All religions are required to conduct positive actions for peace, join the Global Community Peace Movement, and re-examine scriptures, precepts,
practices, ethical and moral values in light of ecological concerns. The Global Community is facing a global environmental crisis. It is very important that
every person on Earth accept of being part of the process in protecting the global life-support systems. The ecological crisis is as much about saving children
as it is about saving other lifeforms on the planet. Our objective is to find statements from all religions that promote the respect, stewardship, protection,
ethical and moral responsibility to life and of the environment, the Earth global life-support systems, and statements that promote a responsible earth
management. We are also asking for specific statements on environmental conservation such as those expressed by the Islamic religion.
The war industry is the "mother of all evils" of our world. Its best protégé is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ( NATO ) but there are other
similar war organizations in the world that are just as bad. It must be shelved. War products and equipment from all nations must be decommissioned. Join the
Global Community Peace Movement.
Today the war industry is exploiting the issue of terrorism for profit. Everyone knows terrorism cannot be fought by conventional warfare but that would not deter
the industry from saying it is the best way to get rid of terrorists. Our governments are now spending tax dollars used for social and environmental programs and
services to pay for more war products and equipment. Terrorists have committed the horrible acts of september 11 because the war industry brought terror in their
homeland and is continuing to do so today in Afghanistan, in the Middle East, and in Palestine. In the "Letter to the people of the Middle East", the Global
Community has asked Muslims not to buy war products and equipment from the West or from any country in the world. The only way to fight evil is by not buying
its products. The industry should die eventually, hopefully.
But now the war industry along with NATO are organizating a massive international media campaign to make taxpayers pay for their expenses. More illusions about protecting the humble people
from nuclear war heads being sent from one continent to another. The terrorist act of September 11 has shown that if terrorists wanted to use war heads they would not use
intercontinental missiles. Throughout the 20th Century, the war industry has created the worse evil humanity has ever encountered: the business of conflicts and wars, NATO. It
is a business that has made trillions of dollars (Canadian) and will continue to do so. It is the "mother of all evils" created by human beings. It has no moral value, no
understanding about Life, no respect for anyone or anything, no law except the ones that it makes for itself, and all its products are meant to kill and destroy. It has
sold its products to the enemies for the purpose of making more profit. It has subdued governments all over the world to make them buy its products. It has given trade
and way of doing business a bad reputation and, therefore, it is a threat to the establisment of business. Although the war industry has a good public image it has bought
for itself using tax dollars, it does not really matter who is the buyer as long as he pays good money. The proof of this reality was easily verified by finding out what war products and equipment were
being used by Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other Middle East countries. Over 90% of all war products and equipment were made in the USA, Great Britain, Germany, France
and Russia. Four out of five of these countries are Permanent Members of the United Nations and that means they have a 100% control on any proposal submitted to the
organization. The fifth Permanent Member missing here is China. Shortly after the September 11 event, the UN Security Council has approved war against the people
of Afghanistan. To get China to vote YES they gave China a membership in the World Trade Organization(WTO).
The Global Community is promoting the settling of disputes between nations through the process of the Earth Court of Justice.
The creation of Nunavut was the outcome of the largest aboriginal land claims agreement between the Canadian government and the native Inuit people. The Inuit is one of the first indigenous peoples in the
Americas to achieve self-government. They have the right to participate in decisions regarding the land and water resources, and rights to harvest wildlife on their lands. Conservation, restoration, and
management of the Earth resources is about asking ourselves the question of "Who owns the Earth?" The Global Community has proposed a democracy for the people based on the fact that land, the air, water,
oil, minerals, and all other natural resources rightly belong to the Global Community along with the local communities where those resources are found. The Earth is the birthright of all life. To gain control of
the Northwest Passage, Canada would have to show strong Earth management initiatives and the protection of its environment. Without the fulfillment of the Global Community criteria for sovereignty no one
can claim ownership - sovereignty - of both Nunavut and the Northwest Passage. In Nunavut there is also a vast array of different life-form communities such as the polar bears, caribou, Arctic foxes, seals,
beluga whales, northern fulmars, and those communities of organisms that inhabit the sea floor like brittle stars, worms, zooplankton, microalgae, bivalves and some of the lesser known sea spiders. And there
are many more. Everyone of those global communities have an Earth right of ownership of the North and of all its natural resources. It is their birthright. They dont express themselves in English, but we
understand them. Human beings have a moral obligation to protect and conserve the biodiversity of life on Earth. Fot the protection of those global communities we will need to create a biodiversity zone in the
North by way of Earth rights and taxation of natural resources. We are all members of the Global Community. We all have the duty to protect the rights and welfare of all species and all people.
A democratically planned global economy - reflecting the fundamental unity and aspirations of all humanity - owes its feasibility
and certainty of success to scientific research establishing the biological basis for human cooperation. A democratically planned global economy offers the Global Community a rational, effective
response to impending trade wars and other instances of human despair arising from the contradiction between "free trade" practices
and national "job protectionism." The "outsourcing of jobs," a further contradiction in the present system, does not serve to address full
employment in the recipient country, much less in the country outsourced. Launching a democratically planned global economy at the
earliest practicable time will bypass the thirty-year time frame projected for equalizing labor costs between underdeveloped national
economies and those of the more developed national economies - while reversing the deterioration of social and environmental
conditions traceable to an economic system increasingly antithetical to global unity and human aspirations. Human cooperation
marshalling with meaning and purpose previously untapped energy and resources on a worldwide scale provides the driving force for
achieving and sustaining a planned global economy democratically embarked upon by all nations.
In the same vein objective evaluation by the Global Community of all cultural phenomena -
leading inexorably to major overhaul of many cultural institutions - is critical to ending for all time the scourge of global terrorism. Cultural
evolution based upon intrinsic human cooperation promises to give rise to a new epoch for humanity defined by societal sustainability and lasting world peace.
Human potential rests on resolution of deep human needs to know from whence we came,
safety and security, meaning and purpose - consonant with life-centered cosmologies recognizing the cognitive and formative basis of all
compassionate global societies: mate selection, the nurturing of offspring, and early childhood education in a healthful, sustainable
environment.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means follow the pathway to Peace in the world.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means having a global vision for humanity and knowing what is needed to give a healthy future to the
next generations.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means Justice for all.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means sharing global values, understanding our global commons.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means sharing natural resources.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means applying the new way of doing business and trade.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means applying the fundamental principle: you have a property, use it, share it, or lose it. This principle
applies to eveyone from a private individual to worldwide financial institutions.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means effective Earth governance and management.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means participating in the Global Dialogue to resolve problems.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means the absence of wars, disarmament from all nations.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means getting involved, participating, volunteering.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means respecting global rights.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means politics without borders.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means universal health care, education and employment for all.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means a robust global economy.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means the building of global communities for all life and the making of a global symbiosis society.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means a global, legitimate, transparent, comprehemsive, visionary, inspiring, creative, compassionate
leadership to harmonize diversity with unity for the good of all. The Global Community organization offers such leadership.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means integrating into our ways of life global standards and practices, and global law for the protection of
the global life-support systems.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means having the Global Protection Agency (GPA) to give every community security and safety.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means no global destruction of the environment and life habitats.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means educating the population on the need to obtain a negative average annual population growth rate.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means land and all other natural resources on the planet belong to the Global Community along with the
local communities where these resources are found.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means acknowledging, respecting and protecting within a constitutional framework the diverse cultural,
religious, racial, and minority groups that make up a population.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means that the education and upbringing of chidren include the principles and global concepts listed in
the different sections included here.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means creating new global ministries serving the Global Community.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means no taxes on labor but taxes on the uses of natural resources.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means creating symbiotical relationships between communities and nations. As with global ministries,
these relationships must follow the fundamental criteria.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means giving the people of a population the rights to vote democratically for a government of their
choice, to participate in the global referendum on issues, to make sustainable choices for their communities.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means by celebrating Life Day on May 26 of each year.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means by participating in the Global Exhibition each year.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means decreasing the wealth gap between rich and poor, between the industrialized nations and the
developing nations.
to serve the people of all nations, all life on Earth.
Global Movement to Help essential services to serve the people of all nations, all life on Earth:
. Direct democracy is the right of global citizens to hold referendums on any issue -- and
With a world population still dramatically increasing, a new set of ways of doing things will be
more appropriate in dealing with one another. The Global Constitution shows this new way of doing things.
Shortly after 1985, the Global Community Assessment Centre (GCAC) has researched and developed a process for global voting. Since then GCAC has conducted several global
voting on issues. There are 161 nations that have so far been surveyed. Some results are shown here. More surveys will be completed in the coming months and published here.
Global voting has been and will continue to be a strong mean of obtaining the global opinion on issues. This method is different than data obtained from government agencies
of the 161 nations. Data from those agencies are important but global voting is also very important. Global voting probes directly into a population. It is actually direct
democracy.
Global Rights year one is new impetus of the Global Community to educate everyone about the need for a change in thinking and of doing things amongst all nations. We need to realize what is a priority, what
is the most important, and what is the least important for our survival. We need a clear vision. We need a common vision. And we must all change! There are many important aspects of our lives we can longer
do, or should never do anymore. They are destructive. Humanity and all life can no longer afford activities that destroy life and the global environment. And there are other activities we must do, certainly
thousands of them, to assure the survival of life on Earth. In view of the planetary state of emergency we all must change, we must do things differently to give life on Earth a better survival chance. And this is
what Global Rights year one is about: to establish global fundamentals and a clear vision to follow. Perhaps the Scale of Global Rights represents the strongest pillar of our vision.
As a first step to getting help, all nations can and should approve those first three sections on the Scale of Global Rights. The approval would supersede the political and physical borders of participating member
nations. The Global Protection Agency (GPA) would have the approval from all member nations to give immediate help, bypassing normal government protocols. Somewhat like an emergency unit but at the
global level. That is what those first three sections mean. They represent an efficient and immediate emergency response to help. First, participating member nations need to give their approval to the GPA.
The GPA is a global organization much like the World Trade Organization (WTO) for trade between nations, the World Health Organization (WHO) for health, or the European Union, North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFT), South American Community of Nations (SACON) for trade and economics. The GPA offers an efficient emergency response to help. The GPA is a short term solution, an immediate and
efficient response to help. There are also long term solutions. As with the short term solution, the most significant long term solution is also related to the Scale of Global Rights. The Scale was entrenched in
the Global Constitution and is thus the fundamental guide to Global Law. Now the Scale of Global Rights is a long term solution and is also a part of the Global Movement to Help of the Global Community. The
Scale was designed to help all life on Earth. What would be preferable is that nations unite amongst themselves to help. Over time, we have seen the creation of the United Nations, the European Union, the
South American Community of Nations, and the North American Free Trade Agreement. Except for the UN, these organizations are mainly concerned with trade and economics. The Global Community offers a
more meaningful union in the form of nine or more Global Governments. For instance the South American Community of Nations can be a Global Government by simply accepting the Global Constitution as a
way of dealing between member nations. A Global Government is concerned not only with economics and trade, but also with the environment, health, agriculture, energy, food, social, cultural and many other
essential aspects. The Federation of Global Governments is the place of meeting between Global Governments. The very first step of the Federation, and maybe the only one for several decades ahead of us,
would be the approval of essential services amongst the participating member nations. We want each Global Government to take a larger share of responsibility of the specific region where it operates, and be
more accountable to the people of that region. The Global Community has researched and developed such services and listed them here. All of them are already in operation on a small scale.
including environmentalists, economists and policy makers, broadly
agree that a significant overhaul of the world’s economic and political systems is long overdue, and that without significant restructuring
our most pressing problems will never be tackled. It is time for a significant re-evaluation of global economic and political values and the
creation of an economy that serves the needs of the global community as a whole, within our environmental limitations. In order to
consider how the ownership and management of key resources could be organized, it is useful to group them according to type. There
are three general categories:
All beings have impact, and thus all of them leave an ecological footprint. Some of those impacts are in harmony with the biosphere and
thus are in accord with the organizing principles of life; whereas others are discordant. Harvesting nuts in a sustainable manner, leaving
enough for other animals to use and for the reproduction of the species in perpetuity is an example of harmony; whereas clear cutting
and mountain top removal are examples of excess and discord. Some actions compliment life; others diminish it. Over consumption and
waste and the endless economic expansion they cause are the governing principle of capitalism and over population; and, like it or not,
they fundamentally conflict with the natural order of things. This ideology is counter to the organizing principle of life and it has the
effect of diminishing biodiversity and the ecological processes upon which all life depends. Capitalism and reductionism hold that every
component of the biosphere are resources when, in fact, they are sources of life. At some point in human history, man began taking
things apart in an attempt to gain detailed scientific knowledge and understanding; however, in nature—anything apart from the organic
whole is dead. It is easily understood that if someone removes another’s heart from his or her chest cavity, that person will quickly die.
The heart is a vital organ that pumps blood to every part of the body; it is a part of a connected whole. Sever that connection and the
body collapses and death ensues. Likewise, nature has no unimportant parts. The earth functions like a single living organism of
world-size proportions. Everything under the sun exists for a purpose; every organism plays a vital role in the local, regional, and the
global ecology. Remove or destroy a part and the whole suffers; one has diminished possibilities, foreclosed options, and subverted
natural processes, with consequences to untold numbers of species, including Homo sapiens. Western humans tend to give value to the
parts of nature that can be economically exploited, and under values those that cannot. By continually teasing out the separate parts of
nature and isolating them from the organic whole, we are undoing the very fabric of life: we are playing god. Thus, we are living in the
midst of the sixth great extinction episode in the earth’s 4.5 billion year history, and we are the primary cause. Few Americans are aware
of this fact. It does not behoove capitalism to advertise that it is killing the biosphere; it is not good for business. Who wants to be a
cancer? And fools believe that business, rather than ecology, makes the world go round.
It is best for humanity and the increasing world population to see ourselves as people living together or
far apart but in constant communication with each other. A community has no boundaries.
