Sep 9, 2006 11:30:00 AM cite

Audrey Kitagawa: Basic dignities that each human being deserves, be -- to have proper food, shelter, clothing as well as to be respected as an individual, as a human being, to be afforded certain freedoms, freedoms of expression, freedom of speech, to have certain rights accorded to them, the right to education, and there's a whole plethora of ways that we can say this dignifies the human being. Why do we have so many people go without them? This is a very complex reason why people are divested of their freedoms. It depends on the political situation of the country. Many of the disparities that are created by our current economic systems as well as our political systems and institutions that we must all be inspired to be able to see where these indignities may occur, because we basically want to be able to live life as just people that recognize and wish to honor and dignify the lives of not only human beings but of all living beings. And so to that extent we have much work to do to live life in a way that will help our brothers and sisters to be able to have these basic dignities, these basic rights, and also to be able to understand that our ability to do this helps to make us better human beings, to develop the compassionate heart, the loving heart for each other that will weep to see when indignities occur in our brothers and sisters around the world.

by Audrey Kitagawa

Sep 9, 2006 11:30:00 AM cite

Benjamin Fahrer: What are the basic dignities that each human deserves and why do we let so many people go without them? It’s a really good question. The basic human rights is access to the commons, access to clean water, to air, to land, to grow food, to communication, to freedoms. This are common, it should be basic to everyone that lives. Unfortunately, we live in a system now that has taken that, has taken away people’s common rights, common dignities to live and to be human. What it means to be human? We’re not human doers, we’re human beings. And so we need to have access to these resources in order to be. In order to be.

by Benjamin Fahrer

Sep 9, 2006 11:30:00 AM cite

Benson Venegas: Basic dignities that a person in this world deserve are freedom, equality, justice, love, work, self-determination, health care, and also the possibility for religious freedom. When these values enter in competition with political social interest if some systems, then some governments stand to reduce or limit these universal values in people. We need to recognize that these values are important and that people need to go with these values. Always. Thank you.

by Benson Venegas

Sep 9, 2006 11:30:00 AM cite

Beverly Schwartz:

by Beverly Schwartz

Sep 9, 2006 11:30:00 AM cite

Bianca Jagger: Answertext will be available soon.

by Bianca Jagger

Sep 9, 2006 11:30:00 AM cite

Bill Joy: Well, the universal declaration of human rights has a long list of dignities that human beings all deserve and I would recommend that everyone look it up on the internet or at the library. Things like no slavery, equal protection under the law, no torture, no arbitrary arrest, fair trials and the list goes on and on. And this document is fifty years old and we subscribe to it. But we’re a long way from having all these rights recognized throughout the world. And I think it’s because people who are in power often for political or economic reasons choose to not respect these rights. So it’s been a long struggle for these rights and rebelling against tyranny, rebelling against all of these people who oppress us is a very difficult thing. Just say the right to everyone to have an education is against tradition in some societies. So we can struggle hopefully to give everyone enough food, to give everyone an education, but as long as people derive their power from riling people up and oppressing certain groups within their society it’s going to be hard to achieve the lofty and very real goals of things like the universal declaration of human rights.

by Bill Joy

Sep 9, 2006 11:30:00 AM cite

Bora Cosic: Each person has to gain the human dignity for him self. However before that, he must resign of every kind of self oppression through: politics, ideology, religion, nationalistic narrowness. We must remember how many people in foretime, (for example of my country, and of society where I lived, grow up, and developed) in socialism, (no matter what kind of socialism, the soft one of former Yugoslavia or the hard one of Columbia), were ready to sacrifice them self, not in the sense of sacrificing one self in the war or in some big battle, but in the complications of everyday life of these societies. This underlying to the every decision of government on harm of own integrity, that was the problem of people of that era. When the human being must own his dignity with his own resources.

