False Dignity

There is an obvious reason why human rights struggles across the world are increasingly seen as life and death struggles – because people increasingly see rights as being the substance of life. Modern man now largely believes that there is nothing in him or inherently good about him and so he stakes his very existence on guarantees by the state with regard to his personal freedoms. If any of these freedoms or entitlements is placed in jeopardy modern man literally will feel like he is on the verge of death because he has been taught that without such rights he has nothing to justify his existence. This is why they so fanatically protest and fight – for they have staked their lives upon scraps of paper and the promises of NGOs. This is not dignity, nor is it any way to live, and if true dignity – the dignity inherent within us all – is not realized than nothing can serve as a substitute. In order for the wellbeing of humankind to be upheld than dignity must be understood and upheld.