A global symbiotical relationship between two or more nations, or between two or more global communities, can have trade as the major aspect of the relationship or it
can have as many other aspects as agreed by the people involved. The fundamental criteria is that a relationship is created for the good of all groups participating in the
relationship and for the good of humanity, all life on Earth.
The emphasis of a global symbiotical relationship is not so much on how much money a nation should have or how high a GDP should be although money can be made a
part of the relationship. We all know developed countries live off developing countries so the emphasis has no need to stress out the profit a rich nation is making off a poor nation. The emphasis of the
relationship should give more importance to the other aspects such as quality of life, protection of the environment and of the global life-support systems, the entrenchment of the Scale of Global Rights
and Global Law into our ways of life, justice, peace, cultural and spiritual freedom, security, and many other important aspects as described in the global ministries (health, agriculture,
energy, trade, resources, etc.).
The Global Community has shown that a global community can be united by religion to form a Global Government. It does not have to be a democracy. A Global Government based on religion is very acceptable
to Earth Government and the Global Community.
We can no longer perceive ourselves as a People who could survive alone and a People who does not need anyone else. We belong and depend to this much larger
group, that of the Global Community. The 21st Century will see limitless links and interrelationships within the Global Community. That is the 'raison d'etre'
of the Federation of Global Governments. The very first step of the Federation, and maybe the only one for several decades ahead of us, would be the approval of essential services amongst the participating
member nations.
The Global Community has researched and developed such services and listed them here.
The power of Global Community was de-centralized to give each Global Government a better chance to find the right solutions to global issues. It can act faster and be more effective and efficient in
the context of the Global Community, this great, wide, wonderful world made of all these diverse global communities within each Nation. The Global Community becomes thus more fluid and dynamic. A global
symbiotical relationship is created between Nations and Global Community for the good of all groups participating in the relationship and for the good of humanity, all life on Earth. The relationship allows a global
equitable and peaceful development. This is the basic concept that is allowing us to group willing Member Nations from different parts of the world.
The Global Community allows people to take control of their own lives. The Global Community was built from a grassroots process with a
vision for humanity that is challenging every person on Earth as well as nation governments. The Global Community has a vision of the
people working together building a global civilization including a healthy and rewarding future for the next generations. Global cooperation
brings people together for a common future for the good of all.
Earth governance does not imply a lost of state sovereignty and territorial integrity. A nation government exists within the framework of an
effective Global Community protecting common global values and humanity heritage. Earth governance gives a new meaning to the notions
of territoriality, and non-intervention in a state way of life, and it is about protecting the cultural heritage of a state. Diversity of cultural and
ethnic groups is an important aspect of Earth governance. Earth governance is a balance between the rights of states with rights of people, and the interests of nations with the interests of the Global
Community, the human family, the global civil society.
Earth governance is about the rights of states to self-determination in the global context of the Global Community rather than the traditional
context of a world of separate states.
The political system of an individual country does not have to be a democracy. Political rights of a country belong to that country alone. Democracy is not to be enforced by anyone and to anyone or to any
global community. Every community can and should choose the political system of their choice with the understanding of the importance of such a right on the Scale of Global Rights . On the
other hand, representatives to the Global Community must be elected democratically in every part of the world. An individual country may have any political system at home but the government of that
country will have to ensure (and allow verification by the Global Community) that representatives to the Global Community have been elected democratically. This way, every person in the world can claim
the birth right of electing a democratic government to manage Earth: the rights to vote and elect representatives to form the Global Community.
As oil prices hit new highs and supplies sink, our way of life will drastically change. The use of military force to protect the flow of imported petroleum
has generally enjoyed broad bipartisan support in Washington. One might imagine that the current debacle in Iraq would shake this consensus, but there is no evidence that
this is so. In fact, the opposite appears to be the case: possibly fearful that the chaos in Iraq will spread to other countries in the Gulf
region, senior figures in both parties are calling for a reinvigorated US military role in the protection of foreign energy deliveries. There is
mounting perils to the safe flow of foreign oil. Concluding that the United States alone has the capacity to protect the global oil trade
against the threat of violent obstruction, it argues the need for a strong US military presence in key producing areas and in the sea lanes
that carry foreign oil to American shores. An awareness of this new "Washington consensus" on the need to protect overseas oil
supplies with American troops helps explain many recent developments in Washington. Most significant, it illuminates the strategic
stance adopted by President Bush in justifying his determination to retain a potent US force in Iraq -- and why the Democrats have found
it so difficult to contest that stance. We should expect an increase in the use of military force to protect the overseas flow of oil, as the
threat level rises along with the need for new investment to avert even further reductions in global supplies.
In a time when the old order is shattering, a global movement is emerging to challenge the use of war as a tool of statecraft. Cheap oil
provided an energy subsidy that defined the wars, economies, settlements, values, and lifestyles of the 20th century. The result was a
century of wasteful extravagance and inefficiency that encouraged us to squander virtually all Earth's resources -- including water, land,
forests, fisheries, soils, minerals, and natural waste recycling capacity. We are now waking up to the morning-after consequences of a
brief but raucous party. These include depleted natural systems, unsustainable economies, an obsolete physical infrastructure, and a
six-fold increase in the human population dependent on the diminished resources of a finite planet. Cheap oil also fueled a zero sum
global competition for access to resources -- particularly cheap oil -- and for the military superiority required to secure that access. The
United States combined the global projection of military power with the global projection of economic and cultural power to achieve
unchallenged global dominance as the sole reigning superpower. Cheap oil is no more and the global projection of military and economic
power it made possible is no longer viable. According to the scientific consensus, to avoid driving Earth's system of climate regulation
into irrevocable collapse we humans must achieve at least an 100 percent reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions now.
Less noted is the corresponding imperative that to avoid irrevocable social collapse, we must simultaneously
achieve an equitable allocation of allowable emissions to meet the essential needs of every person on the planet. This presents a
particular challenge for the United States. As the world's leading producer of green house gases, the US emissions reduction must be achieved sooner.
There is no place in this equation for war or the global projection of military power. Beyond the fact that military planes,
ships, and vehicles are gluttonous consumers of oil, the central activity of warfare is to kill and maim people and destroy critical
infrastructure to impair capacity for normal life. The collateral damage includes massive scale toxic and radioactive environmental
contamination that renders growing portions of our crowded planet uninhabitable. The more we humans war the more certain our ultimate
collective demise. The second is an emergent social movement calling all the global's parliaments to adopt the principle that
people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the
threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. In order to accomplish this goal land, sea,
and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.
The day of reckoning for our reckless human ways that many of us have for decades warned would be coming is here. We cannot grow
our way out of poverty. The only way to end poverty and heal our social divisions on an already over stressed planet is through a
redistribution of resources from rich to poor and from nonessential to essential uses. Natural wealth was created by our Earth mother and
is therefore a common heritage of all her children, including all non-human species. None of us has a right to abuse that wealth or to
monopolize it to the exclusion of our sisters and brothers. This brings us to the third element of the big picture: the governing
institutions to which we give the power to set our priorities and our collective course. We might wonder how such injustice could
happen in a world governed by democratically elected governments. The answer is simple and alarming. Our world is not governed by
democratically elected governments. It is ruled by global financial institutions in the service of financial speculators who exchange
trillions of dollars daily in search of instance unearned profits to increase the fortunes -- and the power -- of the richest people on the
planet. They bring down governments that displease them, and buy and sell the largest corporations like commodities. By design and law
the defining priority and obligation of these governing institutions is to generate financial profits to make rich people richer, in short to
increase inequality in a world in desperate need of greater equity. To this end, the corporations rise or fall at the pleasure of the
speculator, assault of our eyes and ears with advertising messages intended to get those of who are already have more stuff that we
need -- to buy more stuff. So what does this big picture overview tell us about what we need to do? How much suffering will changing
our ways impose? Well, we need to grow strong caring communities in which we get more of our human satisfaction from caring
relationships and less from material goods. We will need to end war as a means of settling international disputes and dismantle our
military establishment. We need to reclaim the American ideal of being a democratic middle-class nation without extremes of wealth and
poverty. And we need to encourage and support the rest of the world in doing the same. To do all this we will need create democratically
accountable governing institutions devoted to the well-being of people and nature. There can be no trade offs between justice,
sustainability, happiness, and democracy. They are all inseparably linked. The idea that beneath the surface of our wondrous cultural
diversity most humans want the same thing is consistent with recent scientific findings that our human brains are wired for compassion,
caring, altruism, and cooperation. It turns out that most people everywhere, irrespective of their skin color, religion, nationality, or
language are happiest when they are being helpful, loving, peaceful, generous, and cooperative. Isn't that stunning? Think of the
possibilities. People of color and women won recognition of their full human rights only as the civil rights and women's movements
successfully exposed the fallacy of the story that people of color and women are less than fully human. Recognizing the full humanity of
all peoples opens us to a deeper understanding of what it truly does mean to be human in all the rich potentials that our human nature
embodies. The environmental movement is replacing the story that nature is a dark and evil threat to be subdued, vanquished, and used
for whatever purposes please us with the story of Earth as a living being, the mother of life, a living spaceship. Through sharing stories
about what makes us truly happy, we come to see the fallacy of the advertising story that material consumption is our source of
happiness. Once this fallacy is seen for what it is, we can enthusiastically share our stories of how we are improving the quality of our
lives by reducing the quantity of our consumption and gaining control of our time to do more of the things that make us feel fully alive.
In everything you do, share the story of our human possibility and of our right and responsibility to create for ourselves and for future
generations, the world of our shared dream. Our distinctive human capacity for reflection and intentional choice carries a corresponding
moral responsibility to care for our Mother Earth and for one another. We must now test the limits of the individual and collective
creative potential of our species as we strive to become the change we seek. In these turbulent and frightening times, it is important to
remind ourselves that we are privileged to live at the most exciting moment of creative opportunity in the whole of the human experience.
The future is in our hands. Now is the hour. We have the power to turn this world around. We are the ones we have been waiting for.
Petroleum supplies are declining as demand increases. This unfolding trend will radically change human habitation on the Earth. Among the consequences will be the drastic reduction of food and fresh water
available to people, not only in poorer parts of the globe, but throughout the planet. Industrial societies with their industrial agriculture are dependent upon fossil fuels such as petroleum, natural gas, and coal
for many things, including transportation, electricity, and making plastics and other modern essentials. Oil is the main ingredient in conventional food. As the supply of petroleum and other fossil fuels decline
Peak Water and Peak Food will follow. In recent months we have seen the return of food riots in the Caribbean, Asia, and Africa. Industrial societies run on electricity powered by the cheap energy of fossil
fuels. As the supply of those energy sources decline and world-wide competition for them through wars and other means heighten, more electrical grids will fail, and with them access to both food and water.
The pace quickens. The signs are more numerous. We need even more than food security; we need food sovereignty. Who controls your food? Growing at least part of one's own food--and having something to
trade--will be essential to survival.
We need to shift our understanding of water as a commodity to an appreciation for water as a human and environmental right. All human beings are deeply affected by water and its movements. When we go on
vacation we go to the water. We slide over it, across it, through it. We swim in it. We take part in water rituals and want to be nurtured by water ... we thirst for it. Yet water, in a very deep way, is a women's
issue. It is vital to the role women play in caring for their families. Women bathe and nourish their young, often tend the crops, and are the keepers of the waters. When fetching potable water requires
distance, there is less time for the family and abject poverty and disease result.
We are faced with thoughtless development that paves flood plains and destroys wetlands; dams that displace native people and scar watersheds; unchecked industrial growth that pollutes water sources; and
rising rates of consumption that nature can't match. Increasingly, we are also threatened by the wave of privatization that is sweeping across the world, turning water from a precious public resource into a
commodity for economic gain. The problems extend from the global north to the south and are as pervasive as water itself. Equally encompassing are the politics of water. Discussions about our water crisis
include issues like poverty, trade, community and privatization. In talking about water, we must also talk about indigenous rights, environmental justice, education, corporate accountability, and democracy. In
this mix of terms are not only the causes of our crisis but also the solutions. It ultimately comes down to an issue of democracy. We came to see that the conflicts over water are really about fundamental
questions of democracy itself: Who will make the decisions that affect our future, and who will be excluded?
The future of water is anything but clear. We face a future world fraught with water challenges – too much, too little, too contaminated or inaccessible to meet our needs. We live in a rapidly changing world in
which many of our expectations about natural resources may no longer be met. The seeming abundance of safe, low-cost water may falsely lead us to assume perpetual easy access to all the low-cost,
high-quality water we want, when we want it. The water industry today must examine these assumptions. Although water covers 70 percent of our planet’s surface, less than one-half percent is freshwater
available for our use. Most of our planet’s water is in oceans and too salty for many uses. Much of the remainder is locked in frozen glaciers, is remote from population centers or circulating in our atmosphere.
So this seemingly abundant resource is actually quite constrained.
Water belongs to the Earth and all species and is sacred to life therefore, the world’s water must be conserved, reclaimed and protected for all future generations and its natural patterns respected.
Water is a fundamental human right and a public trust to be guarded by all levels of government; therefore, it should not be commodified, privatized or traded for commercial purposes. These rights must be enshrined at all levels of
government. In particular, an international treaty must ensure these principles are noncontrovertable.
Water is best protected by local communities and citizens, who must be respected as equal partners with governments in the protection and regulation of water. Peoples of the Earth are the only vehicle to promote democracy and
save water.
Water is a fundamental human right and a public trust to be guarded by all levels of government; therefore, it should not be commodified, privatized or
traded for commercial purposes. These rights must be enshrined at all levels of government. In particular, an international treaty must ensure these
principles are noncontrovertable.
Water is best protected by local communities and citizens, who must be respected as equal partners with governments in the protection and regulation of
water. Peoples of the Earth are the only vehicle to promote democracy and save water.
Similarly, all the Earth natural resources belong to the Global Community to be used, developed and protected for the maximum benefit of the people and of all life.
