Good evening, Netizens...

 

In David Horsey's cartoon today, we are not looking into the future world of women, but perhaps a grim view of the present and past, for there is little of the past which has changed over the millenniums. What Horsey left out of the depictions of how women are treated in the United States and South America often fall within a par of the Middle Eastern countries, although not by much.

 

The brutality inflicted upon women in much of the developing world is an affront to civilized ideals and human decency. When women have gotten access to education, to family planning and to a vital place in the economy, greater prosperity has followed. And when women are free to speak and learn, they temper the extremes of ideology and fanaticism and raise sons who are less likely to become human beings capable of such evil brutality.

 

Some truths are self-evident. All humans are created equal and are endowed by their creator with inalienable rights, including life, liberty and the right to pursue happiness unencumbered by men who would keep them enslaved. No tradition, no religion, no social system can justifiably claim the authority to deny anyone the opportunity to live in that truth.

This is not some feminist dream or a sideshow to the main theater of world politics. This is as hard-nosed and realist as it gets in international relations. Elevating the status of women is our best path to peace, justice and prosperity on a global scale. It is the great work of civilized people in the 21^st century.

Dave

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