by Bora Cosic

Sep 9, 2006 11:30:00 AM cite

Brian J. Weller: Basic dignities, this links to the last question really. Our dignity really refers to worth. In human terms, being treated with due respect. I’m reminded of the expression “do as you would be done by,” the basic law of Karma. I guess by treating each other as sovereign beings. I think basic human dignities are the cornerstones of a just and sustainable community; social justice, greater equality among nations, within nations, between ethnic groups, classes, between men and women and children. I think these are the basic dignities. We let these go really at our peril, and maybe the reason we do that is because we judge each other. We judge people before we truly appreciate their differences. So, returning to this sense of dignity, or these basic dignities, I think is learning again to see the highest good in each other. If we can do that, then our perception and our behavior will follow. My God, love one another. I think that’s the key to respect.

by Brian J. Weller

Sep 9, 2006 11:30:00 AM cite

Catherine David: I think that deals with the same things as the previous question. Everybody knows the basic dignities of humanity even if not everybody knows where they are laid down exactly. So why do we leave so many people without these rights? We have to start by considering the state of things at our countries, in the streets and the metro in Paris and in Berlin so its not necessary to glance on countries which are far away. So why we refuse them the same rights? Because of a simple lack of political will.

by Catherine David

Sep 9, 2006 11:30:00 AM cite

China Keitetsi: I think every human being should have a sense of belonging. Every human being should never be raped, for example. Every human being should not go without food. Every human being should have a home and every human being should live in an environment where they have no fear. They have to live in an environment where they are not told what to do. They should live in an environment where they don't have to do anything against their will, but I also feel that many have been betrayed. For example, in Africa there are women sitting there and watching how children die. And yet in the world here we sit and we think everything is fine. Everything we have here- water, Coca Cola- if you want you can even wash, take a shower with it. And there are, for example, children in Africa which have never even tasted Coca Cola. I don't say Coca Cola is a nice thing for a child. It was funny for me when people were asking me yes, China, you've been a soldier all your life and yet your teeth are very nice. How did you do it? I didn't eat sweets. I didn't drink Coca Cola. This was very funny. I think that it also changing because as you see 112 people are sitting here with me and are all fighting for the good of the world. So it is not like 10, 20 years ago where, for example, dictators had to kill and they get away with it. It's not any more easier for dictators to be corrupt and get away with it. But I think we should do more. I think everyone who is over 20 years old should take such a responsibility very personal.

by China Keitetsi

Sep 9, 2006 11:30:00 AM cite

Cornel West: I believe every human being has a sanctity and a dignity and that translates into every human being deserving an access to water, shelter, quality education, decent healthcare, and, in fact, a job with a living wage. This requires then a social system, a form of democratic globalization that keeps track of what each precious human being deserves in the form of the healthcare, a job, individual rights to speak their mind, personal liberties to make their choices regarding their own destiny, have shelter, water, and food. So, this is in the end a fundamentally moral question; and there is a long tradition that talks about each human being being a creature who deserves dignity and the question is how do we translate it into a democratic globalization movement, so that these needs and rights are not only talked about, but are actually acquired on the ground by concrete persons.

by Cornel West

Sep 9, 2006 11:30:00 AM cite

Dedi Baron: Answertext will be available soon.

by Dedi Baron

Sep 9, 2006 11:30:00 AM cite

Donato Bayu Bay Bumacas: Well, as I said, the basic dignities of human beings would go for the basic rights of every human being in this world to live in dignity, to have equal access to resources, to have access for pure and clean air, water, food, shelter, clothing. Those are the basic human rights and the basic dignities of human beings. And often times not all people, individual in this world enjoy those basic human rights and human dignity to live in decent lives, to have access for clean air, clean water, food, clothing and shelter. And, it's just really sad to see people without them. And, those who have let these things happen and maybe perhaps the question is how should those people who are having those much can provide those less fortunate brethren so they can also enjoy the basic human rights and maintain their human dignity and integrity.

