The Paradox of Participation

Having followed and chronicled the United Nations — in particular its
conventions and other protocols affecting the extension of human rights
to indigenous peoples — I think it is safe to say that the UN, like the
US and other UN member states, is a paradox. As with most modern states,
law, morality and money at the UN have both corrupted as well as
sustained the institutional machinery; living with that reality while
participating in the daily drama of political theater can be a paradox
in itself. But we needn’t have false hope about the odds of success in
order to commit to the cause; all we need is a firm belief that what we
say and do is the right way to be. Once we are rooted in the soil of 
solidarity, we can weather the storms of hypocrisy, treachery and
betrayal. It is simply the paradox of participation—we cannot choose
what must be done.