Human Dignity under Attack

Everything meaningful our civilization has accomplished has been done by individual human beings, all discoveries were made under the direction of a particular human being and all works of art point to a particular artist as its creator.

Nothing of meaning has ever been created by a group.

Love springs up in individual beings only towards other individual beings and suffering is deeply individual as well. Human dignity is anchored in the individual. Humane and cultivated societies put the individual first and all groups and organizations have to serve the individual, make life better for him – or they are not worth being around.

The Threat to Human Dignity

Harmful societies put the group and the collective first. Fascism comes from the Italian word “fascio” , which means “bundle”. Fascism and its brother, communism, decline the dignity of the human being and say the individual is nothing, the group/organization/party is everything.

Nothing in the history of mankind has been more dangerous than collectivism.

We live in a dangerous time where, after hundreds of years of gains, human dignity is acutely threatened by different forms of fascism, either in spreading demands for censorship, the grouping of individuals into identity groups or, generally, the understanding of a human being as a mere economic factor and profit source with no regard for his individuality.

This is a dangerous development as the denial of dignity and the loss of focus on the single human being is the beginning of the descent into barbarism.

The Achievements of our Western Civilization

Our culture of Western Civilization is based on the long tradition of culture and science beginning in antique Greece, changing through the times of the Roman Empire and finally getting reborn in the Renaissance in the 16^th century and improved through the Age of Enlightenment. It is the best form of civilization Earth has so far produced. Its focus on the individual has created a rich civilization of science and art, propelled through the freedom of thought and expression that has been increasing over time.

Strange enough, just when this freedom of expression was at its maximum, a dangerous, fascist counter-movement is emerging, blending fascist and communist thoughts with increasing demands for restricting the freedom of the individual.

If artists and scientists, thinkers and creators cannot freely express themselves any more as contemporary forms of fascist pressure groups emerge, we will lose our civilization and the drive of our society. Threatening the human being, reducing his dignity and limiting thought is a recipe for standstill and degeneration.

We need to cherish the progress Western civilization has made and remain fierce in the defense of the dignity of the human being in its classic, Western tradition. Human Dignity is under attack and with it the foundation of our civilization. The sacredness of the individual needs to defend itself and attack its attackers.