Sharp increases in food prices have generated a new wave of anti-occupation and anti-U.S. sentiment in Fallujah, Iraq. Fallujah faces this new crisis after much of the city was destroyed by U.S. military
operations in 2004. The area around Fallujah city, which lies 70 km west of Baghdad, has traditionally been one of the most agriculturally productive in Iraq. Farmers planted tomatoes and cucumbers north of
Fallujah, others grew potatoes south of the city near Amiriya. Both areas had plenty of date palm trees and small fruit plantations. Now production is down to a fraction of what it was. Farmers have been
struggling with changing times. Residents say they are told of a world food crisis that may be affecting them. But their crisis arises mainly from local factors like shortage of water, fuel and electricity.
Whatever the reason, residents simply want relief. "We just want our lives back," said a college student who gave her name only as Nada. "We want to eat, buy clothes, get proper education and breathe pure
air. No thanks to Americans for their effort to bring us democracy that killed half of us by their bombs and is now apparently killing the other half by starvation. Can you pass this message to the American
people for us?" According to the UN, at least four million people in Iraq do not have enough food, while approximately 40 percent of the 27.5 million population do not have access to clean drinking water. At
least 30 percent do not have access to proper health services.
The invasion of Iraq by the White House is now being seen as the biggest mistake ever done by a nation on
an other nation. It is a crime against humanity and all life on Earth, and a crime yet to be prosecuted. Would
you agree that those guilty of this crime be held responsible and made accountable?
NATO and the White House claimed that they do what they are doing to give security to its population and to
the world. In the past, security was thought as better accomplished through military means. Expanding the
military capabilities and forming alliances with other nations were the only way to 'win'. That is how NATO
came into existence. Today wars are unlikely to produce winners. The Global Community is all over the
planet. Ethnic groups are everywhere. Some say there are more Italians in Montreal, Canada that there are in
Italy. So we would fight our own people? Wars truly make no sense! The world is too crowded and too small
nowadays! And weapons too lethal! So security cannot be achieved through the military. The only job the
military should be asked to do today is to protect the global life-support systems. These systems have the
highest priority on the Scale of Global Rights and are certainly more important than any of the other
rights on the Scale including security. Simply because without life there is no other right possible. Without
Oxygen there is no life! Without clean water there is no life! So protect life on Earth at all costs. Wars are the
biggest threat to life and the ecosystem of the planet. Primordial human rights come next on the Scale of
Global Rights. Without a shelter life will still exist in some places but is hardly possible in cold place.
So security must be achieved by other means than wars. We might as well shelved the war industry, the worst
of all polluters, from humanity right now and that means phasing out all nuclear, biological, chemical weapons
right now. No waiting! That also means having inspectors verifying the phasing out in all nations of the world,
and not just in some Middle East country. The nature of global security has changed since the rise of the
Global Community. Security used to be about the protection of the state and its boundaries, people,
institutions and values from an outside threat. The Global Community emphasizes as a priority the prohibition
of external interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states. Global security can only be achieved if it can
be shared by all peoples and through global co-operation, based on principles as explained in the Global
Constitution such as justice, human dignity, and equity for all and for the good of all. Would you agree that the
military option and the war industry should be shelved foerever from humanity and never to be used again to
solve a global problem? American have brought disgrace to humanity by their selfish, immoral, unethical, incoherent, inconsistent,
dishonnest, erratic, and mostly aimed at making money behavior in the Middle East and towards Afghanistan.
You would think we would be 'civilized' by now. Military intervention in the affairs of other nations is wrong.
There are other ways, there are peaceful ways, ways that are not based on profit-making and the gain of
power for itself. The invasion of nations such as those of the Middle East and Afghanistan are crimes against
humanity and will be prosecuted. War is the greatest violation of global rights that one people can
inflict on another. Would you agree?
The fundamental criteria is that a relationship is
created for the good of all groups participating in the relationship and for the good of humanity, all life on
Earth. The relationship allows a global equitable and peaceful development and a more stable and inclusive global economy.
Global Community Global Movement to Help offers Essential Services to serve the people of all nations, all life on Earth
As a first step to getting help, all nations can and should approve those first three sections on the Scale of Global Rights.
The approval would supersede the political and physical borders of participating member nations.
The Global Protection Agency (GPA) would have the approval from all member nations to give immediate help, bypassing normal government protocols.
Somewhat like an emergency unit but at the global level. That is what those first three sections mean. They represent an efficient and immediate emergency response to help.
First, participating member nations need to give their approval to the GPA.
The GPA is a global organization much like the World Trade Organization (WTO) for trade between nations, the World Health Organization (WHO) for health,
or the European Union, North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), South American Community of Nations (SACON) for trade and economics.
The GPA offers an efficient emergency response to help.
The GPA is a short term solution, an immediate and efficient response to help. There are also long term solutions. As with the short term solution, the most significant long term solution is also related to
the Scale of Global Rights. The Scale was entrenched in the Global Constitution and is thus the fundamental guide to Global Law.
Now the Scale of Global Rights is a long term solution and is also a part of the Global Movement to Help of the Global Community.
The Scale was designed to help all life on Earth. What would be preferable is that nations unite amongst themselves to help.
Over time, we have seen the creation of the United Nations, the European
Union, the South American Community of Nations, and the North American Free Trade Agreement. Except for the UN, these organizations are mainly concerned with trade and economics.
The Global Community offers a more meaningful union in the form of nine or more Global Governments. For instance the South American Community of Nations can be
a Global Government by simply accepting the Global Constitution as a way of dealing between member nations. A Global Government is concerned not only with economics and trade,
but also with the environment, health, agriculture, energy, food, social, cultural and many other essential aspects.
The Federation of Global Governments is the place of meeting between Global Governments.
The very first step of the Federation, and maybe the only one for several decades ahead of us, would be the approval of essential services amongst the participating member nations. The Global
Community has researched and developed such services and listed them here. All of them are already in operation on a small scale.
The Federation of Global Governments is now applying more emphasis on the urgent need from the people of all nations to give everyone essential services. The Global Community
has already declared a planetary state of emergency to that effect.
Today, earquakes, cyclones and other natural disasters, as well as human made global destruction and disasters, require a rapid and efficient response from the world to help those in needs. We need to be organized and ready to help.
We need all nations to be a part of this Global Movement to Help.
In the chaos after the magnitude 7.9 earthquake in China, which made 5 million homeless, many survivors were separated from their families.
Burma was hit by a cyclone at the beginning of the month of May, leaving over two million persons in need of emergency relief.
Thousands of children and parents have been separated. Nowadays, natural and human made disasters have become more frequent and require a rapid response to help.
The Global Community offers both a short term solution and a long term solution to the people of all nations.
Both solutions have been integrated into the Scale of Global Rights
,
itself a necessary first step which must be approved by all of us.
Global problems arising from an overpopulated planet, reducing consumption, control our population growth, and comprehensive population policies
Who owns the Earth ? Everyone of those global communities have an Earth right of ownership. Taxation of natural resources.
The creation of Nunavut was the outcome of the largest aboriginal land claims agreement between the Canadian government and the native Inuit people. The Inuit is one of the first indigenous peoples in the
Americas to achieve self-government. They have the right to participate in decisions regarding the land and water resources, and rights to harvest wildlife on their lands. Conservation, restoration, and
management of the Earth resources is about asking ourselves the question of "Who owns the Earth?" The Global Community has proposed a democracy for the people based on the fact that land, the air, water,
oil, minerals, and all other natural resources rightly belong to the Global Community along with the local communities where those resources are found. The Earth is the birthright of all life. To gain control of
the Northwest Passage, Canada would have to show strong Earth management initiatives and the protection of its environment. Without the fulfillment of the Global Community criteria for sovereignty no one
can claim ownership - sovereignty - of both Nunavut and the Northwest Passage. In Nunavut there is also a vast array of different life-form communities such as the polar bears, caribou, Arctic foxes, seals,
beluga whales, northern fulmars, and those communities of organisms that inhabit the sea floor like brittle stars, worms, zooplankton, microalgae, bivalves and some of the lesser known sea spiders. And there
are many more. Everyone of those global communities have an Earth right of ownership of the North and of all its natural resources. It is their birthright. They dont express themselves in English, but we
understand them. Human beings have a moral obligation to protect and conserve the biodiversity of life on Earth. Fot the protection of those global communities we will need to create a biodiversity zone in the
North by way of Earth rights and taxation of natural resources. We are all members of the Global Community. We all have the duty to protect the rights and welfare of all species and all people.
What happens when the energy supply stops growing, but the population continues to grow? More importantly, what happens when the
energy supply begins to decline, as population continues to grow? Peak oil is not simply an issue of learning to conserve or finding ways
to do more with less. It isn't simply about the possibility of economic collapse, war, starvation or global pandemic. It isn't just about
changing our behaviors or our beliefs. It is about turning ourselves inside-out, and not only surviving the transformation, but also being
and living equal and in harmony with all the rest.
Reducing consumption is imperative, but it's pointless to cut out meat and cars while having lots of children. When challenged,
environmentalists have coherent arguments to defend their retreat from the population debate. They insist that the pressure on the earth's
resources - its water, forests, soil fertility - and carbon emissions are all about consumption and lifestyle, not about sheer numbers of
human beings. They rightly point out that the average American produces some 20 tonnes of carbon a year while some of those living in
areas of the world with the fastest growing populations, such as Africa, produce a tiny fraction of that kind of carbon footprint. They
insist that the earth can support the 9 billion now predicted by 2050 (the increase in the next 40 years will equate to roughly what the entire
global population was in 1950) if everyone is living sustainable lifestyles. The focus of campaigning must stay on the consumption
patterns of the developed world, rather than on numbers of people.
We must bring a solution to our overpopulation problem.
Perhaps the most important step towards achieving societal sustainability this century is to control our population growth. World overpopulation is now at
the turning point and requires from each
and every one of us of agreeing about the
statement of rights and belonging to the
Global Community, the human family.
Comprehensive population policies are an
essential element in a global development
strategy that combines access to
reproductive health services, education
and economic opportunities, improved
energy and natural resource technologies,
and to healthyer models of consumption
and the good life.
The rate of world population growth is beginning to decline, but the total number of people could still double or even triple
from todays 6.3 billion before stabilizing a century or more from now. Women in most countries are still having more
than the two-child average consistent with a stable population size. Moreover, so many young people are now entering or moving
through their childbearing years that even a two-child average would still boost population size for a few decades until the
momentum of past growth subsides. Yet there is reason for optimism. The combination of access to family planning and other reproductive
health services, education for girls and economic opportunity for women could lower birthrates enough to stabilize world population
well before a doubling of todays total.
Motivation, rather than differential access to modern contraception is a major determinant of fertility. Individuals frequently respond
to scarcity by having fewer children, and to perceived improved economic opportunity by having more children.
Economic development does not cause family size to shrink; rather, at every point where serious economic opportunity beckons, family size preferences expand.
A) Foreign aid conveys to the recipients the perception of improving economic wellbeing, which is followed by an increase in the fertility
of the recipients of the aid.
B) Migrations from regions of low economic opportunity to places of higher economic opportunity result in an increase in the fertility of the
migrants that persists for a generation or two.
The need is not to control population growth. Governments cannot control childbearing and attempts
to do so have sometimes led to coercive approaches to reproduction that violate human rights. The need is rather to expand the
power individuals have over their own lives, especially by enabling them to choose how many children to have and when to have them.
The well-being of the world's forests is closely linked to the health and well-being of women. Investing in education for girls
helps them to contribute to their national economiesand to postpone childbearing until they are ready for a family. Providing credit and
other economic opportunities for women creates alternatives to early and frequent childbearing. Finally, better access to quality reproductive
health services directly benefits women and their families. These approaches increase human capacity, providing the greatest long-term return to
societies, individuals and the environment. Moreover, they are likely to lead to an early peak in world population in the coming centuryquite
possibly at levels that can co-exist with forests that teem with human and non-human life for centuries to come.
Comprehensive population policies are an essential element in a world development strategy that combines access to reproductive health services,
to education and economic opportunities, to improved energy and natural resource technologies, and to healthyer models of consumption and the "good life."
Policies to decrease world population:
delay reproduction until later in life
Delaying reproduction is important in influencing population growth rates. Over a period of 60 years, if people delay reproduction
until they are 30 years old, you would have only two generations, while if you do not delay reproduction you would have three generations (one generation every 20 years).
spread your children farther apart
to have fewer children overall
government commitment to decreasing population growth
Create policies that help decreasing the number of children being born. Policies such as income tax deductions for dependent children and maternity and paternity leaves are essentially pronatalist and should be eliminated.
programs that are locally designed and that include information on family planning and access to contraceptives
educational programs that emphasize the connection between family planning and social good
The vast disparities
in reproductive health worldwide and the greater vulnerability
of the poor to reproductive risk point to several steps all governments
can take, with the support of other sectors, to improve the health
of women and their families:
- Give women more
life choices. The low social and economic status of women and
girls sets the stage for poor reproductive health
- Invest in reproductive
health care
- Encourage delays
in the onset of sexual activity and first births
- Help couples prevent
and manage unwanted childbearing
- Ensure universal
access to maternal health care
- Support new reproductive
health technologies
- Increase efforts
to address the HIV pandemic
- Involve communities
in evaluating and implementing programs
- Develop partnerships
with the private sector, policymakers and aid donors to broaden
support for reproductive health
- Measure Progress
More and more young people on every continent want to start bearing children later in life and to have smaller families than at any
time in history. Likewise, in greater proportions than ever, women and girls in particular want to go to school and to college, and
they want to find fulfilling and well-paid employment. Helping people in every country obtain the information and services they
need to put these ambitions into effect is all that can be done, and all that needs to be done, to bring world population growth
to a stable landing in the new century.
The fundamental criteria is that a relationship is
created for the good of all groups participating in the relationship and for the good of humanity, all life on
Earth. The relationship allows a global equitable and peaceful development and a more stable and inclusive global economy.
