Engineering and construction,
Roads and links,
Bridges and dams,
Electricity and housing,
Post offices and telegraphs.
The modern age
Of the radio, the cinema,
The theatre and cosmetics,
The television,
The telephone,
The wireless handset,
The textiles.
Had the food been not
In the belly,
Had clothing been not,
Good houses to dwell in,
Could we have been modern,
Had we not gone to schools,
Had there been not courts and police stations?
rights, of human rights,
individual rights,
the rights of different
groups and minorities.
A public realm in
individuals join
together to establish
the way in which
they determine to
treat each other.
But, time and again
in history, we have
seen how political
institutions and law
fail to exercise such
self-constraint, to
the detriment of
the freedom and
dignity of human beings.