Page 464 - Cultures and Organizations

Intercultural Encounters 429

As argued earlier in this chapter, the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights adopted in 1948 is based on universalist, individualist Western val-
ues that clearly are not shared by the political leaders nor by the popula-
tions of all other parts of the world. On the other hand, the declaration is
a fact, and international organizations as well as individuals will no doubt
continue to signal infringements, regardless of the country in which these
infringements take place. No government is powerful enough to silence, for
example, Amnesty International. All but the most ruthless governments
try to maintain an appearance of international respectability. The fact that
the world has become one scene leads to the public’s being informed about
more suffering than ever before; it also offers more opportunities to act
against this suffering.
57
If we inhabit a global village, it consists only of a theater and a mar-
ketplace. We need houses, sanctuaries, and places to meet and talk. In Lon-
don, in the fall of 2003, Gert Jan sat in a pub with four students from four
continents. A man from India and a man from Ghana were arguing about
whether and how they could help their respective countries. The Indian
pressed the other to admit that if he could spare just one pound a day for
educating children in his home country, that would make a difference. But
the Ghanean said that giving money only made things worse and that, for
the time being, educating himself was the only thing he could do. They
got pretty heated and did not agree, but they did listen to one another, and
they parted as friends. In the global village we need many meetings like
that one.