Issue #610 Earth Government revisited
The Global Citizens Rights, Responsibility and Accountability Act
Perhaps now is time to elaborate more on responsibility and accountability of a global community.
The Global Citizens Rights, Responsibility and Accountability Act is a good start.
This important legislation was approved by Global Parliament. The Act defines rights, responsibility and accountability
of all global citizens. Each and everyone of us must make decisions, deal
with one another, and basically conduct our actions as per the Act.
People from all nations of the world, and all National Governments, are
invited to amend the document (read Press Release Feb. 26, 2006
).
The Global Community concept of ownership states that land and all other natural resources of the planet are a common heritage and belong equally to everyone as a birthright.
The Global Community concept of ownership states that land
and all other natural resources of the planet are a common heritage and belong equally to everyone as a birthright. Products and services created by individuals
are properly viewed as private property. Products and services created by groups of individuals are properly viewed as collective property.
Taxes should be designed to conserve resources and energy
Taxes should be designed to conserve resources and energy. Rather than taxing jobs and profits,
taxes should be moved to resource use and energy consumption and to reward conservation. The community should benefit from the use of commonly
held resources.
Taxes should be designed to increase employment. Moving taxes onto resources and land use and off of incomes should make people less
expensive to employ. Products produced by green production methods, which tends to use fewer resources and less energy should avoid
taxation. As energy costs rise, the price of labour becomes more economical, and green products which tend to encourage value-added
processes, should provide more high quality, skilled jobs than resource intensive products.
Resource taxes should be assessed as early as possible. Resources should be taxed before entering
the manufacturing process in order to green all aspects of the manufacturing process from extraction to the finished product.
Increasing taxes on resource and energy use will encourage resource and energy efficiency, innovation, reuse, repair, recycling, and used material recovery.
The Earth and all its natural resources belong to all the "global communities" contained therein
The Earth and all its natural resources belong to all the "global communities" contained therein.
A village, or a city is "a global community" and owns the land around its boundaries. Along with the Global Community, it has ownership of all natural resources within its boundaries.
Land here, by definition, covers all naturally occurring resources like surface land, the air, minerals deposits (gold, oil and gas etc), water, electromagnetic spectrum, the
trees, fish in the seas and rivers. It is unjust to treat land as private property or a commodity. Land is not a product of labor. Everyone should therefore be given equal
access to all natural resources.
This thinking should give us a fresh start for a better future and bring some light to understanding previous claims of the many different
groups such as:
-
Native and aboriginal people claiming that their ancestors owned the land so now they do
- God gave it to us so the land is ours
- Property ownership system of the Roman Empire to today, our social-economic system of land owership
- The military power of this world forcing ownership of land and of all other Earth natural resources against the will of everyone else
None of the above groups can claim ownership of the land and other Earth natural resources. They never did own the land and of all other Earth natural resources.
And they never will.
Only the Global Community can rightfully claim ownership of the Earth.
Who owns the Earth ? Everyone of those global communities have an Earth right of ownership. Taxation of natural resources.
The creation of Nunavut was the outcome of the largest aboriginal land claims agreement between the Canadian government and the native Inuit people. The Inuit is one of the first indigenous peoples in the
Americas to achieve self-government. They have the right to participate in decisions regarding the land and water resources, and rights to harvest wildlife on their lands. Conservation, restoration, and
management of the Earth resources is about asking ourselves the question of "Who owns the Earth?" The Global Community has proposed a democracy for the people based on the fact that land, the air, water,
oil, minerals, and all other natural resources rightly belong to the Global Community along with the local communities where those resources are found. The Earth is the birthright of all life. To gain control of
the Northwest Passage, Canada would have to show strong Earth management initiatives and the protection of its environment. Without the fulfillment of the Global Community criteria for sovereignty no one
can claim ownership - sovereignty - of both Nunavut and the Northwest Passage. In Nunavut there is also a vast array of different life-form communities such as the polar bears, caribou, Arctic foxes, seals,
beluga whales, northern fulmars, and those communities of organisms that inhabit the sea floor like brittle stars, worms, zooplankton, microalgae, bivalves and some of the lesser known sea spiders. And there
are many more. Everyone of those global communities have an Earth right of ownership of the North and of all its natural resources. It is their birthright. They dont express themselves in English, but we
understand them. Human beings have a moral obligation to protect and conserve the biodiversity of life on Earth. Fot the protection of those global communities we will need to create a biodiversity zone in the
North by way of Earth rights and taxation of natural resources. We are all members of the Global Community. We all have the duty to protect the rights and welfare of all species and all people.
A democratically planned global economy, reflecting the fundamental unity and aspirations of all humanity, the Global Community
A democratically planned global economy - reflecting the fundamental unity and aspirations of all humanity - owes its feasibility
and certainty of success to scientific research establishing the biological basis for human cooperation. A democratically planned global economy offers the Global Community a rational, effective
response to impending trade wars and other instances of human despair arising from the contradiction between "free trade" practices
and national "job protectionism." The "outsourcing of jobs," a further contradiction in the present system, does not serve to address full
employment in the recipient country, much less in the country outsourced. Launching a democratically planned global economy at the
earliest practicable time will bypass the thirty-year time frame projected for equalizing labor costs between underdeveloped national
economies and those of the more developed national economies - while reversing the deterioration of social and environmental
conditions traceable to an economic system increasingly antithetical to global unity and human aspirations. Human cooperation
marshalling with meaning and purpose previously untapped energy and resources on a worldwide scale provides the driving force for
achieving and sustaining a planned global economy democratically embarked upon by all nations.
Recognized as priority goals in this effort are:
(a) a healthful, sustainable environment for every planetary citizen,
(b) universal health
care, publicly supported,
(c) education for all based upon individual capability,
(d) creative/productive employment for every planetary citizen, and
(e) post-retirement security.
In the same vein objective evaluation by the Global Community of all cultural phenomena -
leading inexorably to major overhaul of many cultural institutions - is critical to ending for all time the scourge of global terrorism. Cultural
evolution based upon intrinsic human cooperation promises to give rise to a new epoch for humanity defined by societal sustainability and lasting world peace.
Human potential rests on resolution of deep human needs to know from whence we came,
safety and security, meaning and purpose - consonant with life-centered cosmologies recognizing the cognitive and formative basis of all
compassionate global societies: mate selection, the nurturing of offspring, and early childhood education in a healthful, sustainable
environment.
Democracy and the meaning of effective Earth governance and management with essential services
Democracy and peace amongst nations means follow the pathway to Peace in the world.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means having a global vision for humanity and knowing what is needed to give a healthy future to the
next generations.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means Justice for all.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means sharing global values, understanding our global commons.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means sharing natural resources.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means applying the new way of doing business and trade.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means applying the fundamental principle: you have a property, use it, share it, or lose it. This principle
applies to eveyone from a private individual to worldwide financial institutions.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means effective Earth governance and management.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means participating in the Global Dialogue to resolve problems.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means the absence of wars, disarmament from all nations.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means getting involved, participating, volunteering.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means respecting global rights.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means politics without borders.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means universal health care, education and employment for all.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means a robust global economy.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means the building of global communities for all life and the making of a global symbiosis society.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means a global, legitimate, transparent, comprehemsive, visionary, inspiring, creative, compassionate
leadership to harmonize diversity with unity for the good of all. The Global Community organization offers such leadership.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means integrating into our ways of life global standards and practices, and global law for the protection of
the global life-support systems.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means having the Global Protection Agency (GPA) to give every community security and safety.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means no global destruction of the environment and life habitats.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means educating the population on the need to obtain a negative average annual population growth rate.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means land and all other natural resources on the planet belong to the Global Community along with the
local communities where these resources are found.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means acknowledging, respecting and protecting within a constitutional framework the diverse cultural,
religious, racial, and minority groups that make up a population.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means that the education and upbringing of chidren include the principles and global concepts listed in
the different sections included here.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means creating new global ministries serving the Global Community.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means no taxes on labor but taxes on the uses of natural resources.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means creating symbiotical relationships between communities and nations. As with global ministries,
these relationships must follow the fundamental criteria.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means giving the people of a population the rights to vote democratically for a government of their
choice, to participate in the global referendum on issues, to make sustainable choices for their communities.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means by celebrating Life Day on May 26 of each year.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means by participating in the Global Exhibition each year.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means decreasing the wealth gap between rich and poor, between the industrialized nations and the
developing nations.
Democracy as a way of life requires the presence of essential services
Global Movement to Help offers Essential Services to serve the people of all nations, all life on Earth.
Global Movement to Help essential services to serve the people of all nations, all life on Earth:
Protection of the :
global life-support systems
Earth ecosystems
environment
Security for all life, and safety at work
Peace and disarmament
Have shelter and basic clothing
Global voting
Sustainable agriculture and food supplies
Water resources protection and drinking fresh water
Ombudspersons Office
Global Information Media ( GIM )
Volunteering
Breathing clean air
Global Community Assessment Centre ( GCAC)
Preventive actions against polluters
Eating a balance diet
Sustainable use of human and natural resources
' Clean ' energy
Eradicating poverty and hunger
Universal health care and education for everyone
Global Rights
Employment for all
All of the above essentials for this generation and the next ones
Direct democracy and global voting
Direct democracy is a community right on the Scale of Global Rights. Direct democracy is the right of global citizens to hold referendums on any issue -- and
With a world population still dramatically increasing, a new set of ways of doing things will be
more appropriate in dealing with one another. The Global Constitution shows this new way of doing things.
Shortly after 1985, the Global Community Assessment Centre (GCAC) has researched and developed a process for global voting. Since then GCAC has conducted several global
voting on issues. There are 161 nations that have so far been surveyed. Some results are shown here. More surveys will be completed in the coming months and published here.
Global voting has been and will continue to be a strong mean of obtaining the global opinion on issues. This method is different than data obtained from government agencies
of the 161 nations. Data from those agencies are important but global voting is also very important. Global voting probes directly into a population. It is actually direct
democracy.
Direct democracy implies that:
* Global Citizens are willing and able to participate fully in the
decision making process on issues that most affect them.
* Global Citizens should have full access to information on
global affairs, and the conduct of global business should be
open and transparent, with a well-developed global-wide
communication system.
* Global Parliament should always recognize that it is accountable to
Global Citizens.
* Direct democracy will encourage global citizen input into global
policy, and enable Global Citizens to participate more actively in
global affairs.
* Direct democracy will raise the level of public awareness
and encourage debate of key global issues.
* Global Parliament can exercise the leadership necessary to become a
model of effective “direct democracy” for all global communities.
* A direct democracy global law gives Global Citizens and Global Parliament an
effective and orderly way of addressing contentious issues.
* A direct democracy global law strengthens the hand of Global Parliament by
providing additional credibility in dealing with senior
governments and non-elected bodies.
* A direct democracy bylaw shows that Global Parliament has faith in its
Global Citizens. Thus, Global Parliament in turn earns increased respect from
Global Citizens.
* Direct democracy does not mean
government by referendum. Almost all Global Parliament decisions would
continue to be made as they are now with
the usual consultative processes. Few issues would be
important and contentious enough to prompt referenda.
The Global Community is proposing that:
a) different nations may require different political systems at different times
b) a democratic system is not a "must have it" to be a responsible member nation of Earth Government
c) all democracies are to be upgraded, or improved upon, to be a responsible member nation of Earth Government. The Scale of
Global Rights and the Global Constitution
are the newly added requirements to all democratic systems of the world.
Global rights and democracy
Global Rights year one is new impetus of the Global Community to educate everyone about the need for a change in thinking and of doing things amongst all nations. We need to realize what is a priority, what
is the most important, and what is the least important for our survival. We need a clear vision. We need a common vision. And we must all change! There are many important aspects of our lives we can longer
do, or should never do anymore. They are destructive. Humanity and all life can no longer afford activities that destroy life and the global environment. And there are other activities we must do, certainly
thousands of them, to assure the survival of life on Earth. In view of the planetary state of emergency we all must change, we must do things differently to give life on Earth a better survival chance. And this is
what Global Rights year one is about: to establish global fundamentals and a clear vision to follow. Perhaps the Scale of Global Rights represents the strongest pillar of our vision.
21st century democracy starts with essential services
As a first step to getting help, all nations can and should approve those first three sections on the Scale of Global Rights. The approval would supersede the political and physical borders of participating member
nations. The Global Protection Agency (GPA) would have the approval from all member nations to give immediate help, bypassing normal government protocols. Somewhat like an emergency unit but at the
global level. That is what those first three sections mean. They represent an efficient and immediate emergency response to help. First, participating member nations need to give their approval to the GPA.
The GPA is a global organization much like the World Trade Organization (WTO) for trade between nations, the World Health Organization (WHO) for health, or the European Union, North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFT), South American Community of Nations (SACON) for trade and economics. The GPA offers an efficient emergency response to help. The GPA is a short term solution, an immediate and
efficient response to help. There are also long term solutions. As with the short term solution, the most significant long term solution is also related to the Scale of Global Rights. The Scale was entrenched in
the Global Constitution and is thus the fundamental guide to Global Law. Now the Scale of Global Rights is a long term solution and is also a part of the Global Movement to Help of the Global Community. The
Scale was designed to help all life on Earth. What would be preferable is that nations unite amongst themselves to help. Over time, we have seen the creation of the United Nations, the European Union, the
South American Community of Nations, and the North American Free Trade Agreement. Except for the UN, these organizations are mainly concerned with trade and economics. The Global Community offers a
more meaningful union in the form of nine or more Global Governments. For instance the South American Community of Nations can be a Global Government by simply accepting the Global Constitution as a
way of dealing between member nations. A Global Government is concerned not only with economics and trade, but also with the environment, health, agriculture, energy, food, social, cultural and many other
essential aspects. The Federation of Global Governments is the place of meeting between Global Governments. The very first step of the Federation, and maybe the only one for several decades ahead of us,
would be the approval of essential services amongst the participating member nations. We want each Global Government to take a larger share of responsibility of the specific region where it operates, and be
more accountable to the people of that region. The Global Community has researched and developed such services and listed them here. All of them are already in operation on a small scale.
