“learned Than the people through the radio that their state had yielded to the heads of the animals, and the eternal peace Treaty was solemnly signed, broke out in such jubilation on the earth, that the earth’s axis bent by half a centimeter.”
Erich Kästner, “The conference of the animals” (1949)
The most important Text in the history of mankind is nearly 1300 words in length and fits three A4 pages. It shows that we were in front of 70 years ago more than today. If only for a brief Moment.
On 10. December 1948 was adopted, against all probability, the “universal Declaration of human rights” – without being legally binding.
the authors were a canadian, a Lebanese, two French, and Chinese, under the leadership of an American, Eleanor Roosevelt. The ideas, among others: Thomas Paine (“The world is my country, and to do Good my Religion”), George Mason, French Revolutionary, Immanuel Kant, Socrates, Epicurus, and the Chinese philosopher, Mi To or Micius. The suggested 500 years before Christ, you could but “other States, such as the own, other families as one’s own and other people such as yourself.”
because Of “Western values”.
The strange birth attendants from Broadway
The most unlikely midwife of the improbable text, but the Broadway actor Garry Davis. In may 1948, Davis had submitted, under the impression of his experiences as a U.S. bomber pilot in the Second world war, his US passport and the “citizen of the world no 1” declared.
While in Paris, the UN General Assembly was in session, came to the conference site, kindly cared for by passers-by and local residents. Was supported Davis of Intellectuals, anarchists, trade unionists, artists and activists, including André Breton and Albert Camus.
On 18. November 1948, Davis and several of his cohorts gained access to the conference room. During a speech to the Yugoslav delegates Davis of the gallery is not started, according to strong a statement to put forward: “delegates, I hereby, on behalf of the world’s people, is not represented here…” he came. He was Packed up and taken away.
“The sovereign States, which represent”
While Davis is in custody of a landed – less prisoner on the officially supranational UN-site – lease his companion in the meeting room, the multi-lingual explanation. They called for a “world government”, because “the sovereign States you represent divide us and lead us to the abyss of universal war.”
Shortly thereafter, solidarity met in the expressions for the citizens of the world movement, including Albert Einstein and Albert Schweitzer. The idea of a common humanity’s fate was in the world.
While the UN in the following weeks, divided by the looming Cold war, the human rights ranking, the Parisian on the street. Also in other European cities, such as Brussels and London, and formed associations with Thousands of members, the Davis and the world citizen-the Declaration supported.
Only one of the objectors States, there are still
As Davis at the 3. December, again in freedom, in the Salle Pleyel in Paris, 3000. On 9. December, gathered in, according to the source, to 12,000 or even 20,000 Davis Fans in the Paris Vélodrôme d’hiver. In front of the building of the UN General Assembly was demonstrated. All of the “put the delegates under so much pressure that you on 10. December, could not otherwise than by the universal Declaration of human rights”, – Betpas stated in a brochure (PDF, 5.4 MB), and the Giordano-Bruno-Foundation 70. The anniversary has launched. Also, if Davis wanted far more than the UN.
of the 48 States voted in favour, eight abstained. Six of them no longer exist, the countries of the former Eastern bloc. The seventh was the apartheid state of South Africa. The eighth country that did not cooperate with this, due to the provision for freedom of religion, was Saudi-Arabia – from today’s perspective, very enlightening.
Who today manages to stick to these 30 rules?
in fact, only Saudi Arabia is not a violation, by no means, constantly against the Declaration. Against the prohibition of “torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” the prohibition of the equality of man and woman, freedom of expression and religion, the discrimination.
Guantanamo, drone killings, mass surveillance, even the United States of the Obama years, managed not to observe human rights. Under Donald Trump, it’s become even worse.
And about the right to “equal pay for equal work” is known to be implemented almost anywhere in the world, the keyword “Gender Pay Gap”. Human Rights Watch catalogued in 2017, violations of human rights in more than 90 countries.
human rights enemies and human enemies
It is worth, the universal Declaration of human rights to make, once in a while. It shows clearly that humanity was in their self-knowledge ever more than it is today. Now the men in Power who want to not only secretly, but explicitly behind these freedoms and rights for all: from Orbán to Bolsonaro, from Erdogan to Duterte, from Putin to Trump.
Therefore, Garry Davis is’ the Ideal citizen of the world today more important than ever: If we do not understand that we are one humanity, we will fail to meet the global challenges of a globalized world, the exponential technological development, climate change, the threat of nuclear war, and so on.
state of President Davis?
In Erich kästner’s input quoted novel “for children and connoisseurs” was the idea of a peaceful world without borders directly to Davis’s Paris campaign literature classics. Whether Kästner Davis has ever met, I don’t know of him knew he must have – alone, the MIRROR reported in 1948 and 1949, a number of times about the “world citizen No. 1”. In a survey in 1949, after all, seven MIRROR-readers in favour of the stateless Davis as German President. Soon to be a documentary comes out about him to the cinema.
THE MIRROR 40/1948: citizen of the world no 1, THE MIRROR 45/1948: citizen of the world no 1, THE MIRROR 10/1949: have your say
Until his death in 2013 was Davis’ organization, more than 500,000 symbolic “citizen of the world”-passports – one of the last of Edward Snowden. We should not forget him.