The sections from the Bavarian Constitution I discussed in my last article made me thoughtful. What exactly are the values, expectations, interests and needs of a human being? In German, the acronym WEIB (from Werte, Erwartungen, Interessen und Bedürfnisse) has been installed as a mnemonic (© Rudi Jansche) – Comment of translator: and maybe vein is not too bad either, in that it symbolizes a rather vital part of the human organism without which life certainly would not be possible.
Here are some answers that come to mind spontaneously:
Convenience is my greatest enemy and the cause of many things that went wrong in our society.
I believe in
- Tolerance
- Liberty and
- Courage to stand up for one’s ideals.
I abhor
- Torture
- Fascism and
- Force.
In my opinion, man’s greatest achievements are
- Enlightenment
- Human Rights and
- Equal Rights
The only way we can solve this world’s future problems is through international consensus. My confidence in governments and commissions is not great, which is why I think international NGO’s (Non Government Organisations) are very important. Examples for such that I am particularly fond of are Amnesty International and Wikipedia (many people are not even aware of wikipedia being a powerful NGO). And the internet might well become the key to the new world, just like the printing press turned out to be the source of our great achievements.
RMD
(translated and slightly completed by Evelyn Gemkow)