Democracy, overconsumption and the natural order of things
A growing body of progressives within the global justice movement,
including environmentalists, economists and policy makers, broadly
agree that a significant overhaul of the world’s economic and political systems is long overdue, and that without significant restructuring
our most pressing problems will never be tackled. It is time for a significant re-evaluation of global economic and political values and the
creation of an economy that serves the needs of the global community as a whole, within our environmental limitations. In order to
consider how the ownership and management of key resources could be organized, it is useful to group them according to type. There
are three general categories:
-Naturally occurring resources – e.g. land, water, oil, gas and mineral ores
-Produced goods – e.g. agricultural produce, medicines, building materials and machinery
-Services – e.g. utilities, healthcare and education
All beings have impact, and thus all of them leave an ecological footprint. Some of those impacts are in harmony with the biosphere and
thus are in accord with the organizing principles of life; whereas others are discordant. Harvesting nuts in a sustainable manner, leaving
enough for other animals to use and for the reproduction of the species in perpetuity is an example of harmony; whereas clear cutting
and mountain top removal are examples of excess and discord. Some actions compliment life; others diminish it. Over consumption and
waste and the endless economic expansion they cause are the governing principle of capitalism and over population; and, like it or not,
they fundamentally conflict with the natural order of things. This ideology is counter to the organizing principle of life and it has the
effect of diminishing biodiversity and the ecological processes upon which all life depends. Capitalism and reductionism hold that every
component of the biosphere are resources when, in fact, they are sources of life. At some point in human history, man began taking
things apart in an attempt to gain detailed scientific knowledge and understanding; however, in nature—anything apart from the organic
whole is dead. It is easily understood that if someone removes another’s heart from his or her chest cavity, that person will quickly die.
The heart is a vital organ that pumps blood to every part of the body; it is a part of a connected whole. Sever that connection and the
body collapses and death ensues. Likewise, nature has no unimportant parts. The earth functions like a single living organism of
world-size proportions. Everything under the sun exists for a purpose; every organism plays a vital role in the local, regional, and the
global ecology. Remove or destroy a part and the whole suffers; one has diminished possibilities, foreclosed options, and subverted
natural processes, with consequences to untold numbers of species, including Homo sapiens. Western humans tend to give value to the
parts of nature that can be economically exploited, and under values those that cannot. By continually teasing out the separate parts of
nature and isolating them from the organic whole, we are undoing the very fabric of life: we are playing god. Thus, we are living in the
midst of the sixth great extinction episode in the earth’s 4.5 billion year history, and we are the primary cause. Few Americans are aware
of this fact. It does not behoove capitalism to advertise that it is killing the biosphere; it is not good for business. Who wants to be a
cancer? And fools believe that business, rather than ecology, makes the world go round.
The political system of an individual country does not have to be a democracy
It is best for humanity and the increasing world population to see ourselves as people living together or
far apart but in constant communication with each other. A community has no boundaries.
A global symbiotical relationship between two or more nations, or between two or more global communities, can have trade as the major aspect of the relationship or it
can have as many other aspects as agreed by the people involved. The fundamental criteria is that a relationship is created for the good of all groups participating in the
relationship and for the good of humanity, all life on Earth. The relationship allows a global equitable and peaceful development and a more stable and inclusive global
economy.
The emphasis of a global symbiotical relationship is not so much on how much money a nation should have or how high a GDP should be although money can be made a
part of the relationship. We all know developed countries live off developing countries so the emphasis has no need to stress out the profit a rich nation is making off a poor nation. The emphasis of the
relationship should give more importance to the other aspects such as quality of life, protection of the environment and of the global life-support systems, the entrenchment of the Scale of Global Rights
and Global Law into our ways of life, justice, peace, cultural and spiritual freedom, security, and many other important aspects as described in the global ministries (health, agriculture,
energy, trade, resources, etc.).
The Global Community has shown that a global community can be united by religion to form a Global Government. It does not have to be a democracy. A Global Government based on religion is very acceptable
to Earth Government and the Global Community.
We can no longer perceive ourselves as a People who could survive alone and a People who does not need anyone else. We belong and depend to this much larger
group, that of the Global Community. The 21st Century will see limitless links and interrelationships within the Global Community. That is the 'raison d'etre'
of the Federation of Global Governments. The very first step of the Federation, and maybe the only one for several decades ahead of us, would be the approval of essential services amongst the participating
member nations. We want each Global Government to take a larger share of responsibility of the specific region where it operates, and be more accountable to
the people of that region. The Global Community has researched and developed such services and listed them here.
The power of Global Community was de-centralized to give each Global Government a better chance to find the right solutions to global issues. It can act faster and be more effective and efficient in
the context of the Global Community, this great, wide, wonderful world made of all these diverse global communities within each Nation. The Global Community becomes thus more fluid and dynamic. A global
symbiotical relationship is created between Nations and Global Community for the good of all groups participating in the relationship and for the good of humanity, all life on Earth. The relationship allows a global
equitable and peaceful development. This is the basic concept that is allowing us to group willing Member Nations from different parts of the world.
The Global Community allows people to take control of their own lives. The Global Community was built from a grassroots process with a
vision for humanity that is challenging every person on Earth as well as nation governments. The Global Community has a vision of the
people working together building a global civilization including a healthy and rewarding future for the next generations. Global cooperation
brings people together for a common future for the good of all.
Earth governance does not imply a lost of state sovereignty and territorial integrity. A nation government exists within the framework of an
effective Global Community protecting common global values and humanity heritage. Earth governance gives a new meaning to the notions
of territoriality, and non-intervention in a state way of life, and it is about protecting the cultural heritage of a state. Diversity of cultural and
ethnic groups is an important aspect of Earth governance. Earth governance is a balance between the rights of states with rights of people, and the interests of nations with the interests of the Global
Community, the human family, the global civil society.
Earth governance is about the rights of states to self-determination in the global context of the Global Community rather than the traditional
context of a world of separate states.
The political system of an individual country does not have to be a democracy. Political rights of a country belong to that country alone. Democracy is not to be enforced by anyone and to anyone or to any
global community. Every community can and should choose the political system of their choice with the understanding of the importance of such a right on the Scale of Global Rights . On the
other hand, representatives to the Global Community must be elected democratically in every part of the world. An individual country may have any political system at home but the government of that
country will have to ensure (and allow verification by the Global Community) that representatives to the Global Community have been elected democratically. This way, every person in the world can claim
the birth right of electing a democratic government to manage Earth: the rights to vote and elect representatives to form the Global Community.
Energy, the end of the military and wars, democracy and the new world order
As oil prices hit new highs and supplies sink, our way of life will drastically change. The use of military force to protect the flow of imported petroleum
has generally enjoyed broad bipartisan support in Washington. One might imagine that the current debacle in Iraq would shake this consensus, but there is no evidence that
this is so. In fact, the opposite appears to be the case: possibly fearful that the chaos in Iraq will spread to other countries in the Gulf
region, senior figures in both parties are calling for a reinvigorated US military role in the protection of foreign energy deliveries. There is
mounting perils to the safe flow of foreign oil. Concluding that the United States alone has the capacity to protect the global oil trade
against the threat of violent obstruction, it argues the need for a strong US military presence in key producing areas and in the sea lanes
that carry foreign oil to American shores. An awareness of this new "Washington consensus" on the need to protect overseas oil
supplies with American troops helps explain many recent developments in Washington. Most significant, it illuminates the strategic
stance adopted by President Bush in justifying his determination to retain a potent US force in Iraq -- and why the Democrats have found
it so difficult to contest that stance. We should expect an increase in the use of military force to protect the overseas flow of oil, as the
threat level rises along with the need for new investment to avert even further reductions in global supplies.
In a time when the old order is shattering, a global movement is emerging to challenge the use of war as a tool of statecraft. Cheap oil
provided an energy subsidy that defined the wars, economies, settlements, values, and lifestyles of the 20th century. The result was a
century of wasteful extravagance and inefficiency that encouraged us to squander virtually all Earth's resources -- including water, land,
forests, fisheries, soils, minerals, and natural waste recycling capacity. We are now waking up to the morning-after consequences of a
brief but raucous party. These include depleted natural systems, unsustainable economies, an obsolete physical infrastructure, and a
six-fold increase in the human population dependent on the diminished resources of a finite planet. Cheap oil also fueled a zero sum
global competition for access to resources -- particularly cheap oil -- and for the military superiority required to secure that access. The
United States combined the global projection of military power with the global projection of economic and cultural power to achieve
unchallenged global dominance as the sole reigning superpower. Cheap oil is no more and the global projection of military and economic
power it made possible is no longer viable. According to the scientific consensus, to avoid driving Earth's system of climate regulation
into irrevocable collapse we humans must achieve at least an 100 percent reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions now.
Less noted is the corresponding imperative that to avoid irrevocable social collapse, we must simultaneously
achieve an equitable allocation of allowable emissions to meet the essential needs of every person on the planet. This presents a
particular challenge for the United States. As the world's leading producer of green house gases, the US emissions reduction must be achieved sooner.
There is no place in this equation for war or the global projection of military power. Beyond the fact that military planes,
ships, and vehicles are gluttonous consumers of oil, the central activity of warfare is to kill and maim people and destroy critical
infrastructure to impair capacity for normal life. The collateral damage includes massive scale toxic and radioactive environmental
contamination that renders growing portions of our crowded planet uninhabitable. The more we humans war the more certain our ultimate
collective demise. The second is an emergent social movement calling all the global's parliaments to adopt the principle that
people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the
threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. In order to accomplish this goal land, sea,
and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.
The day of reckoning for our reckless human ways that many of us have for decades warned would be coming is here. We cannot grow
our way out of poverty. The only way to end poverty and heal our social divisions on an already over stressed planet is through a
redistribution of resources from rich to poor and from nonessential to essential uses. Natural wealth was created by our Earth mother and
is therefore a common heritage of all her children, including all non-human species. None of us has a right to abuse that wealth or to
monopolize it to the exclusion of our sisters and brothers. This brings us to the third element of the big picture: the governing
institutions to which we give the power to set our priorities and our collective course. We might wonder how such injustice could
happen in a world governed by democratically elected governments. The answer is simple and alarming. Our world is not governed by
democratically elected governments. It is ruled by global financial institutions in the service of financial speculators who exchange
trillions of dollars daily in search of instance unearned profits to increase the fortunes -- and the power -- of the richest people on the
planet. They bring down governments that displease them, and buy and sell the largest corporations like commodities. By design and law
the defining priority and obligation of these governing institutions is to generate financial profits to make rich people richer, in short to
increase inequality in a world in desperate need of greater equity. To this end, the corporations rise or fall at the pleasure of the
speculator, assault of our eyes and ears with advertising messages intended to get those of who are already have more stuff that we
need -- to buy more stuff. So what does this big picture overview tell us about what we need to do? How much suffering will changing
our ways impose? Well, we need to grow strong caring communities in which we get more of our human satisfaction from caring
relationships and less from material goods. We will need to end war as a means of settling international disputes and dismantle our
military establishment. We need to reclaim the American ideal of being a democratic middle-class nation without extremes of wealth and
poverty. And we need to encourage and support the rest of the world in doing the same. To do all this we will need create democratically
accountable governing institutions devoted to the well-being of people and nature. There can be no trade offs between justice,
sustainability, happiness, and democracy. They are all inseparably linked. The idea that beneath the surface of our wondrous cultural
diversity most humans want the same thing is consistent with recent scientific findings that our human brains are wired for compassion,
caring, altruism, and cooperation. It turns out that most people everywhere, irrespective of their skin color, religion, nationality, or
language are happiest when they are being helpful, loving, peaceful, generous, and cooperative. Isn't that stunning? Think of the
possibilities. People of color and women won recognition of their full human rights only as the civil rights and women's movements
successfully exposed the fallacy of the story that people of color and women are less than fully human. Recognizing the full humanity of
all peoples opens us to a deeper understanding of what it truly does mean to be human in all the rich potentials that our human nature
embodies. The environmental movement is replacing the story that nature is a dark and evil threat to be subdued, vanquished, and used
for whatever purposes please us with the story of Earth as a living being, the mother of life, a living spaceship. Through sharing stories
about what makes us truly happy, we come to see the fallacy of the advertising story that material consumption is our source of
happiness. Once this fallacy is seen for what it is, we can enthusiastically share our stories of how we are improving the quality of our
lives by reducing the quantity of our consumption and gaining control of our time to do more of the things that make us feel fully alive.
In everything you do, share the story of our human possibility and of our right and responsibility to create for ourselves and for future
generations, the world of our shared dream. Our distinctive human capacity for reflection and intentional choice carries a corresponding
moral responsibility to care for our Mother Earth and for one another. We must now test the limits of the individual and collective
creative potential of our species as we strive to become the change we seek. In these turbulent and frightening times, it is important to
remind ourselves that we are privileged to live at the most exciting moment of creative opportunity in the whole of the human experience.
The future is in our hands. Now is the hour. We have the power to turn this world around. We are the ones we have been waiting for.
Petroleum supplies are declining as demand increases, a radical change of human habitation on the Earth, drastic reduction of food and fresh water available to people,
Peak Water and Peak Food, we need food sovereignty
Petroleum supplies are declining as demand increases. This unfolding trend will radically change human habitation on the Earth. Among the consequences will be the drastic reduction of food and fresh water
available to people, not only in poorer parts of the globe, but throughout the planet. Industrial societies with their industrial agriculture are dependent upon fossil fuels such as petroleum, natural gas, and coal
for many things, including transportation, electricity, and making plastics and other modern essentials. Oil is the main ingredient in conventional food. As the supply of petroleum and other fossil fuels decline
Peak Water and Peak Food will follow. In recent months we have seen the return of food riots in the Caribbean, Asia, and Africa. Industrial societies run on electricity powered by the cheap energy of fossil
fuels. As the supply of those energy sources decline and world-wide competition for them through wars and other means heighten, more electrical grids will fail, and with them access to both food and water.
