A Click Away

Endurance

November 27, 2015

by Jay Taber

The term ‘civil society’ — bandied about by social media enthusiasts — is not commonly understood. In its simplest sense, civil society is that which belongs to citizens.

The cessation of civil society, through privatization, has led to the diminished civil rights of citizens to political equality and social freedom. The usurping of these rights by NGOs has made civil liberties like free speech a privilege, reserved for the aristocracy and its supplicants.

With the destruction of community through displacement that severs community ties, citizens are disconnected from society, and dispossessed from participating in civil affairs. Absent an authentic civil society, the annihilation of civil liberties is just a click away.

 

[Jay Thomas Taber (O’Neal) derives from the most prominent tribe in Irish history, nEoghan Ua Niall, the chief family in Northern Ireland between the 4th and the 17th centuries. Jay’s ancestors were some of the last great leaders of Gaelic Ireland. His grandmother’s grandfather’s grandfather emigrated from Belfast to South Carolina in 1768. Jay is an associate scholar of the Center for World Indigenous Studies, a correspondent to Forum for Global Exchange, and a contributing editor of Fourth World Journal. Since 1994, he has served as communications director at Public Good Project, a volunteer network of researchers, analysts and activists engaged in defending democracy. As a consultant, he has assisted indigenous peoples in the European Court of Human Rights and at the United Nations. Email: tbarj [at] yahoo.com Website: www.jaytaber.com]