by Donato Bayu Bay Bumacas

Sep 9, 2006 11:30:00 AM cite

Dritëro Kasapi: Hello, Claire. Basic dignities, the right to life, the right to education, the right to choose in general, the right to move freely, the right to express thoughts. I think they’re charted very well in the human rights chart. Why do we let so many people go without them is because we don’t care enough, I suppose. That would be my answer. We need to care more. But, it also means that we take it for granted. The basic dignities much of the Western world enjoys I think we take for granted, which means that we don’t value them enough. If we value them enough, if we understood the value of them, I think if we appreciated them more, we would also care more about other people having them. I think that’s what we lack - appreciation of our own, appreciation of what we have, what we enjoy.

by Dritëro Kasapi

Sep 9, 2006 11:30:00 AM cite

Eliane Potiguara: The basic dignity of the human being is to become respected on the surface of this planet. It is necessary that we put ourselves in the position of the other one since when you swap positions you will know what's best for the other one. From that other position we will see that the others lack a quality of life, they lack nutrition, lack freedom of speech, lack almost everything. Then we will start to respect the other one and after putting ourselves in that other position we will know what the other really is in need of. As long as we don't undergo that experience and remain in "our little universe" we cannot grow. And that's the reason why the world is like it is. Everybody wants to stay in his little universe, in his little flat, with his little car and all their other stuff, the world is divided in its compartments. We indigenous people, we work differently, in our community we always understand what the needs of the other one are. It's an ethical thing when people put themselves in the position of another one, it's the highest form of respect and of having ethics. This is the highest value of the human being.

by Eliane Potiguara

Sep 9, 2006 11:30:00 AM cite

Eliot Weinberger: Well, you have to see about the, I don’t know if dignity is the word, but you have the physical needs and then you have our sort of intellectual and spiritual needs. And obviously on the one hand, basic dignity is food and shelter and health. But on the other hand, you have the idea of absolute freedom of expression. And I think that the great disaster of many of the Marxist countries was that they were quite good on the one hand in providing food and shelter and education and healthcare. And yet, they did it at the expense of absolute lack of freedom, freedom of expression. And I’ve never understood why the proletariat paradise has to have strict censorship. Why you can’t have freedom of expression while still providing the people with their basic needs. And this seems to be one of the tragedies of the 20th century and what we do in the 21st century remains to be seen, but we somehow have to evolve that kind of system where people eat and people can speak.

by Eliot Weinberger

Sep 9, 2006 11:30:00 AM cite

Elisabet Sahtouris: Interesting question Claire, about what basic dignities human beings deserve and why we let so many people go without them. I would say that the basic dignities for human beings are that we respect each other, that we help each other to grow, to flourish, to meet our own individual -- to mesh our individual talents with the needs of the world. And, we have a world of great inequities at present. We all know that. And, we are trying hard through the United Nations, through united religion initiatives, through interfaith dialogues, through intercultural exchanges, and so forth to talk more and more about the basic human dignities. The UN has addressed them. It’s difficult to change traditions that don’t work and change traditions that don’t permit the basic dignities to all of their people. And, among those our newer tradition such as capitalism, which makes some people poor, while other people amass great wealth, things that we’ve addressed in other questions today at this round table. And so, we have to keep working toward an equitable society that runs more the way your body does, where the cells are all of equal economic status in your body, they are all nourished and they all contribute to the body’s economy, which is a magnificent example of how an economy can function well until something goes wrong in it, like a cancer where some cells stop caring about the rest of the community. People understand very well that in a family it doesn’t work well if one of the members is neglected or ill or angry or something like that. And, we understand that also in small local communities. We have trouble thinking this in terms of larger communities, nations in the world. We must learn to see all of us as a healthy living system in which every human being is unique, important, deserves, love, respect, and care from others. And, I think our future brighten.

by Elisabet Sahtouris

Sep 9, 2006 11:30:00 AM cite

Ervin Laszlo: The basic dignities are the right to a fulfilling and dignified life. That means fulfilling the basic needs as well as the need for developments, education and fulfillment, happiness. The reason why we left so many people go without that is ignorance, egoism, short-sightedness and the lack of our sense of solidarity with the whole human family.

by Ervin Laszlo