Dutch diplomat: Help the poor

Apathy and fear stop people championing the rights of the less privileged, said Dutch Ambassador, Maarten van der Gaag. He was addressing a human rights conference hosted by his embassy and the new NGO Right to Rights at the National Library last Tuesday. He began by quoting journalist James Reston, “All politics are based on the indifference of the majority.” He sought to explain this apathy by quoting economist JK Galbraith: “In the affluent society no sharp distinction can be made between luxuries and necessaries.” Galbraith, said the Ambassador, was making a cynical statement directed at those persons who could perhaps “make a difference.”

Van der Gaag offered another reason why the influential sometimes failed to act: fear. In 1998 in Guatemala, Bishop Juan Gerardi was murdered, after fighting for years for human rights. “Therefore not only indifference but also fear may perhaps prevent the “few” to take up the torch for this cause for universal justice.” The Ambassador quoted Dutch philosopher, Desiderius Erasmus, who said tolerance was both the highest result of education, and the definition of humanity. “Humanity is to celebrate in mankind’s diversity,” said van der Gaag, quoting Erasmus. We would achieve a more dignified life for all, he said, by fighting discrimination, in religion, gender, race or nationality. He ended by hailing former President Arthur Robinson and attorney Karl Hudson-Phillips for their roles in the International Criminal Court.