Governments, rights, corruption, and society

Why am I writing about these matters? You can’t avoid these subjects once you think about life, or about the problems people face in living their lives. You expect that all countries will progress so that their people will have better lives. But it is not so. There are countries which go backwards.

Human rights, freedom of speech, the proficiency of governments, and corruption – they are all inter-related. Governments which deny their people of fundamental human rights end up abusing their power. Public funds are misused. Relatives and cronies are rewarded; public funds are wasted. There is no transparency and accountability in the government’s actions. The public service gets corrupted. The majority of the people have lost their natural access to opportunities. The privileged ones get richer and the poor gets poorer. Law enforcement and the judiciary become corrupted as well or are directed by corrupt politicians. Human rights deteriorate. If you live in one of those countries, you will know all the horror stories.

Governments have to take the blame. Bad governments create the environment for the abuse of power, corruption and poverty. As if being poor is not bad enough, the people are also oppressed by the lack of basic human rights. And they have no power or means to speak out against injustice.

Bad governments do not value their people. Their lives are nothing. Look at Burma now after the typhoon. There have been calls to charge the generals for crimes against humanity, if people were to die because foreign aid was not permitted to reach them.

No amount of foreign aid or charity is able to make a dent on poor countries. Firstly, a lot of the aid may end up in the wrong hands. Secondly, whatever is built up is often destroyed by wars, racial uprisings or civil disorders. Infrastructures and institutions are destroyed. An entire generation or two may go without education or a normal life, where you go to work to make a living, and return to a home and family. All it takes is just one bad president or prime minister.

What I am going to say will be controversial. I can see why so many western leaders are talking about human rights. I can see why George Bush invaded Iraq, with all the atrocities committed by the late Saddam Hussein against our fellow human beings. It may appear right for the world to take over Burma and Zimbabwe, if only it can be that straightforward. The world may need to intervene in some countries. One can’t help thinking like this.

So I cry out about human rights, corruption and good governments. These all the things we have to look at in order to have a better world.