La Pura Vida

beginning the human rights analysis

Ahh Sunday morning. Many strong forces spinning around in my mind!

Yesterday and today I´ve been inspired by ¨Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice¨ by Jack Donnelly, our current reading. So far I´ve mostly worked on the first section which is about theory.

First - defining human rights. The rights we hold simply for being a member of the human species. Things needed to live ¨a life of dignity.¨ For the most part we don´t consciously think of these rights – only when they are violated. Rights are usually debated and recorded post-violation. Not referring to abstract values like liberty – more the social practices needed to realize these.

Where do they come from? Our very humanity? Some say ¨needs¨ but this is also abstract… Donnelly comes to the conclusion that ¨human rights have no foundation.¨ Sort of a jarring sentence to read but it is true that foundational appeals usually spring up from within communities that hold that particular foundation as absolute truth. Donnelly does write that this lack of a concrete foundation is ¨less of a practical problem than one might imagine.¨

¨There is no strong foundation for human rights, or what amounts to the same thing, there are multiple, often inconsistent, ´foundations.´¨

Like religious pluralism! We can all work toward a place of truth simultaneously even while holding our own particularities.

Fuzzy area but I think it´s fine that the detail thinking comes after the initial blinder propelling of passion.

I love this quote. ¨Human rights seek to fuse moral vision and political practice.¨
I spend a lot of time thinking about the connection between abstraction and idealism and this tangible world. I see this (positive) tension in every aspect of life.

As I was just sitting in my bed reading it was if I could feel my values solidifying – want to work in this realm between idealism and politics so strongly!

Other recent line of thoughts…
During class this week we examined Argentina´s history. My perspective of Buenos Aires has daily become more complex. Upon arriving, my attention was more on the architecture, the activity, the places to go and things to see… I´m now becoming more aware of the world just barely beneath the surface. So many uncertainties left over from the Dirty War (1976-1983)…the years when a military government took over and created a terrifying atmosphere, taking people away for any suspected political activism but also for no reason at all…rough estimates are that 10,000 people died and 30,000 are still unaccounted for – los desaparecidos – the disappeared. It´s so difficult to wrap my mind around the atrocities that occurred. A few minutes ago at the breakfast table Juan described how they dropped people into the sea from airplanes, and both Juan and Maria shook their heads again at the sadness of losing their friend who suddenly disappeared 30 years ago. Mindboggling that it was these same streets where concentration-like camps existed, and these same streets where torturers walked – still walk. Countless are still unaccounted for. Sometimes I walk around head spinning as I wonder what stories the people I see are holding onto.

Quick example our director told that illustrates the present state. A friend of hers (who had been detained at one of these camps) recently arrived at their graduate school shaking and crying. She´d been in a taxi, riding past a group of workers picketing, when her taxi driver muttered ¨We should have killed more of them.¨ Thinking that she recognized his voice as one of her torturers, she jumped out of the car and ran.

We watched the movie Garaje Olimpo, which I recommend for help in understanding those times.

These days are filled with interesting complexity. Thoughts such as the ones I wrote above – but then minutes later I witness heart-warming scenes. My times in different parks are good examples. There, I see happiness in simple forms. Families with strollers, people with dogs and books… Other examples come from the house…Friday arrived home tired from a day of this thinking. Juan put water on for tea and I calmly sat and drank that in the dimly lit main room while the Simpson´s played. Sometimes I´m reminded of those intense scenes sometimes created in cinema where horrific things are happening, but these shots are juxtaposed with scenes of children playing/innocence and lively music.

Loving this education. Fascinated by Argentines and the coping strategies they´ve developed (even evident among university students).

Going to go explore and find a new park now before lunch! Later on after more reading going to another park with Angeles are her friends to drink mate! Mass later, then soon a new week of classes begins...

Hasta la proxima vez!

final update----oh life!! Thrilled that I´m becoming more comfortable with my place here and can have these times of joy where I feel lifted up! Listening to Rascal Flatts. ;) Maria and Juan just left to ¨pasear¨ (visit places), and on her way out she told me to tell my mom by computer that she is so blessed to have me here, loves me, and beso beso! ¨¡Ciao ciao!¨ she often says. What an adorable woman! Pictures asap...

posted by Colleen @ 8:16 AM