A/HRC/21/45 representative number of female candidates. Citizens have a right to be given greater opportunity to participate in the conduct of public affairs, particularly by general consultations through referenda on issues, not merely by voting for individuals whose loyalties are not always with their electorates but more often than not with the rich sponsors who financed their political campaigns. In this context many observers have noted that election campaigns in many countries entail enormous expenditures and that the choice of candidates is frequently dependent on their financial strength, resulting in a kind of elitist ―elective dictatorship‖. 49. Obstacles of a more general nature are the historical inequities left by centuries of slavery, colonialism, imperialism and foreign occupation (that persist in some areas even today).24 It is obvious that those persons and countries currently enjoying privileges may have an interest in maintaining the status quo and be reluctant to relinquish their advantages. In many countries, including developed countries, there is a growing gap between rich and poor. It is worth recalling the words of Justice Louis Brandeis, who said it simply: ―You can have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, or democracy, but you cannot have both.‖ 50. Other generic obstacles include lack of ethics,25 latent social Darwinism, endemic power asymmetry, racism, arbitrary embargoes, marginalization, taboos, ―conspiracies of silence‖, political correctness, mobbing, self-censorship, lack of transparency (particularly in the financial sector), lack of accountability, false prioritizing, the instrumentalization of some human rights for purposes of power and exclusion, abuse of rights, the tendency to selectivity, lack of objectivity, double standards, international law à la carte, unilateral measures, discrimination among victims, intellectual dishonesty, political hubris, bigotry, perpetuation of privilege and common greed. 51. Aware that the status quo itself hampers the realization of an international order that is more democratic and equitable, the mandate holder intends to explore ways and means to overcome these obstacles. The dynamics of economic power must change if progress and a more inclusive and balanced growth paradigm are to be achieved. 52. There is much room – as well as need – for improvement. States, the United Nations, intergovernmental organizations, NGOs and civil society all need to identify and overcome obstacles in their respective areas of competence and influence. This is required by the international order intended by the Charter of the United Nations, which entails a post-predator world consensus. 24 25 See, inter alia, Eduardo Galeano, Open Veins of Latin America (1997); case law of the Human Rights Committee on indigenous matters, e.g. Onimayak and the Lubicon Lake Band v. Canada, ―Historical inequities to which the State party refers, and certain more recent developments threaten the way of life and culture of the Lubicon Lake Band, and constitute a violation of article 27 so long as they continue‖ (para. 33), as cited in Möller and de Zayas (note 11 above), p. 447. Nancy Fraser, ―Egalité, identités et justice sociale‖, Le Monde diplomatique, June 2012, p. 3. See the analysis of the concepts of legal and ethical norms in A. de Zayas ―Normes morales et normes juridiques. Concurrence ou conciliation‖ in A. Millet-Devalle, Religions et Droit International Humanitaire (Paris, 2008), pp. 81-85; see also the analysis of ―democracy‖ and ―value‖ in China by Harro von Senger, ―Wert in China‖ in Ivo de Gennaro, Value: Sources and Readings on a Key Concept of the Globalized World (Leiden, 2012), pp. 399-414; Hans Küng, Anständig Wirtschaften. Warum Ökonomie Moral Braucht (Piper, 2010). 17