The pace quickens. The signs are more numerous. We need even more than food security; we need food sovereignty. Who controls your food? Growing at least part of one's own food--and having something to
trade--will be essential to survival.
Water is not a commodity but is a human and environmental right
We need to shift our understanding of water as a commodity to an appreciation for water as a human and environmental right. All human beings are deeply affected by water and its movements. When we go on
vacation we go to the water. We slide over it, across it, through it. We swim in it. We take part in water rituals and want to be nurtured by water ... we thirst for it. Yet water, in a very deep way, is a women's
issue. It is vital to the role women play in caring for their families. Women bathe and nourish their young, often tend the crops, and are the keepers of the waters. When fetching potable water requires
distance, there is less time for the family and abject poverty and disease result.
We are faced with thoughtless development that paves flood plains and destroys wetlands; dams that displace native people and scar watersheds; unchecked industrial growth that pollutes water sources; and
rising rates of consumption that nature can't match. Increasingly, we are also threatened by the wave of privatization that is sweeping across the world, turning water from a precious public resource into a
commodity for economic gain. The problems extend from the global north to the south and are as pervasive as water itself. Equally encompassing are the politics of water. Discussions about our water crisis
include issues like poverty, trade, community and privatization. In talking about water, we must also talk about indigenous rights, environmental justice, education, corporate accountability, and democracy. In
this mix of terms are not only the causes of our crisis but also the solutions. It ultimately comes down to an issue of democracy. We came to see that the conflicts over water are really about fundamental
questions of democracy itself: Who will make the decisions that affect our future, and who will be excluded?
The future of water is anything but clear. We face a future world fraught with water challenges – too much, too little, too contaminated or inaccessible to meet our needs. We live in a rapidly changing world in
which many of our expectations about natural resources may no longer be met. The seeming abundance of safe, low-cost water may falsely lead us to assume perpetual easy access to all the low-cost,
high-quality water we want, when we want it. The water industry today must examine these assumptions. Although water covers 70 percent of our planet’s surface, less than one-half percent is freshwater
available for our use. Most of our planet’s water is in oceans and too salty for many uses. Much of the remainder is locked in frozen glaciers, is remote from population centers or circulating in our atmosphere.
So this seemingly abundant resource is actually quite constrained.
Water belongs to the Earth and all species and is sacred to life therefore, the world’s water must be conserved, reclaimed and protected for all future generations and its natural patterns respected.
Water is a fundamental human right and a public trust to be guarded by all levels of government; therefore, it should not be commodified, privatized or traded for commercial purposes. These rights must be enshrined at all levels of
government. In particular, an international treaty must ensure these principles are noncontrovertable.
Water is best protected by local communities and citizens, who must be respected as equal partners with governments in the protection and regulation of water. Peoples of the Earth are the only vehicle to promote democracy and
save water.
Water is a fundamental human right and a public trust to be guarded by all levels of government
Water is a fundamental human right and a public trust to be guarded by all levels of government; therefore, it should not be commodified, privatized or
traded for commercial purposes. These rights must be enshrined at all levels of government. In particular, an international treaty must ensure these
principles are noncontrovertable.
Water is best protected by local communities and citizens, who must be respected as equal partners with governments in the protection and regulation of
water. Peoples of the Earth are the only vehicle to promote democracy and save water.
Similarly, all the Earth natural resources belong to the Global Community to be used, developed and protected for the maximum benefit of the people and of all life.
A new wave of anti-occupation and anti-U.S. sentiment in Iraq, wars are a threat to global security,
invasion of nations such as those of the Middle East and Afghanistan are crimes against humanity and will be prosecuted.
War is the greatest violation of global rights that one people can inflict on another and to all life on Earth.
Sharp increases in food prices have generated a new wave of anti-occupation and anti-U.S. sentiment in Fallujah, Iraq. Fallujah faces this new crisis after much of the city was destroyed by U.S. military
operations in 2004. The area around Fallujah city, which lies 70 km west of Baghdad, has traditionally been one of the most agriculturally productive in Iraq. Farmers planted tomatoes and cucumbers north of
Fallujah, others grew potatoes south of the city near Amiriya. Both areas had plenty of date palm trees and small fruit plantations. Now production is down to a fraction of what it was. Farmers have been
struggling with changing times. Residents say they are told of a world food crisis that may be affecting them. But their crisis arises mainly from local factors like shortage of water, fuel and electricity.
Whatever the reason, residents simply want relief. "We just want our lives back," said a college student who gave her name only as Nada. "We want to eat, buy clothes, get proper education and breathe pure
air. No thanks to Americans for their effort to bring us democracy that killed half of us by their bombs and is now apparently killing the other half by starvation. Can you pass this message to the American
people for us?" According to the UN, at least four million people in Iraq do not have enough food, while approximately 40 percent of the 27.5 million population do not have access to clean drinking water. At
least 30 percent do not have access to proper health services.
The invasion of Iraq by the White House is now being seen as the biggest mistake ever done by a nation on
an other nation. It is a crime against humanity and all life on Earth, and a crime yet to be prosecuted. Would
you agree that those guilty of this crime be held responsible and made accountable?
NATO and the White House claimed that they do what they are doing to give security to its population and to
the world. In the past, security was thought as better accomplished through military means. Expanding the
military capabilities and forming alliances with other nations were the only way to 'win'. That is how NATO
came into existence. Today wars are unlikely to produce winners. The Global Community is all over the
planet. Ethnic groups are everywhere. Some say there are more Italians in Montreal, Canada that there are in
Italy. So we would fight our own people? Wars truly make no sense! The world is too crowded and too small
nowadays! And weapons too lethal! So security cannot be achieved through the military. The only job the
military should be asked to do today is to protect the global life-support systems. These systems have the
highest priority on the Scale of Global Rights and are certainly more important than any of the other
rights on the Scale including security. Simply because without life there is no other right possible. Without
Oxygen there is no life! Without clean water there is no life! So protect life on Earth at all costs. Wars are the
biggest threat to life and the ecosystem of the planet. Primordial human rights come next on the Scale of
Global Rights. Without a shelter life will still exist in some places but is hardly possible in cold place.
So security must be achieved by other means than wars. We might as well shelved the war industry, the worst
of all polluters, from humanity right now and that means phasing out all nuclear, biological, chemical weapons
right now. No waiting! That also means having inspectors verifying the phasing out in all nations of the world,
and not just in some Middle East country. The nature of global security has changed since the rise of the
Global Community. Security used to be about the protection of the state and its boundaries, people,
institutions and values from an outside threat. The Global Community emphasizes as a priority the prohibition
of external interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states. Global security can only be achieved if it can
be shared by all peoples and through global co-operation, based on principles as explained in the Global
Constitution such as justice, human dignity, and equity for all and for the good of all. Would you agree that the
military option and the war industry should be shelved foerever from humanity and never to be used again to
solve a global problem? American have brought disgrace to humanity by their selfish, immoral, unethical, incoherent, inconsistent,
dishonnest, erratic, and mostly aimed at making money behavior in the Middle East and towards Afghanistan.
You would think we would be 'civilized' by now. Military intervention in the affairs of other nations is wrong.
There are other ways, there are peaceful ways, ways that are not based on profit-making and the gain of
power for itself. The invasion of nations such as those of the Middle East and Afghanistan are crimes against
humanity and will be prosecuted. War is the greatest violation of global rights that one people can
inflict on another. Would you agree?
Issue #611 Volunteering for the Global Community
Issue #612 The Federation of Global Governments is now applying more emphasis on
the urgent need from the people of all nations to give everyone essential services
The Global Citizens Rights, Responsibility and Accountability Act
Perhaps now is time to elaborate more on responsibility and accountability of a global community.
The Global Citizens Rights, Responsibility and Accountability Act is a good start.
This important legislation was approved by Global Parliament. The Act defines rights, responsibility and accountability
of all global citizens. Each and everyone of us must make decisions, deal
with one another, and basically conduct our actions as per the Act.
People from all nations of the world, and all National Governments, are
invited to amend the document (read Press Release Feb. 26, 2006
).
A democratically planned global economy, reflecting the fundamental unity and aspirations of all humanity, the Global Community
A democratically planned global economy - reflecting the fundamental unity and aspirations of all humanity - owes its feasibility
and certainty of success to scientific research establishing the biological basis for human cooperation. A democratically planned global economy offers the Global Community a rational, effective
response to impending trade wars and other instances of human despair arising from the contradiction between "free trade" practices
and national "job protectionism." The "outsourcing of jobs," a further contradiction in the present system, does not serve to address full
employment in the recipient country, much less in the country outsourced. Launching a democratically planned global economy at the
earliest practicable time will bypass the thirty-year time frame projected for equalizing labor costs between underdeveloped national
economies and those of the more developed national economies - while reversing the deterioration of social and environmental
conditions traceable to an economic system increasingly antithetical to global unity and human aspirations. Human cooperation
marshalling with meaning and purpose previously untapped energy and resources on a worldwide scale provides the driving force for
achieving and sustaining a planned global economy democratically embarked upon by all nations.
Recognized as priority goals in this effort are:
(a) a healthful, sustainable environment for every planetary citizen,
(b) universal health
care, publicly supported,
(c) education for all based upon individual capability,
(d) creative/productive employment for every planetary citizen, and
(e) post-retirement security.
In the same vein objective evaluation by the Global Community of all cultural phenomena -
leading inexorably to major overhaul of many cultural institutions - is critical to ending for all time the scourge of global terrorism. Cultural
evolution based upon intrinsic human cooperation promises to give rise to a new epoch for humanity defined by societal sustainability and lasting world peace.
Human potential rests on resolution of deep human needs to know from whence we came,
safety and security, meaning and purpose - consonant with life-centered cosmologies recognizing the cognitive and formative basis of all
compassionate global societies: mate selection, the nurturing of offspring, and early childhood education in a healthful, sustainable
environment.
Democracy and the meaning of effective Earth governance and management with essential services
Democracy and peace amongst nations means follow the pathway to Peace in the world.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means having a global vision for humanity and knowing what is needed to give a healthy future to the
next generations.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means Justice for all.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means sharing global values, understanding our global commons.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means sharing natural resources.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means applying the new way of doing business and trade.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means applying the fundamental principle: you have a property, use it, share it, or lose it. This principle
applies to eveyone from a private individual to worldwide financial institutions.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means effective Earth governance and management.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means participating in the Global Dialogue to resolve problems.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means the absence of wars, disarmament from all nations.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means getting involved, participating, volunteering.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means respecting global rights.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means politics without borders.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means universal health care, education and employment for all.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means a robust global economy.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means the building of global communities for all life and the making of a global symbiosis society.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means a global, legitimate, transparent, comprehemsive, visionary, inspiring, creative, compassionate
leadership to harmonize diversity with unity for the good of all. The Global Community organization offers such leadership.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means integrating into our ways of life global standards and practices, and global law for the protection of
the global life-support systems.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means having the Global Protection Agency (GPA) to give every community security and safety.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means no global destruction of the environment and life habitats.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means educating the population on the need to obtain a negative average annual population growth rate.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means land and all other natural resources on the planet belong to the Global Community along with the
local communities where these resources are found.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means acknowledging, respecting and protecting within a constitutional framework the diverse cultural,
religious, racial, and minority groups that make up a population.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means that the education and upbringing of chidren include the principles and global concepts listed in
the different sections included here.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means creating new global ministries serving the Global Community.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means no taxes on labor but taxes on the uses of natural resources.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means creating symbiotical relationships between communities and nations. As with global ministries,
these relationships must follow the fundamental criteria.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means giving the people of a population the rights to vote democratically for a government of their
choice, to participate in the global referendum on issues, to make sustainable choices for their communities.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means by celebrating Life Day on May 26 of each year.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means by participating in the Global Exhibition each year.
Democracy and peace amongst nations means decreasing the wealth gap between rich and poor, between the industrialized nations and the
developing nations.
Democracy as a way of life requires the presence of essential services
Global Movement to Help offers Essential Services to serve the people of all nations, all life on Earth.
Global Movement to Help essential services to serve the people of all nations, all life on Earth:
Protection of the :
global life-support systems
Earth ecosystems
environment
Security for all life, and safety at work
Peace and disarmament
Have shelter and basic clothing
Global voting
Sustainable agriculture and food supplies
Water resources protection and drinking fresh water
Ombudspersons Office
Global Information Media ( GIM )
Volunteering
Breathing clean air
Global Community Assessment Centre ( GCAC)
Preventive actions against polluters
Eating a balance diet
Sustainable use of human and natural resources
' Clean ' energy
Eradicating poverty and hunger
Universal health care and education for everyone
Global Rights
Employment for all
All of the above essentials for this generation and the next ones
Direct democracy and global voting
Direct democracy is a community right on the Scale of Global Rights. Direct democracy is the right of global citizens to hold referendums on any issue -- and
With a world population still dramatically increasing, a new set of ways of doing things will be
more appropriate in dealing with one another. The Global Constitution shows this new way of doing things.
Shortly after 1985, the Global Community Assessment Centre (GCAC) has researched and developed a process for global voting. Since then GCAC has conducted several global
voting on issues. There are 161 nations that have so far been surveyed. Some results are shown here. More surveys will be completed in the coming months and published here.
Global voting has been and will continue to be a strong mean of obtaining the global opinion on issues. This method is different than data obtained from government agencies
of the 161 nations. Data from those agencies are important but global voting is also very important. Global voting probes directly into a population. It is actually direct
democracy.
Direct democracy implies that:
* Global Citizens are willing and able to participate fully in the
decision making process on issues that most affect them.
* Global Citizens should have full access to information on
global affairs, and the conduct of global business should be
open and transparent, with a well-developed global-wide
communication system.
