Dignity or Equality?

Ashley 
Guillaume Herbaut said dignity is “to feel human, upright, respected and to be yourself.”  Jean-Francois Joly,
whose understanding I also really liked (as Mia did), defined dignity as “standing up…..in the regard of
others.” These two different answers stood out to me-- if dignity is something “all humans are born equal in”
(The United Nations. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 1948.), why should it be assessed in comparison
to other individuals?

If, like Herbaut said, being ourselves is enough to be dignified, why do we seek loss, particularly those
photographed in the so-called “third-world” countries like Nigeria or poor regions of India, to understand what
they’ve been deprived of?  To announce that these people have been denied their dignity because they’ve lost
their home, relatives or political identity seems like an arrogant act.  Everyone has their own dignity.

What came to mind as I was reading Baudelaire’s “Thrash All Beggars!” was what we’ve been discussing in
my post-colonial literature seminar: colonizing powers believe and declare that some countries are naturally in
need of civilising to justify their colonial intents. What’s most scary is that, when words are repeated over and
over again, they become real, and even the colonized start to believe they lack dignity……  For me, if dignity
is only restored by adapting to someone else’s standards, I would rather remain undignified.

Think this: If the United States is the only country in the world (so, for a brief second, take away all the
suffering elsewhere), and everyone else but yourself has thrived under a booming economy and has been
educated at elite institutions, consequently leaving you the poorest and least “successful” person in the world,
are you any less dignified, assuming you’re just the same person as you’re right now?  
If the answer is no, then I applaud that you own your dignity. I myself am not too sure what the answer is. For
 me, dignity seems analogous with equality. It’s still hard to grasp.

Nevertheless, the beauty that lies in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is not the virtues it proclaims,
but its benign intention and belief in the possibility for the better.  In my ideal world, everyone would be a bit
more kind, empathetic and humble, and that would be enough to change the world into a better place-- even
without understanding dignity.

Comments

  1. jdoutFebruary 20, 2018 at 11:02 AM

    Nice work, Ashley. Even though your words are anchored in Western concepts of capitalism and competition, they also remind me of one of my favorite Zen koans. (FYI: In Zen (Japanese) and Chan (Chinese) Buddhism, a “koan” is a challenging question or statement used to bring the student to a higher level of awareness.) The sixth patriarch of Chan Buddhism taught with this enigmatic koan, “Give your bones to your father and your flesh to your mother and show me your original face.”
    What this means is that most people are stuck with one pattern of behavior – one set of responses to situations they encounter in everyday life. But that pattern is very different in each person. And you can change! You can stop reacting immediately with emotional instability to responding thoughtfully and calmly to life's challenges.
    Developing yourself as a person is not a matter of having the “correct” pattern of responses; it is figuring who or what you are from the inside out.
    It is a matter of bringing creative ways of being into your daily life so that you can adapt your behavior to each situation in calm and alert attention. Not only will you respond more effectively but, by being more creative in your life, you will live a more joyful life. Giving up addiction to your patterns and conformism allows you to “show your original face” which is your creativity and your courage.
    I borrowed some of these words from the blog of T'ai Chi master Bob Klein: http://movementsofmagic.com/blog/2011/06/06/show-me-your-original-face/

    ReplyDelete

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