The Right of Self-Determination

by DAISY THOMAS

Merriam-Webster defines self-determination as “1. Free choice of one’s own acts or states without external compulsion and 2. Determination by the people of a territorial unit of their own political status,” which may be further expounded upon using Princeton’s definition, “the principle of self-determination can be defined as a community's right to choose its political destiny.”

Our nation’s history is deep, rich, and complicated. Our Founding Fathers, great thinkers and political visionaries, while also genocidal slave-owners and abusive towards those not wealthy, white, and male, created a blueprint of how democracy could work to ensure the sacred responsibility to our inherent, shared humanity and very basic human rights, specifically including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as examples. A beautiful document in mankind’s known history -- if you overlook the whole hypocrisy part.

Except those basic human rights are not extended to some of us. Some of us have our lives and freedoms stolen from us. Some of us have to contend with laws and lawmakers for our basic human rights. All of us continue to lose our liberties to the digital world to Big Tech, et al., let alone the liberties that have been stolen and/or sacrificed for the sake of fighting overseas terrorism when we have never extinguished the fires of hate burning in our backyards. 

Some of us never had those very fundamental human rights in the first place. Some of us were birthed to serve before we had a chance to finish developing, another’s will imposed upon us. And without going down a rabbit hole of theological fatalism, the concept of “free-will” remains a consistent thread that connects most major religions; albeit one that often seems paradoxical in practice -- again, for some of us.

Regardless, those very fundamental human rights only extend as far as their imposition on another. Then a need to communicate with that fellow human being to ensure the continued cherishing of that shared humanity is necessary and required for the basis of mutual respect. So while it is angering and frustrating that in 2021 some of us remain constitutionally unprotected for equality, it is not surprising. 

Year after year, some of us have to watch our autonomy, our free will, go up for debate, utilizing emotionally abusive techniques to win an argument no one will, all for public consumption, rather than substantive debates and solutions on the interweaving of issues that surround such personal consequences.

Some of us have fought back generation after generation, knowing that in the age of greed, our basic human rights will always need to be protected. Some of us have fought generation after generation, knowing that in the age of man, some of us will be impregnated, some against our will, some never knowing we had the ability, let alone the right, to determine for ourselves our life’s path. Some of us have to hear patronizing arguments as if we are incapable of making life-altering decisions for ourselves, let alone choosing an option they may or may not agree with -- even as they (oft repeatedly) betray their own professed values. 

Now nearly a year into the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen a sped-up evolution into a deeper age of technology and international communication. Companies are utilizing the advantages of global spaces and with more of our lives being digitized, creating opportunities worldwide, at least we have better verbiage in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Companies see value in equal spaces and pay equity because they want to attract and retain the best talent and at least our Capitol City’s Chamber agrees. If America wants to compete economically with China and if Utah wants to remain a competitive business headquarter sphere, we’re going to need to do a lot better than passionate speeches with no actions or creating committees to study issues, and instead begin leading out with true equality.

That begins with those very basic inherent rights as stated above. Otherwise all of us will miss out on countless opportunities to build and be a part of a society that sees us and future generations reach our full potential.