations I am making!
_______________________________________________________________
Entry One:
June 20, 2007
Reflections on Darfur: A primary example of the moral failure of
the global community to respond to a universal ethics of need. Another
example of the failure of democratic civil society in an African
state.
What can I say about Darfur that has not already been said many
times? In truth -- not much! But unfortunately, it doesn't seem
to matter what is said or who says it. The bloody travesty of injustice
and violation of basic human rights simply continues. The world
community might as well be both deaf and blind to what is happening.
The desperate cries for help and the unending sights of human suffering
seem to have no tangible effect on producing action to end this
crisis. The world listens and watches -- and does little or nothing
to stop the slaughter.
Who is to blame? Practically everyone! Obviously, the government
of Sudan deserves to be #1 on the list of "Most To Blame"
-- but there is no shortage of additional culprits.
Start with China -- whose greed for African allies and resources
apparently trumps its concern for human rights.
Add the (In)Security Council of the United Nations -- basically
dysfunctional in this matter -- and so many other issues.
Certainly include "the high and mighty" United States
and most other western democracies -- apparently content to do little
beyond offering verbal condemnation -- over and over.
Be sure to insert the African Union -- and most African states --
on the list. It seems Sudan's African neighbors lack the guts and
political will to stand up to tyranny and genocide on this issue.
And the spotlight also has to shine on the millions of affluent
"want-to-be do-gooders" of the world -- that segment of
"secure humankind" who sit in the comfort of well-fed,
healthy and somewhat legally just civil societies and watch on big
screen TVs the carnage occur -- only to sip another Starbuck's latte
while decrying "the inhumanity out there."
Whose responsibility is it to end Darfur's horror? Ending Darfur's
horror belongs to all of us. It is the responsibility of all people
with any sense of compassion and respect for basic human justice.
To those who feel or proclaim "powerlessness" in this
matter -- I call bullshit!
It is not beyond "our physical capability" to engage such
injustice through meaningful action. It does -- however -- seem
to be beyond our "political willingness" to mobilize our
capability for anything beyond the narrowest of self-interests.
Far too often, global need and suffering initiates little beyond
verbal outrage. The debacle of Iraq makes it even more obvious to
those in real need of global assistance the failure of understanding
and compassion of those who have for those who need.
It is as if the self-proclaimed moral powers of the world are only
moral facades. "As you do it for the least of those" seems
rhetoric for religious piety and self-promotion -- not a roadmap
for moral individual or community action.
The world does not need additional justification to act on issues
such as Darfur. The world's justification is written in the great
traditions, texts and commentaries of all major religions. It is
codified in the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights -- to which almost all nation-states
are signatory.
Moral justification is all around us. What is missing is the leadership
to apply our moral beliefs to concrete examples of human injustice
and need. The world urgently needs charismatic leadership grounded
in a compassionate ethics of need -- not a consumptive glorification
of greed. But such leaders seem absent or silent in today's world.
And until we cultivate and value such charismatic visionaries --
the Darfurs of our world will march before us unobstructed. Darfur
is more than a terrible event -- it is a symbol of our persistent
failure to act on our most basic codes of justice.
(You can go to the AllAfricanMatters
Blog to respond to the above entry.)
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(This page is under construction.)
Robert Anderson and his office at Elon University.
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