Lake County, FL, Commission Meeting
23 Jan 2024
Gordon Brown (180 words)

Our thanks to Chairman Smith and the commissioners and staff of Lake County for this invitation.

December 9, 2023 was the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In 1948 the declaration was unanimously adopted by the United Nations.

The spirit of the Declaration is described in the Preamble which affirms, that “recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,” and Article 1 states that, “All human beings…are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”

All governments, large and small, are entrusted with the mission to promote freedom, justice, and peace through carefully crafted laws and regulations made with evidence, logic, and compassion.

Eleanor Roosevelt was the chairperson of the drafting committee for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and was likely motivated by this question, she asks, “When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?”