Bob Dylan
I used to try to change the world. Make it better. Make governments and societies adhere to Human Rights, Women`s Rights, Child Rights. That was at a time, I still thought these Rights were natural laws. It was before Yuval Noah Harari taught me that these rights are just stories very clever human beings have made up and are trying to make everybody believe in. They are like all religions, invented by people with very strong convictions and beliefs. They are not a scientific finding like; - the planet is round or - the law of gravity.
Now my ambitions are more modest. I`m trying to change myself. I would like to become a variation of Bernt, less materialistic, less selfish, kinder to those closest to me and with more sustainable patterns of consumption. That, too, has turned out to be more difficult than expected.
The once opiniated, angry, young man still listens to a lot of music, but now there are algorithms preparing his playlists. Some parts of me have obviously resigned. Given in. Given up.
While working for the UN, there was clearly something wrong with my expectations. If Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed and Confucious did not manage to eliminate poverty and stop killings of innocent people, it was probably wrong to believe that randomly elected officials around the globe could achieve much.
Heads of Governments in democratic countries are elected to deliver what voters ask for in a four- or five-year period. Their aim is to be reelected. They are not governing for the good of future generations, or the planet. A pity, it took me way too long to figure this out.
I used to believe countries signing international charters, conventions, agreements, rules and regulations gave these documents the same status as natural laws. Like the law of gravity, I thought governments and societies could not oppose or ignore them.
My speeches, interviews, writings, press-releases and negotiations usually made me happy. But, honestly, beyond that, did not have much impact. I was addicted to the idea of right-based societies. Trapped in a bubble. Blinded by the light. But I have no regrets. I`m not bitter. Learning to live with defeat is an important lesson in life.
Now I grow the land and harvest my fruits and vegetables. I`m back to basics, close to nature and trying to become a friend of birds, sloths and monkeys visiting La Finca. I`m trying to live like a friend of the tropical rainforest.
And, I enjoy Watching the river flow.
First I tried to change the world. It didn’t work. Then I tried to change UNICEF so UNICEF could change the world. It didn’t work either.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, the world is changing for the better, even without UNICEF. It may not seem like it, but the world is getting better every day, and every human has a little role to play in it. We just have to be realistic with our ambitions.
Thanks for noticing my piece, Detlef. I wish I shared your view on the planet becoming a better place for our children and grandchildren. I agree there are statistics showing progress on social indicator for many countries - and globally. But even if our grandchildren lives to become 110 years old, I very much doubt they will have the quality of life you and I have had. Hopefully, I`m wrong again.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your thoughts Bernt. The last couple of years have been an especially traumatic and dispiriting time for those of us who believed in the rightousness of human rights and in what we spent years trying to achieve. Children first? Was it all a waste of time? Sometimes it seems like that and we see it every day, in Gaza, in Ukraine, in Sudan and many other places. But the ideals are still there, still valid; the struggle continues and there are many who have taken up the torch, albeit in different ways. There must always be hope.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading and commenting. There may have been an element of supremacy in our attitude, but we did our best.
DeleteThanks dear Bernt for sharing your reflection on your experience in the field of human rights promotion.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to your story and at the same time recognize that human rights realization across is a dream humans aspire to. It’s frustrating to see that diverse interests across the world are a serious impediment to that aspiration.
I am even more frustrated to see that the leaders of our world don’t do enough in ensuring that investments are made to take care of the only planet we have. I started questioning the current paradigm of development that drives the world with the so called development indicators.
I believe the world needs like-minded people who keep fighting for the public good as I trust that time will come when humans will come to the conclusion that the future of the world depends on the collaboration of all nations in delivering the wellbeing for all.
Aloys Kamuragiye
Aloys, thanks for reading and commenting. As Tad commented, there are others that have taken up the torch. May they be more successful than our generation!
DeleteThank you BA! Some of us have also gone into the La Finca mode. Changing the world has become costlier. The new humanitarian is more street wise and cautious. Humanitarianism is now an extensively regulated sector with refined repackaging expertise showing positivity in collective failures. Ironically, the development walas continue to treasure their fondness of the MDGs, and their success only if a few assumptions were right! Perhaps a similar script is assembling of the SDGs with intellectually empowered construction of the next unattainable DGs!
ReplyDeleteLa Finca, is undoubtedly a better choice! Stay well brother
Thanks for reading and commenting. Indeed, MDGs and SDGs made sense in the context of the fall of the Berlin wall. But today, with the planet burning, I`m not sure what to make of this school of thinking. By the way, the last 10 years, I have never heard heads of state in Europe or Latin America ever mention the SDGs.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Bernt. I truly appreciate your thoughts. I believe in "Candide", it was written by Voltaire, "il faut cultiver notre jardin" (forgive my French!). On the other hand, perhaps, Bob Dylan went on to write more songs of protest after his break to commune with nature - for George Jackson, Hurricane Carter, and the great "Blind Willie McTell". So, perhaps, the two approaches are not mutually exclusive ... Very best.
ReplyDeleteI very much appreciate the comments from this anonymous Dylan nerd. We have so much in common.
DeleteAnd, P.S., I think it is fair to point out that not everyone on earth has a garden to cultivate (land theft, born in extreme poverty, etc). So there is that too, may I suggest, to be considered when making our individual choices.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right, Richard. Many of us XUNICEF are immensely privileged and I am surprised to find how difficult it is for me change my pattern of consumption and share my personal wealth in solidarity with the poor.
DeleteThanks Bernt for a really thought provoking article. The proof is that it has elicited more comments from our XUNICEF members than most other writings. We are more than pleased as volunteer editors to publish such articles in our blog and hope that others will emulate you. Many of us have worked for decades in UNICEF with both a vision of betterment for the world's vulnerable children, and the belief that we were actually participating ,in our own small way, in this honorable endeavour. Like you, I am sure many are ruminating on what has actually happened to our travails and was it really worth it? As some have said, there are certainly improvements in various areas of human development, yet somehow there is also an increasing feeling these days that the world has lost much of its humanity in a few palpable ways. Are we better off despite it? A thought in progress, surely.
ReplyDelete