Our problem isn’t human rights, it’s conflict resolution

I once heard somewhere that democracy, and by extension, human rights, is something you afford. In other words, you need to have your social institutions in place before you start demanding things like “fair play” be in place.

I keep wondering if we should be like Japan, where they have turned a blind eye to prosecutor misconduct. Conviction rates in Japan are through the roof! Yet no one questions the fairness of the system or how effective it really is. They say you can leave money out in the street in Japan, and no one else will pick it up. However, the levels of corporate misconduct, when revealed, are staggering.

We seem to have this notion that when we deny something, it does not exist.