Replacing fear with love in the international community

When the universal declaration of human rights was first written, we were rebuilding a world after millions of people, of all races, genders and ideologies, paid the highest price, fighting in a wicked war. After the war, the survivors collectively decided – no more.

Looking for a future without conflict, we asked ourselves: What unites us? Where do we all want to go, what do we all crave? Unsurprisingly, peace and peaceful development were top of the list, like two stars in a night sky guiding us all toward a common future. We didn’t quite get there in the last 70 years. There’s still conflict, inequality and injustice in this world. Things are improving for many, but they could’ve been better.

Impatience, pride and greed are still slowing us down, just like they did before the two wars of the last century. Impatience, pride and greed lead to conflicts of one wishing to possess what another has. Of one wishing to keep more for themselves, rather than sharing prosperity with their neighbors and building up armed forces to protect their fortunes. Conflicts that lead to systems designed with unjust treatment of humans at its core, leading to injustice that fuels conflict anew in a vicious cycle. Impatience, pride, greed – all forms of fear. Fear of missing out, fear of “losing”, fear of being “last”.

How do we replace fear with love? How do we design love into the systems relying on fear for so long, systems that guide us in our daily lives both globally as well as in local communities. Is this our calling? If we can do that, will we ever forget that all humans are born free and equal in dignity and rights and, endowed with reason and conscience, all act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood?