You all know it. The legacy of the French Revolution. The revolution in which the rebels were murdering each other even as they were in action. Even later on, there were many problems with putting the motto into practice, which indicates that there is something wrong with human thinking in general, especially when there are masses of this promising species in one place.
A lot of time has passed in the meantime, so let's see how the motto has been implemented.
Liberty
In theory, people should be free to roam the world (where there is no war), but that would require money, and the average person cannot afford it.
Most people work hard to make ends meet and have enough to last them through the month. As a result, they have no time.
They are exhausted by the end of the day because of work and other chores, such as running errands, which means they have no desire to do anything.
They are left with the TV, which makes their heads empty, their bodies fat, and it is very easy to manipulate them in any direction. The deeper the monetary dependence, the easier it is.
If, in spite of all this, some people do make the effort to get outdoors, they will, after a short walk, come across a sign: private property.
I don't know about anyone else, but there has been an extraordinary proliferation of private land. Previously public forests, lakes etc etc have suddenly been fenced off and turned into commercial or fee charging entertainment or economic activity. These are quite obviously the result of some crony deal at the expense of the public interest.
The public space where you could possibly exercise the last spark of your freedom is dwindling.
How far will this go? What will happen in the future? Will flying military drones verbally warn you that you've wandered too far from the city and to go back or they'll have to use force? Easy to imagine that from where we are now, so here's another reason why you shouldn't impose autocratic leaders upon yourself.
You'll soon be going about your daily business in a world designed like a mouse maze and you'll be lucky to be alive.
Equality
Equality is most needed in the eyes of the law, equal chance of opportunity should be sought in all other respects. Why should those who break their backs for society every day be equal to those who use their egoism and money-making skills to the detriment of others every day? God forbid, they commit crimes. The problem is that equality proclaimers never go beyond proclaiming equality. Of course, there were those who said that equality is when everyone wears the same clothes and hairstyle and gets the same amount of everything. That is exactly as undesirable as an egocentric society.
If one walks on the ground and not in the clouds, one can see that even equal chance of opportunity is nowhere to be found. It is still mostly a matter of where you were born, who your parents are, how pushy you are and if you are even beautiful, you are especially lucky, as this has helped you to overcome many difficulties that are insurmountable obstacles for millions. Societies are built on a veritable jungle warfare, and we should be way ahead of that. Apart from a few marginalized individuals, no one ever raises these problems, with the result that they are never solved.
A basic tenet of meritocracy is that you are as much more than others as you put more on the public table. The good thing about this view is that you can't really argue with it from either side.
Fraternity
There's nothing to chisel on this one. The world is an extremely hostile place, if it weren't for minimum laws people would be killing each other for a profit. It's a great breeding ground for politicians, they need to have people of opposing views around all the time. That's the best way to get their way. No doubt there are many of us, I mean many individuals in the human race. The right thing to do is not to multiply and vegetate in the midst of our own self-made rubbish and filth, but to make a more liveable world around us with fewer and more public-spirited individuals.
If we can even talk about such a thing, the biggest obstacle to the realization of 'fraternity' is that millions of people live in extremely poor conditions. These people are prepared to do many things that are not in the public interest in order to survive. Accordingly, if one wants a more fraternal world around oneself, one should stop the practice of keeping the masses dependent and humiliated. To do away with this, however, you have to go toe to toe with the oppressors and the humiliators, and they will not stand idly by.
So, in conclusion, what has been achieved today from these grand words?
Nothing.
As long as we do not change the basic structures, this will remain the case.
Hungarian
English
German
Italian
Russian
Spanish
French
Chinese
Polish
Romanian