The UN Represents The Governments Of The World. May A "Bell Of Atri" Represent The People Of The World? (Part 82)
Dr. John Locke, known as "The Father Of Liberalism", was a 17th Century English philosopher & physician whose ideas constitute the cornerstone of the theory of "Natural Law", i.e. a concept that argues that only laws that are just are to be followed, while unjust laws must be ignored. While Dr. Locke has written extensively about several different facets of Natural Law, perhaps his most interestingly-complex philosophy is summed up in his famous quote, "The people cannot delegate to government the power to do anything which would be unlawful for them to do themselves."
In a better world, this simple & little-known principle would be the gold standard by which every Government Of The World, every judicial system, every law enforcement agency, every civil service department, & every Intergovernmental Organization (alongside its subsidiaries) would be run & scrutinized. No elected/appointed/annointed head of state (or his/her ministers) would think he/she wields "power" over those he/she governs, no judge could weaponize his/her "discretion" for/against any party, no law enforcement official would threaten the life/liberty/property of any citizen, no civil servant could use official objectives as an excuse to enforce/nullify private objectives, & no IGO representative would ever dare assume that an agreement with a Government nullifies the importance of a disagreement with the People.
However, as of right now, the only world we have is this one, in which all civilized laws & principles were & are subordinate to the Law Of The Jungle: Might is right. The reason that such an animalistic rule has reached its expiry date is, because some Governments Of The World & some Intergovernmental Organizations have begun to apply it almost everywhere, triggering a tidal wave of problems of such magnitude that the People Of The World of today, can no longer distinguish between the "have nations" & the "have-not nations" across the globe. For instance, could any expert or analyst in 1999 have imagined that the economic fate of the US would be inextricably tied to the economic fate of Pakistan, within a quarter of a century? Anyone who got caught even musing about such a possibility would have been laughed out of his/her society & branded forever as "incompetent"! Today, despite the single-minded denials being issued by some governmental & intergovernmental authorities, this situation is considered an absolutely confirmed fact by the most important parties in the debate - the People Of The World.
On account of the fact that the mission of the Bell Of Atri, is to assist the People Of The World, in fulfilling their sacred rights as living beings & human beings, by addressing the People Of The World themselves (on a case by case basis), with guidelines & advice on the most relevant & appropriate strategies & tactics to navigate the labyrinth of governmental & intergovernmental substantive & procedural laws, so as to protect & secure the principles of Natural Law (which is a technical term for natural justice), given below are some interesting & important points, as reported in the latest global headlines:
"IMF demands Pakistan secure parliamentary approval on reforms for loan agreement— official" - Arab News (May 23, 2024)
To summarize: An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team flew into Pakistan last week to formalize a "staff-level agreement" prior to the formalization of the full "Extended Fund Facility" that Pakistan Prime Minister S. Sharif has been yearning for, ever since he was sworn in as PM in March 2024. But for currently-unidentified reasons, the IMF suddenly called off the talks on the grounds that PM Sharif must first secure "Parliamentary approval" (supposedly because said approval would symbolize "political ownership" of the EFF) in order to negotiate effectively with the IMF...& then, the IMF delegation reportedly dashed back to Washington.
Just so as to clarify matters: The IMF received a message from PM Sharif clamoring for a record-breaking (& potentially back-breaking) loan from the IMF; the IMF whooped for joy & jetted down to Pakistan; talks began on a high note, with the IMF reeling off its Christmas list of Pakistani State-Owned Enterprises with PM Sharif nodding eagerly (& Pakistani Finance Minister Aurangzeb seemingly employing a tried-&-tested technique he learned from his days at JPMorgan Chase, which consists of doing one's best to exhibit such grossly crude behavior that potential opponents are stunned into silence); & then, suddenly, the talks just dissolved!