* Global Parliament should always recognize that it is accountable to
Global Citizens.
* Direct democracy will encourage global citizen input into global
policy, and enable Global Citizens to participate more actively in
global affairs.
* Direct democracy will raise the level of public awareness
and encourage debate of key global issues.
* Global Parliament can exercise the leadership necessary to become a
model of effective “direct democracy” for all global communities.
* A direct democracy global law gives Global Citizens and Global Parliament an
effective and orderly way of addressing contentious issues.
* A direct democracy global law strengthens the hand of Global Parliament by
providing additional credibility in dealing with senior
governments and non-elected bodies.
* A direct democracy bylaw shows that Global Parliament has faith in its
Global Citizens. Thus, Global Parliament in turn earns increased respect from
Global Citizens.
* Direct democracy does not mean
government by referendum. Almost all Global Parliament decisions would
continue to be made as they are now with
the usual consultative processes. Few issues would be
important and contentious enough to prompt referenda.
The Global Community is proposing that:
a) different nations may require different political systems at different times
b) a democratic system is not a "must have it" to be a responsible member nation of Earth Government
c) all democracies are to be upgraded, or improved upon, to be a responsible member nation of Earth Government. The Scale of
Global Rights and the Global Constitution
are the newly added requirements to all democratic systems of the world.
Global rights and democracy
Global Rights year one is new impetus of the Global Community to educate everyone about the need for a change in thinking and of doing things amongst all nations. We need to realize what is a priority, what
is the most important, and what is the least important for our survival. We need a clear vision. We need a common vision. And we must all change! There are many important aspects of our lives we can longer
do, or should never do anymore. They are destructive. Humanity and all life can no longer afford activities that destroy life and the global environment. And there are other activities we must do, certainly
thousands of them, to assure the survival of life on Earth. In view of the planetary state of emergency we all must change, we must do things differently to give life on Earth a better survival chance. And this is
what Global Rights year one is about: to establish global fundamentals and a clear vision to follow. Perhaps the Scale of Global Rights represents the strongest pillar of our vision.
21st century democracy starts with essential services
As a first step to getting help, all nations can and should approve those first three sections on the Scale of Global Rights. The approval would supersede the political and physical borders of participating member
nations. The Global Protection Agency (GPA) would have the approval from all member nations to give immediate help, bypassing normal government protocols. Somewhat like an emergency unit but at the
global level. That is what those first three sections mean. They represent an efficient and immediate emergency response to help. First, participating member nations need to give their approval to the GPA.
The GPA is a global organization much like the World Trade Organization (WTO) for trade between nations, the World Health Organization (WHO) for health, or the European Union, North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFT), South American Community of Nations (SACON) for trade and economics. The GPA offers an efficient emergency response to help. The GPA is a short term solution, an immediate and
efficient response to help. There are also long term solutions. As with the short term solution, the most significant long term solution is also related to the Scale of Global Rights. The Scale was entrenched in
the Global Constitution and is thus the fundamental guide to Global Law. Now the Scale of Global Rights is a long term solution and is also a part of the Global Movement to Help of the Global Community. The
Scale was designed to help all life on Earth. What would be preferable is that nations unite amongst themselves to help. Over time, we have seen the creation of the United Nations, the European Union, the
South American Community of Nations, and the North American Free Trade Agreement. Except for the UN, these organizations are mainly concerned with trade and economics. The Global Community offers a
more meaningful union in the form of nine or more Global Governments. For instance the South American Community of Nations can be a Global Government by simply accepting the Global Constitution as a
way of dealing between member nations. A Global Government is concerned not only with economics and trade, but also with the environment, health, agriculture, energy, food, social, cultural and many other
essential aspects. The Federation of Global Governments is the place of meeting between Global Governments. The very first step of the Federation, and maybe the only one for several decades ahead of us,
would be the approval of essential services amongst the participating member nations. We want each Global Government to take a larger share of responsibility of the specific region where it operates, and be
more accountable to the people of that region. The Global Community has researched and developed such services and listed them here. All of them are already in operation on a small scale.
Democracy, overconsumption and the natural order of things
A growing body of progressives within the global justice movement,
including environmentalists, economists and policy makers, broadly
agree that a significant overhaul of the world’s economic and political systems is long overdue, and that without significant restructuring
our most pressing problems will never be tackled. It is time for a significant re-evaluation of global economic and political values and the
creation of an economy that serves the needs of the global community as a whole, within our environmental limitations. In order to
consider how the ownership and management of key resources could be organized, it is useful to group them according to type. There
are three general categories:
-Naturally occurring resources – e.g. land, water, oil, gas and mineral ores
-Produced goods – e.g. agricultural produce, medicines, building materials and machinery
-Services – e.g. utilities, healthcare and education
All beings have impact, and thus all of them leave an ecological footprint. Some of those impacts are in harmony with the biosphere and
thus are in accord with the organizing principles of life; whereas others are discordant. Harvesting nuts in a sustainable manner, leaving
enough for other animals to use and for the reproduction of the species in perpetuity is an example of harmony; whereas clear cutting
and mountain top removal are examples of excess and discord. Some actions compliment life; others diminish it. Over consumption and
waste and the endless economic expansion they cause are the governing principle of capitalism and over population; and, like it or not,
they fundamentally conflict with the natural order of things. This ideology is counter to the organizing principle of life and it has the
effect of diminishing biodiversity and the ecological processes upon which all life depends. Capitalism and reductionism hold that every
component of the biosphere are resources when, in fact, they are sources of life. At some point in human history, man began taking
things apart in an attempt to gain detailed scientific knowledge and understanding; however, in nature—anything apart from the organic
whole is dead. It is easily understood that if someone removes another’s heart from his or her chest cavity, that person will quickly die.
The heart is a vital organ that pumps blood to every part of the body; it is a part of a connected whole. Sever that connection and the
body collapses and death ensues. Likewise, nature has no unimportant parts. The earth functions like a single living organism of
world-size proportions. Everything under the sun exists for a purpose; every organism plays a vital role in the local, regional, and the
global ecology. Remove or destroy a part and the whole suffers; one has diminished possibilities, foreclosed options, and subverted
natural processes, with consequences to untold numbers of species, including Homo sapiens. Western humans tend to give value to the
parts of nature that can be economically exploited, and under values those that cannot. By continually teasing out the separate parts of
nature and isolating them from the organic whole, we are undoing the very fabric of life: we are playing god. Thus, we are living in the
midst of the sixth great extinction episode in the earth’s 4.5 billion year history, and we are the primary cause. Few Americans are aware
of this fact. It does not behoove capitalism to advertise that it is killing the biosphere; it is not good for business. Who wants to be a
cancer? And fools believe that business, rather than ecology, makes the world go round.
The political system of an individual country does not have to be a democracy
It is best for humanity and the increasing world population to see ourselves as people living together or
far apart but in constant communication with each other. A community has no boundaries.
A global symbiotical relationship between two or more nations, or between two or more global communities, can have trade as the major aspect of the relationship or it
can have as many other aspects as agreed by the people involved. The fundamental criteria is that a relationship is created for the good of all groups participating in the
relationship and for the good of humanity, all life on Earth. The relationship allows a global equitable and peaceful development and a more stable and inclusive global
economy.
The emphasis of a global symbiotical relationship is not so much on how much money a nation should have or how high a GDP should be although money can be made a
part of the relationship. We all know developed countries live off developing countries so the emphasis has no need to stress out the profit a rich nation is making off a poor nation. The emphasis of the
relationship should give more importance to the other aspects such as quality of life, protection of the environment and of the global life-support systems, the entrenchment of the Scale of Global Rights
and Global Law into our ways of life, justice, peace, cultural and spiritual freedom, security, and many other important aspects as described in the global ministries (health, agriculture,
energy, trade, resources, etc.).
The Global Community has shown that a global community can be united by religion to form a Global Government. It does not have to be a democracy. A Global Government based on religion is very acceptable
to Earth Government and the Global Community.
We can no longer perceive ourselves as a People who could survive alone and a People who does not need anyone else. We belong and depend to this much larger
group, that of the Global Community. The 21st Century will see limitless links and interrelationships within the Global Community. That is the 'raison d'etre'
of the Federation of Global Governments. The very first step of the Federation, and maybe the only one for several decades ahead of us, would be the approval of essential services amongst the participating
member nations. We want each Global Government to take a larger share of responsibility of the specific region where it operates, and be more accountable to
the people of that region. The Global Community has researched and developed such services and listed them here.
The power of Global Community was de-centralized to give each Global Government a better chance to find the right solutions to global issues. It can act faster and be more effective and efficient in
the context of the Global Community, this great, wide, wonderful world made of all these diverse global communities within each Nation. The Global Community becomes thus more fluid and dynamic. A global
symbiotical relationship is created between Nations and Global Community for the good of all groups participating in the relationship and for the good of humanity, all life on Earth. The relationship allows a global
equitable and peaceful development. This is the basic concept that is allowing us to group willing Member Nations from different parts of the world.
The Global Community allows people to take control of their own lives. The Global Community was built from a grassroots process with a
vision for humanity that is challenging every person on Earth as well as nation governments. The Global Community has a vision of the
people working together building a global civilization including a healthy and rewarding future for the next generations. Global cooperation
brings people together for a common future for the good of all.
Earth governance does not imply a lost of state sovereignty and territorial integrity. A nation government exists within the framework of an
effective Global Community protecting common global values and humanity heritage. Earth governance gives a new meaning to the notions
of territoriality, and non-intervention in a state way of life, and it is about protecting the cultural heritage of a state. Diversity of cultural and
ethnic groups is an important aspect of Earth governance. Earth governance is a balance between the rights of states with rights of people, and the interests of nations with the interests of the Global
Community, the human family, the global civil society.
Earth governance is about the rights of states to self-determination in the global context of the Global Community rather than the traditional
context of a world of separate states.
The political system of an individual country does not have to be a democracy. Political rights of a country belong to that country alone. Democracy is not to be enforced by anyone and to anyone or to any
global community. Every community can and should choose the political system of their choice with the understanding of the importance of such a right on the Scale of Global Rights . On the
other hand, representatives to the Global Community must be elected democratically in every part of the world. An individual country may have any political system at home but the government of that
country will have to ensure (and allow verification by the Global Community) that representatives to the Global Community have been elected democratically. This way, every person in the world can claim
the birth right of electing a democratic government to manage Earth: the rights to vote and elect representatives to form the Global Community.
Energy, the end of the military and wars, democracy and the new world order
As oil prices hit new highs and supplies sink, our way of life will drastically change. The use of military force to protect the flow of imported petroleum
has generally enjoyed broad bipartisan support in Washington. One might imagine that the current debacle in Iraq would shake this consensus, but there is no evidence that
this is so. In fact, the opposite appears to be the case: possibly fearful that the chaos in Iraq will spread to other countries in the Gulf
region, senior figures in both parties are calling for a reinvigorated US military role in the protection of foreign energy deliveries. There is
mounting perils to the safe flow of foreign oil. Concluding that the United States alone has the capacity to protect the global oil trade
against the threat of violent obstruction, it argues the need for a strong US military presence in key producing areas and in the sea lanes
that carry foreign oil to American shores. An awareness of this new "Washington consensus" on the need to protect overseas oil
supplies with American troops helps explain many recent developments in Washington. Most significant, it illuminates the strategic
stance adopted by President Bush in justifying his determination to retain a potent US force in Iraq -- and why the Democrats have found
it so difficult to contest that stance. We should expect an increase in the use of military force to protect the overseas flow of oil, as the
threat level rises along with the need for new investment to avert even further reductions in global supplies.
In a time when the old order is shattering, a global movement is emerging to challenge the use of war as a tool of statecraft. Cheap oil
provided an energy subsidy that defined the wars, economies, settlements, values, and lifestyles of the 20th century. The result was a
century of wasteful extravagance and inefficiency that encouraged us to squander virtually all Earth's resources -- including water, land,
forests, fisheries, soils, minerals, and natural waste recycling capacity. We are now waking up to the morning-after consequences of a
brief but raucous party. These include depleted natural systems, unsustainable economies, an obsolete physical infrastructure, and a
six-fold increase in the human population dependent on the diminished resources of a finite planet. Cheap oil also fueled a zero sum
global competition for access to resources -- particularly cheap oil -- and for the military superiority required to secure that access. The
United States combined the global projection of military power with the global projection of economic and cultural power to achieve
unchallenged global dominance as the sole reigning superpower. Cheap oil is no more and the global projection of military and economic
power it made possible is no longer viable. According to the scientific consensus, to avoid driving Earth's system of climate regulation
into irrevocable collapse we humans must achieve at least an 100 percent reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions now.
Less noted is the corresponding imperative that to avoid irrevocable social collapse, we must simultaneously
achieve an equitable allocation of allowable emissions to meet the essential needs of every person on the planet. This presents a
particular challenge for the United States. As the world's leading producer of green house gases, the US emissions reduction must be achieved sooner.
There is no place in this equation for war or the global projection of military power. Beyond the fact that military planes,
ships, and vehicles are gluttonous consumers of oil, the central activity of warfare is to kill and maim people and destroy critical
infrastructure to impair capacity for normal life. The collateral damage includes massive scale toxic and radioactive environmental
contamination that renders growing portions of our crowded planet uninhabitable. The more we humans war the more certain our ultimate
collective demise. The second is an emergent social movement calling all the global's parliaments to adopt the principle that
people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the
threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. In order to accomplish this goal land, sea,
and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.
