It was first the Gods and then the Sovereigns who imposed their duties on men. Then came the age of rights, which freed us from them. Today it is again the time of duties. But mutual duties, among equals. For ourselves, for our future.

The question to which these pages sketch an answer is in the following alternative. Is the cause of this detestable world to be sought from supposed avowed enemies of rights, or is the cause intrinsic to the very conception of rights, in a world such as we have today, in which every party stands in interdependent relationship with every other party? This world of ours is held together by powerful centripetal attractive forces. Paradoxically, the assertion of rights, instead of promoting diversity and diversification, risks pushing for uniformity and homogenization.