By: Paige Rohe

We like to think we’re special, don’t we? From the moment humankind began to perceive itself as an entity special and distinct from the rest of the bestial world, we’ve come up with a variety of ways to place ourselves above Nature. We’ve ensconced ourselves in the temperature-controlled environments of our homes, our cars, and our workplaces. We buy plastic plants for our fireplaces, wear plether and faux fur, and eat fake crabmeat. However gifted we are with the ability to create all these fantastic, synthetic products so are we also burdened with the skill of self-deceit. The horrific headlines of proposed wars, continuing wars, and wars whose resolution lies on the next horizon are violent, humbling reminders that we are our planet’s greatest asset and its greatest threat.

In the 1940’s we learned just how terrible humankind’s ambitions could become. We were on the brink of complete annihilation as a result of a winner take all, total war. We were committing genocide against ourselves. We created a weapon whose destructive force rivaled that of some celestial body. None of this was an accomplishment. However, what grew out of might be one of the darkest periods in human history, was an object of hope: the concept of Human Rights.  Issued in the dawning hours after the Second World War, the Universal Declaration on Human Rights is a beacon for all the downtrodden peoples of the world. It speaks to them with the voice of authority; after all it is the handicraft of the United Nations, when it proclaims in its preamble unquestionably the  “inherent dignity” of all of humankind. Eleanor Roosevelt helped to forge this monumental document and one would think, that as Americans (who are also fairly dominant in the UN) we ought therefore to be the World’s Knight-Errant for Human Rights. We ought to be, but the reality of our actions suggest that we are frequently a “knight in err.”  And here we are, full circle once again, facing a war against a new “axis of evil.” Both North Korea and Iraq have been accused of heinous crimes against their own citizens. Is this situation beginning to sound familiar?

All of our lives are bound with the fortunes of the US military, and all of our futures hold a dark vision of war. The very momentum of our threats and our actions is now enough to propel us even involuntarily towards engagement with Iraq. Hopefully, things will turn out as promised by our Commander-in-Chief. We will shoot a few bullets into the dessert, arise upon Baghdad victorious, and free the oppressed masses from Saddam’s clutches. And in the long run, provided we actually do arise victorious, the world will be a better place and the Iraqis will have a democracy all their own.

But what about North Korea? Nobody’s really discussed a plan for the starving masses above the 38^th parallel. The truth is, I don’t think we really want to go to war with North Korea. After all, they don’t have anything we want. Sure, the government commits as many heinous abuses against its people as Saddam does, but North Korea doesn’t have oil. The Cold War is over and so is any real threat of worldwide Communist supremacy. Certainly the starving Democratic Peoples of North Korea would do well to be rid of their  “Great Leader” who steals the very milk from infant’s mouths by using millions of dollars in foreign aid to pay for luxuries that make even former Philippine first lady Emelda Marcos appear frugal.  But if we can’t appease King Corporate Oil and look like heroes to the rest of the world, why not stay at home instead and rent a movie from Blockbuster?

As for Kim Jong Il, we’ll talk him out of jumping off a precipice and taking us down with him into the unimaginable horror of “mutually assured destruction.” And Human Rights? Where do they end up in this mess?

The same place they started. A wonderful dream, that is all easy to use when we want to and forget about when convenient. We want to gain access to markets in China so we ignore the atrocities committed in a little mountainous region called Tibet. We want to get rid of a ruthless dictator and we need a better foothold in the Middle East so we claim we’re saving people from further abuse of their rights to “dignity” and equality. Meanwhile, another monster, farther east is gathering strength at the expense of his people. War is a nightmare for every side involved and I do not condone it, yet if violence must be used let it be done for the right reasons. We cannot play both sides of the game and maintain our credibility as the world’s leader in human rights and heroism, lest we prove ourselves as ridiculous as a faux fur-wearing vegetarian. We must be strong against those who wish the destruction of all we hold dear and that includes not only our homeland and our people, but also everyone who dreams to live one day in peace and prosperity. As M. Russell Ballard wrote: “It may not always be easy, convenient, or politically correct to stand for truth and right, but it is the right thing to do. Always.”

Paige Rohe is an International Studies student at Emory University and a contributing writer for PurePolitics.com. She can be reached at feedback@purepolitics.com.