The conclusion of the failed IMF-Islamabad "staff-level talks" reminded outside observers of Disney's "The Wind In The Willows" quote, "Now, there was only one thing wrong with Ratty's cure for Toad's motor mania. It didn't work."; after all, given that the IMF top brass isn't living under a rock, they would know that PM Sharif hasn't secured permission from Parliament - or even the People Of Pakistan - to commence negotiations; the reason for his invitation could perhaps be explained by the unwritten rule that the IMF - being a plain old moneylender (with ethics that seemingly prove Shylock a thorough gentleman) - makes agreements with individuals to loan money to said individuals (who just happen to be using their National Treasury as collateral).
While current reports don't indicate that Parliamentary approval is going to be a problem; as demonstrated by the strategy employed (by Prime Minister S. Sharif's niece, Punjab Chief Minister Mrs. M. Safdar) to formalize the legally-controversial "Punjab Defamation Bill 2024", any objections from the People Of Pakistan can just be brushed off & ignored...something, somehow, somewhere, has seemingly happened to compel the IMF to step away from the media spotlight...which begs the question: If the "something" has nothing to do with a change in worldview from the Government Of Pakistan, could the IMF hiccup have something to do with the financial challenges of the most important international trade partner of the People Of Pakistan - the People Of The United States?
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"UNC student newspaper front page displays community’s texts during school shooting and lockdown" - CNN (August 31, 2023)
To summarize: On Monday, August 28, 2023, shots were reported fired at 1:02 p.m. ET at the University Of North Carolina's Caudill Laboratories, & a suspect was taken into custody shortly after 2:30 p.m. The alleged shooter was a graduate student named Tailei Qi, who shot & killed Associate Professor Zijie Yan. Further investigations revealed that the alleged shooter had "an advisor" who was a UNC faculty member. On Wednesday, August 30, 2023, the UNC student newspaper "The Daily Tar Heel" devoted its entire front page to a display of text messages sent & received by UNC students during the 3-hour university lockdown. The idea was so successful that "The Daily Tar Heel" team members reported that they ran out of copies of the print edition on campus, & planned to print a second run.
Kudos to the student journalists who came up with & implemented such an effective method of communication! The work of the people who run "The Daily Tar Heel" is concrete evidence of the power of the right words!
However, the aforementioned young American journalists - as is usually the case with the work of those who understand the importance & power of words - also underscored another extremely significant security matter: The era of landlines being the go-to communication channel in emergencies, is well & truly over.
When I was a little kid, every middle-class & rich home had at least 1 landline; in addition, every market (be it big, medium-sized or tiny) had at least 1 or 2 "Public Call Offices" (PCOs), where a customer could pay to make a call of a specific duration either from the business proprietor's desk or from an attached phone booth. But, by the time I hit my teens, cellphones had made such an impact on the global telecommunications market that finding a PCO became a slog, & within a few years after that, people had started switching entirely from landlines to cellphones...to the point that here in my neighborhood in Hayatabad, Peshawar, the majority of private residents have no landline & there isn't a single PCO anywhere in the nearby market...since years!
Now, fast-forward to nowadays: PM Sharif has instructed the Federal Board Of Revenue to block the SIMs of alleged "non-filers" until they pay the direct taxes that have been demanded of them over & above what they pay in indirect taxes. The number of blocked SIMs is unconfirmed, ranging from "3,000" to "11,000". But the point is that, on what legal grounds can the IMF's outrageously-illegal taxation targets trump Islamabad's obligations to prioritize domestic security above all else? What if a child of any alleged "non-filer" doesn't have access to his/her cellphone in the face of a security threat? What if said child must communicate soundlessly? What does PM Sharif - or the Islamabad High Court - suggest to such a child: Start creeping around in search of a landline &, should said child find one, whisper the distress message while hoping not to be heard by any assailant?
In other words, does Income Tax Ordinance Section 114B - & the related Income Tax General Order 01/2024 - constitute encouragement &/or facilitation of the commission of a violent crime, such as the alleged acts of terrorism committed in American schools & colleges almost every day (on average)?
"Whenever legislators endeavor to take away & destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any further obedience." - John Locke