So, it's 2025. A quarter of the way through the 21st century already. And where are we, what are we to expect from the world ahead? It's technological advances dazzle us with their potential, opening opportunities for communicating, democratising knowledge and making the world smaller still. Yet inequality widens, in many regions authoritarianism tightens its grip, and the climate crisis looms over everything. Divisions in society are stoked by disinformation and propaganda, and the greedy and the power hungry work day and night to dismantle the safeguards that protect us all. It's clear 2025 also calls for vigilance, solidarity, and defensive action.
Every right we hold today - whether it’s the right to speak freely, to love whom we choose, to work without exploitation, or to live without fear of discrimination - was earned through struggle. None of these rights appeared fully formed; they are the hard-won victories, the legacy, of those who came before us. To not defend those rights for all of us is to dishonour that legacy for all of them. Because it's not just about the rights that any individual one of us holds dear, it is, and has to be, about all human rights.
Those rights are like a suit of social armour, crafted from countless interlocking plates. Each plate is like a specific right, protecting us from the abuses of unchecked power. Freedom of speech, the right to assembly, protection from persecution, access to education, the right to vote - each piece is essential. But like all armour, its strength is only as great as its weakest link. There are always those searching for weaknesses in that armour, probing for a chink into which they can drive a wedge and from there tear the whole thing apart. A stab of disinformation here, a slash of bigotry there, and the integrity of the entire suit can begin to falter. When we fail to defend the rights of others, we create vulnerabilities that imperil us all.
So you see defending human rights isn’t just some 'woke' moral imperative - it’s an act of collective self-preservation. When we fight against injustice, we need to do more than stand up for our own rights, we need to defend everyone else too; that way we strengthen the armour that shields us all. Each act of resistance, each instance of solidarity, reinforces the plates, mends the cracks, and helps make sure this armour will not only protect us, but will protect our children and our children's children ad infinitum.
So if you haven't yet made your New Year resolution for 2025, try this; resolve to fight not just for the rights you personally value, but for all rights, because each one is part of the whole. Stand up for the disenfranchised, the marginalized, and the silenced. Resolve to add your strength to the social armour that protects all of us.
Happy New Year!
Ian
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