<< Not to mention that we are a good ways from providing such
self evident truths to all Americans, let alone all of humanity. >>
Alberto,
I'm sure you're aware of this, but...
While they most likely remain the most famous words ever written about the
plight of the oppressed, neither the US Declaration of Independence nor the
US Constitution were *supposed* to grant equal rights to everyone. Men are
created equal. Not all humans. Just men. And in fact, if you weren't white
and owned land, the document(s) specifically limit your rights. Black
Americans (slaves) were considered what, 2/3 of a white person? Women
couldn't vote. Etc., etc. Both documents were written 200+ years ago and
were elightened for that time, but are also representative of the time in
which they were written. But, the Constitution and Declaration are "living"
documents, which means that the US government can, does, and should make
amendments that adjust our laws to fit our evolving understanding of the
world around us.
So the ends should justify the memes, so to speak. ;-)
But if you're looking for a broad statement of humanics (to borrow a phrase
from Asimov,) and a non xenophobic pilosophy, you'd probably do better by
looking at something more modern. And I personally doubt you'll see anything
like this in legal print until we're actually faced with it. (No laws about
the rights of a talking gorilla until he/she can order a non-fat latte at
Starbucks... or, to be more exact, until he/she _asks_ for legal freedom.)
Doesn't the UN have something, anything that addresses this?
Alternatively, maybe we Brinnellers could form our own document and submit it
somewhere.... We could perhaps base it on OSC's varelse, raman etc., theory,
or perhaps on Brin's Client and Patron concepts. Heck, maybe just a basic
do-no-harm Prime Directive -- the equivalent of the Hippocratic oath for
civilizations. Either way, we'd be contributing to an advance in
civilization. (We are members, after all.) :) Any ideas?
Jon
One often contradicts an opinion when what is uncongenial is really the tone
in which it was conveyed.
--Friedrich Nietzsche
