The Utopian World Championship

Nishith Gupta: CIVIL LIBERTY – BE IT LOCAL OR GLOBAL – WE NEED IT

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Summary

Be it the relentless oppression of public rights and opinions in quasi/non-democratic states or under totalitarian regimes, repression of women in old-tradition-bound states, unwarranted interrogation and arrest of law-abiding people based on their ethnicity and/or ill-interpreted intelligence in developed democracies, inexcusable tightening of immigration in pro-immigration states or excessive restraining of mass protestors during international summits and meetings, all fall under two words, long known as the Civil Liberty. For many years, people around the world, not only in no-democracy states but also in partially or fully matured democracy states, seem to think they are being misgoverned and/or mistreated. Virtually, all people agree that governmental power should not be used to interfere with the freedom of speech and conscience. We hear repeated calls for fundamental structural, constitutional and ideological changes. Yet we seem frequently to be involved in quarrels about specific applications of governmental restraints. The trouble starts when we move from generalities to specifics.

Should our governing authority (local, national or international) allow us to believe, say or write anything; assemble and protest anything, any time, in any manner, and in any place we choose? How should our government make sure that all persons are equally entitled to unalienable rights of life and liberty? Should our governments encourage, support, or in anyway assist any particular religion? Should our lawmakers give those accused of crimes or deemed to commit crimes too much or too little protection? What are our rights and responsibilities as a national or global citizen? Briefly put, do our governments have too little or too much authority to regulate our life in anyway?

I will discuss the national and international Civil Liberties in light of our local or global responsibilities. These will include liberties regarding free speech, voting rights, ethnic and gender equality, religion, criminal justice, immigration, rich and poor, gay and lesbian and privacy. The special attention is given to proposals for reform and renewal, as well as the impact, good and bad, of earlier reforms. The gist of this article will be that any governing body has to feel the pressure towards its people to preserve and maximize their cherished liberties while governing effectively.

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2.2 Rights of Life and Property

These should be the precious rights of all who live in this world, rich or poor, young or old, black or white, man or woman, alien or citizen. Public officials have always had great powers to control their subjects’ life. Under certain state of affairs, they can confiscate our assets, throw us in prison, and in uttermost situation, even take our lives. We all understand, it is necessary to give great powers to those who govern, but oddly enough, it is also unsafe. No single official should decide to take our life, liberty or material goods. And officials must act according to the rules. If they act outside the scope of their authority or contrary to the law, they should have no claim to our obedience.

Governments should implement the laws designed to protect the civilians against unreasonable searches and seizures. Or else judiciary system should step in and protect our property from arbitrary governmental interference, although debates as to which interferences are reasonable and which are arbitrary are not easily settled. There should be a campaign against ethnic profiling opposing the police practice of targeting people of color. To keep officials from becoming absolute ruler, public power should be sent out in small chunks and be surrounded with judicial and governmental restraints.

2.3 Woman’s Rights

The crusade for woman’s right was born out of struggle to abolish slavery. The fate of these two social movements has long been intertwined. Legally sanctioned and/or socially granted, gender discrimination still persists in almost all nations. In worst-case scenario, women are relentlessly oppressed. In an improved situation, women may have certain educational opportunities, but they are not permitted to do a job. Even in proclaimed egalitarian societies, women suffer in other implicit ways such as earning far less than men for the same work. The "glass ceiling" is still a barrier to women's advancement in the workplace. The struggle to expunge all sex-based laws based on custom, stereotype and paternalism has been more or less successful in many countries, but many others have yet to follow.

Sex discrimination must be banned, both by federal and state law, in education as well as in socio-economic arena. The right to abortion should also be granted and guaranteed by the Constitution. All women should have full personal control over their reproductive destinies. Paternalistic labor laws in many nations, that in the name of protecting women, serve to keep them out of better paying jobs, should be abolished. The governments must start/continue their commitment to ensure that women are free to live and work as equals. All people, who believe in gender equality, must argue for women's rights with those who oppose it. As a result, women today will be able to participate in all realms of society on a more equal basis than ever before.

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