Ideas of Self Preservation
So, the big debate was whether or not ideas matter in the
face of interests. The general consensus
being that when it comes to a case of “me” or “you” our natural instinct is to
choose “me.” However, there is evidence that after World War II a new belief
system was put into place to temper rationale with a firm belief of how far man’s
inhumanity to man can go. But, is it
really a case of values?
It is debatable whether or not this is a value system of
being a society of decent human beings or is this rational calculation for self
preservation. From a historical front,
people were so appalled at the heavy losses sustained after WWII that they
created the UN, World Bank and other organizations to make sure that economic
and social issues in other countries never got so far out of hand again. If you
look at the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, the United Nations intervened between
two of the permanent five to avoid a nuclear war that would have devastated
millions.
Now, the international community is joined in a collective
effort to detour North Korea’s nuclear program.
UN sanctions have not deterred the hermit kingdom’s efforts to become a
nuclear power and have acted as a unifying force for rival countries (i.e.
Russia and the U.S.) under a belief/fear of what would happen should N. Korea
develop nuclear weaponry equal to the larger powers.
At the very least, maybe, we can say that outrage and a
belief system from the heavy losses of the last World War gave large powers impetus
to enact these safeguards. However,
interests of self preservation are seen to branch out.
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