Celebrating World Freedom Day and the Human Right to Freedom
Wednesday, November 9th, 2005
On November 9, 2005 at the Palace Hotel of New York City, the Atlas Economic Research Foundation celebrated World Freedom Day. Over 200 guests gathered together to ‘celebrate the human right to freedom’ at Atlas’s annual Freedom Dinner.
The dinner program included Toasts to Freedom by Anwar Ibrahim, Huber Matos, Rocio Guijarro, Franklin Cudjoe, June Arunga, and John Stossel. Mart Laar gave a riveting keynote address focused on the trials and triumphs of the Estonian people under Soviet rule and how Estonia has successfully transitioned to democracy.
Also during the dinner, Atlas presented two prizes ‘ the Freda Utley Prize for Advancing Liberty to the Association for Liberal Thinking of Ankara, Turkey and the Templeton Freedom Prize for Initiative in Public Relations to the Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development of Podgorica, Montenegro.
CELEBRATING THE HUMAN RIGHT TO FREEDOM
By Alejandro A. Chafuen, President & CEO, Atlas Economic Research Foundation
Every generation must fight the battle for human freedom ‘ sometimes more than once.
It is the quest for liberty that has led human beings to civilized life. The neglect of liberty has led to tyranny and massacre. Nowhere was this seen as clearly as in the collectivist states that began to crumble with the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989 ‘ the anniversary of which we celebrate tonight as World Freedom Day.
Unfortunately, communism and collectivism have not been eliminated, and it is where these systems and their admirers still rule ‘ North Korea, Zimbabwe, Cuba ‘ that we see human rights most abused. In our own hemisphere, Venezuela is moving in that ominous direction where simply working for a pro-freedom think tank brings harassment and persecution from the government.
It is essential to stand up for human rights, and indeed, many organizations champion this cause. But most stress political rights and forget the human right to economic liberty. These are two sides of the same coin. Would we have the freedom to worship if the government owned all assembly halls? What would happen to the cherished freedom of speech, if only the ruling political party could own printing presses?
Some human rights documents, such as the Bill of Rights, make specific mention of property. In the U.S., people are protected from being deprived ‘of life, liberty or property, without due process of law,’ and the government is forbidden from taking ‘property for public use, without just compensation.’
Today’s human rights groups sometimes forget the importance of poerty rights. It is crucial that we reverse this neglect. Since the days of Fr. Francisco de Vitoria ‘ the 16th century theologian who founded the School of Salamanca, and whose statues honors the United Nations building here in New York ‘ classical liberals have all viewed private property, and the right to freely trade that property, as an essential human right.
At the Atlas Economic Research Foundation we believe the battle for human freedom can only be won if there are multitudes of local institutions making the case for this enlightened definition of human rights. That is why Atlas helps develop independent think tanks, all over the world, that promote the ideas of liberty.
Toasts to Freedom were given by
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