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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2.7 Ethnic Equality

Slavery still reminds many of us of state-sponsored historical sins committed not so long ago. It took almost a century to ease this tragic nostalgia. Despite enormous progress, however, the promise of fair and equal treatment for people of color remains frustratingly elusive. The war on crime and drugs has disproportionately targeted people of color for arrest, prosecution and long, mandatory prison sentences, so that today one-third of all so-called black men in their twenties are either behind bars, on probation or parole. Segregation and discrimination in housing opportunity still exists, and a backlash against affirmative action in employment and education threatens to slam the door of opportunity in the faces of those who are most deserving. We have come a long way, but deeply entrenched discrimination, subjugation, subordination, and racial violence are still with us.

It would take another hundred years from now at this pace of progress before the definite laws would be agreed in all nations and hard-implemented to completely outlaw the ethnic discrimination in employment, housing, public education and accommodations and voting. To expedite the process, government’s commitment to ethnic equality must be a centerpiece of its work in the courts and in the legislatures, and in the arenas of public policy and public education.

2.8 Rights Of The Poor

The promise of equal educational opportunity is a cornerstone of any democracy, but millions of poor and minority children receive an inadequate education. In addition, poor people face a myriad of other problems in their lives. Welfare laws and practices have often violated the rights of the poor, especially poor women and their children. The limited political and healthcare accesses are some other essential needs poor people are deprived of. Poor people are one of the least powerful groups in any nation and their civil liberties are therefore always in a precarious state. Not many organizations have historically defended the rights of the poor against government arbitrariness and abuse and, unfortunately, the trend continues to be so. The public agencies should be working to change these policies through litigation, lobbying, and public education.

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