This Is Not America

This Is Not America is a song by David Bowie and the Pat Metheny Group, used as soundtrack of The Falcon and the Snowman, a film released in 1985, based on the homonymous book by Robert Lindsey, which tells the true story of two young American men who sold security secrets to the Soviet Union.

In this article, I want to share a very engaging performance of this song by Bowie and his band -with the amazing style and technique of the bass player Gail Ann Dorsey, who is active for advancing women rights (that is, human rights), as in a concert to support Kamala Harris.

And a fight for human rights is perhaps the best explanation for most of geopolitical tensions and conflicts.

We are living in a world which is roughly half autocratic and half democratic, and has recently become less democratic. On the other hand, democracy is strictly linked with human rights, that in the last 10 years have shown a slight but continuous decline worldwide.

Let’s be honest: human rights, like moral scrutiny are indeed anthropocentric concepts. There is nothing written in the laws of Nature. Moreover, there are no rights without duties and responsibilities (the rights of others are your duties and vice-versa).

However, there is also something profoundly objective about human rights. They represent a set of principles that allow for prosperous societies, where each person may actively (and is encouraged to) contribute in full with her/his own abilities and interests, without distinctions of any kind. (Equal) human rights are the basis of any other right, which may come from personal choices, effort, abilities and corresponding (different) role in the society.

If we look at a somewhat larger picture (last 200 years), there is no doubt: human rights substantially increased overall, with a corresponding overall increase of prosperity and well-being in our societies. Not to say that everything is right, there is a lot of work in front of us.

Even a mature democracy like United States may deviate towards autocracy, with less human rights, as in the recent worldwide trend. But, remember, This Is Not America, it is (at best) half-America, there is also another half that voted differently.