The day of reckoning for our reckless human ways that many of us have for decades warned would be coming is here. We cannot grow
our way out of poverty. The only way to end poverty and heal our social divisions on an already over stressed planet is through a
redistribution of resources from rich to poor and from nonessential to essential uses. Natural wealth was created by our Earth mother and
is therefore a common heritage of all her children, including all non-human species. None of us has a right to abuse that wealth or to
monopolize it to the exclusion of our sisters and brothers. This brings us to the third element of the big picture: the governing
institutions to which we give the power to set our priorities and our collective course. We might wonder how such injustice could
happen in a world governed by democratically elected governments. The answer is simple and alarming. Our world is not governed by
democratically elected governments. It is ruled by global financial institutions in the service of financial speculators who exchange
trillions of dollars daily in search of instance unearned profits to increase the fortunes -- and the power -- of the richest people on the
planet. They bring down governments that displease them, and buy and sell the largest corporations like commodities. By design and law
the defining priority and obligation of these governing institutions is to generate financial profits to make rich people richer, in short to
increase inequality in a world in desperate need of greater equity. To this end, the corporations rise or fall at the pleasure of the
speculator, assault of our eyes and ears with advertising messages intended to get those of who are already have more stuff that we
need -- to buy more stuff. So what does this big picture overview tell us about what we need to do? How much suffering will changing
our ways impose? Well, we need to grow strong caring communities in which we get more of our human satisfaction from caring
relationships and less from material goods. We will need to end war as a means of settling international disputes and dismantle our
military establishment. We need to reclaim the American ideal of being a democratic middle-class nation without extremes of wealth and
poverty. And we need to encourage and support the rest of the world in doing the same. To do all this we will need create democratically
accountable governing institutions devoted to the well-being of people and nature. There can be no trade offs between justice,
sustainability, happiness, and democracy. They are all inseparably linked. The idea that beneath the surface of our wondrous cultural
diversity most humans want the same thing is consistent with recent scientific findings that our human brains are wired for compassion,
caring, altruism, and cooperation. It turns out that most people everywhere, irrespective of their skin color, religion, nationality, or
language are happiest when they are being helpful, loving, peaceful, generous, and cooperative. Isn't that stunning? Think of the
possibilities. People of color and women won recognition of their full human rights only as the civil rights and women's movements
successfully exposed the fallacy of the story that people of color and women are less than fully human. Recognizing the full humanity of
all peoples opens us to a deeper understanding of what it truly does mean to be human in all the rich potentials that our human nature
embodies. The environmental movement is replacing the story that nature is a dark and evil threat to be subdued, vanquished, and used
for whatever purposes please us with the story of Earth as a living being, the mother of life, a living spaceship. Through sharing stories
about what makes us truly happy, we come to see the fallacy of the advertising story that material consumption is our source of
happiness. Once this fallacy is seen for what it is, we can enthusiastically share our stories of how we are improving the quality of our
lives by reducing the quantity of our consumption and gaining control of our time to do more of the things that make us feel fully alive.
In everything you do, share the story of our human possibility and of our right and responsibility to create for ourselves and for future
generations, the world of our shared dream. Our distinctive human capacity for reflection and intentional choice carries a corresponding
moral responsibility to care for our Mother Earth and for one another. We must now test the limits of the individual and collective
creative potential of our species as we strive to become the change we seek. In these turbulent and frightening times, it is important to
remind ourselves that we are privileged to live at the most exciting moment of creative opportunity in the whole of the human experience.
The future is in our hands. Now is the hour. We have the power to turn this world around. We are the ones we have been waiting for.
Petroleum supplies are declining as demand increases, a radical change of human habitation on the Earth, drastic reduction of food and fresh water available to people,
Peak Water and Peak Food, we need food sovereignty
Petroleum supplies are declining as demand increases. This unfolding trend will radically change human habitation on the Earth. Among the consequences will be the drastic reduction of food and fresh water
available to people, not only in poorer parts of the globe, but throughout the planet. Industrial societies with their industrial agriculture are dependent upon fossil fuels such as petroleum, natural gas, and coal
for many things, including transportation, electricity, and making plastics and other modern essentials. Oil is the main ingredient in conventional food. As the supply of petroleum and other fossil fuels decline
Peak Water and Peak Food will follow. In recent months we have seen the return of food riots in the Caribbean, Asia, and Africa. Industrial societies run on electricity powered by the cheap energy of fossil
fuels. As the supply of those energy sources decline and world-wide competition for them through wars and other means heighten, more electrical grids will fail, and with them access to both food and water.
The pace quickens. The signs are more numerous. We need even more than food security; we need food sovereignty. Who controls your food? Growing at least part of one's own food--and having something to
trade--will be essential to survival.
Water is not a commodity but is a human and environmental right
We need to shift our understanding of water as a commodity to an appreciation for water as a human and environmental right. All human beings are deeply affected by water and its movements. When we go on
vacation we go to the water. We slide over it, across it, through it. We swim in it. We take part in water rituals and want to be nurtured by water ... we thirst for it. Yet water, in a very deep way, is a women's
issue. It is vital to the role women play in caring for their families. Women bathe and nourish their young, often tend the crops, and are the keepers of the waters. When fetching potable water requires
distance, there is less time for the family and abject poverty and disease result.
We are faced with thoughtless development that paves flood plains and destroys wetlands; dams that displace native people and scar watersheds; unchecked industrial growth that pollutes water sources; and
rising rates of consumption that nature can't match. Increasingly, we are also threatened by the wave of privatization that is sweeping across the world, turning water from a precious public resource into a
commodity for economic gain. The problems extend from the global north to the south and are as pervasive as water itself. Equally encompassing are the politics of water. Discussions about our water crisis
include issues like poverty, trade, community and privatization. In talking about water, we must also talk about indigenous rights, environmental justice, education, corporate accountability, and democracy. In
this mix of terms are not only the causes of our crisis but also the solutions. It ultimately comes down to an issue of democracy. We came to see that the conflicts over water are really about fundamental
questions of democracy itself: Who will make the decisions that affect our future, and who will be excluded?
The future of water is anything but clear. We face a future world fraught with water challenges – too much, too little, too contaminated or inaccessible to meet our needs. We live in a rapidly changing world in
which many of our expectations about natural resources may no longer be met. The seeming abundance of safe, low-cost water may falsely lead us to assume perpetual easy access to all the low-cost,
high-quality water we want, when we want it. The water industry today must examine these assumptions. Although water covers 70 percent of our planet’s surface, less than one-half percent is freshwater
available for our use. Most of our planet’s water is in oceans and too salty for many uses. Much of the remainder is locked in frozen glaciers, is remote from population centers or circulating in our atmosphere.
So this seemingly abundant resource is actually quite constrained.
Water belongs to the Earth and all species and is sacred to life therefore, the world’s water must be conserved, reclaimed and protected for all future generations and its natural patterns respected.
Water is a fundamental human right and a public trust to be guarded by all levels of government; therefore, it should not be commodified, privatized or traded for commercial purposes. These rights must be enshrined at all levels of
government. In particular, an international treaty must ensure these principles are noncontrovertable.
Water is best protected by local communities and citizens, who must be respected as equal partners with governments in the protection and regulation of water. Peoples of the Earth are the only vehicle to promote democracy and
save water.
Water is a fundamental human right and a public trust to be guarded by all levels of government
Water is a fundamental human right and a public trust to be guarded by all levels of government; therefore, it should not be commodified, privatized or
traded for commercial purposes. These rights must be enshrined at all levels of government. In particular, an international treaty must ensure these
principles are noncontrovertable.
Water is best protected by local communities and citizens, who must be respected as equal partners with governments in the protection and regulation of
water. Peoples of the Earth are the only vehicle to promote democracy and save water.
Similarly, all the Earth natural resources belong to the Global Community to be used, developed and protected for the maximum benefit of the people and of all life.
A new wave of anti-occupation and anti-U.S. sentiment in Iraq, wars are a threat to global security,
invasion of nations such as those of the Middle East and Afghanistan are crimes against humanity and will be prosecuted.
War is the greatest violation of global rights that one people can inflict on another and to all life on Earth.
Sharp increases in food prices have generated a new wave of anti-occupation and anti-U.S. sentiment in Fallujah, Iraq. Fallujah faces this new crisis after much of the city was destroyed by U.S. military
operations in 2004. The area around Fallujah city, which lies 70 km west of Baghdad, has traditionally been one of the most agriculturally productive in Iraq. Farmers planted tomatoes and cucumbers north of
Fallujah, others grew potatoes south of the city near Amiriya. Both areas had plenty of date palm trees and small fruit plantations. Now production is down to a fraction of what it was. Farmers have been
struggling with changing times. Residents say they are told of a world food crisis that may be affecting them. But their crisis arises mainly from local factors like shortage of water, fuel and electricity.
Whatever the reason, residents simply want relief. "We just want our lives back," said a college student who gave her name only as Nada. "We want to eat, buy clothes, get proper education and breathe pure
air. No thanks to Americans for their effort to bring us democracy that killed half of us by their bombs and is now apparently killing the other half by starvation. Can you pass this message to the American
people for us?" According to the UN, at least four million people in Iraq do not have enough food, while approximately 40 percent of the 27.5 million population do not have access to clean drinking water. At
least 30 percent do not have access to proper health services.
The invasion of Iraq by the White House is now being seen as the biggest mistake ever done by a nation on
an other nation. It is a crime against humanity and all life on Earth, and a crime yet to be prosecuted. Would
you agree that those guilty of this crime be held responsible and made accountable?
NATO and the White House claimed that they do what they are doing to give security to its population and to
the world. In the past, security was thought as better accomplished through military means. Expanding the
military capabilities and forming alliances with other nations were the only way to 'win'. That is how NATO
came into existence. Today wars are unlikely to produce winners. The Global Community is all over the
planet. Ethnic groups are everywhere. Some say there are more Italians in Montreal, Canada that there are in
Italy. So we would fight our own people? Wars truly make no sense! The world is too crowded and too small
nowadays! And weapons too lethal! So security cannot be achieved through the military. The only job the
military should be asked to do today is to protect the global life-support systems. These systems have the
highest priority on the Scale of Global Rights and are certainly more important than any of the other
rights on the Scale including security. Simply because without life there is no other right possible. Without
Oxygen there is no life! Without clean water there is no life! So protect life on Earth at all costs. Wars are the
biggest threat to life and the ecosystem of the planet. Primordial human rights come next on the Scale of
Global Rights. Without a shelter life will still exist in some places but is hardly possible in cold place.
So security must be achieved by other means than wars. We might as well shelved the war industry, the worst
of all polluters, from humanity right now and that means phasing out all nuclear, biological, chemical weapons
right now. No waiting! That also means having inspectors verifying the phasing out in all nations of the world,
and not just in some Middle East country. The nature of global security has changed since the rise of the
Global Community. Security used to be about the protection of the state and its boundaries, people,
institutions and values from an outside threat. The Global Community emphasizes as a priority the prohibition
of external interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states. Global security can only be achieved if it can
be shared by all peoples and through global co-operation, based on principles as explained in the Global
Constitution such as justice, human dignity, and equity for all and for the good of all. Would you agree that the
military option and the war industry should be shelved foerever from humanity and never to be used again to
solve a global problem? American have brought disgrace to humanity by their selfish, immoral, unethical, incoherent, inconsistent,
dishonnest, erratic, and mostly aimed at making money behavior in the Middle East and towards Afghanistan.
You would think we would be 'civilized' by now. Military intervention in the affairs of other nations is wrong.
There are other ways, there are peaceful ways, ways that are not based on profit-making and the gain of
power for itself. The invasion of nations such as those of the Middle East and Afghanistan are crimes against
humanity and will be prosecuted. War is the greatest violation of global rights that one people can
inflict on another. Would you agree?
Issue #613 Universal health care
Urban problems, employment, a future where people and nature matter, where wealth is based on the things that count rather than merely the things that can be counted
On May 23, 2007, the world reached a seemingly invisible but momentous milestone. For the first time in history the world's urban
population outnumbered the rural one. Now more than half its human population, 3.3 billion is living in urban areas. By 2030, this is
expected to swell to almost 5 billion. Many of the new urbanites will be poor. Their future, the future of our cities and the future of
humanity itself, all depends very much on decisions made now in preparation for this growth. Towns and town creation play an important
role to impose control over the country. It also directs the activities of urban residents towards the larger purpose of establishing an
administrative network and helps attain national prosperity. Unfortunately powerful political and economic interests shape urban policies
to line their own pockets. The middle and working classes pay the bills for humongous, perpetually undelivered projects and programs.
There is an ominous divide between the urban and rural economy. Incomes in the cities have greatly increased for some whereas rural
residents, who make up a huge section of the population, have barely felt the effect. This economic differential leads to large scale
resentment and a sense of deprivation. The widening divide in turn drives millions into the cities, creating slums filled with poor,
dislocated people. To slow down this stampede, we have to bring jobs to the countryside. Investors should be encouraged to build
factories away from the presently focused main cities and help boost the local cottage industry. The course of sustainable development at
the local and regional levels requires the pursuit of economic policies that do not add new burdens to the carrying capacity of our locale.
Population shifts or migrations to urban areas globally have traditionally been a tell-tale sign of many issues. Here people move for
assumed advantages, such as employment, educational and economic opportunities. There is also forced movement to flee environmental
crises, persecution and violence at the hands of the feudal. A lack of imagination, rather than lack of skills, is a far more critical distinction
between survivors and victims. To learn to make our cities livable we will have to break some longstanding chronic habits. The hardest
habit to break is the 'syndrome of tragedy', that brooding feeling, like we are terminal patients in almost all walks of life. There is absolutely
no dearth of 'specialists' out to prove that change is not possible. What has to be explained to them is that it takes the same energy to say
why something cannot be done as to figure out how to do it, provided an honest working will is there. Today our struggling cities, like
almost everything else, are portrayed as evolutionary dead ends, with no future to contemplate. Our vision should be less a dream, an
end-point or an unrealizable utopian existence, out there somewhere in the future; it should instead be an unending process to promote
social justice and economic well-being among all Pakistanis. We should work towards peace with nature and that enveloping ecosystem
which sustains life on our planet and is the true source of our natural capital. It is time to raise our voices in opposition to the degradation
of our lives, the jeopardizing of our individual and collective health and well being and above all the pollution of our politics. The
consumer culture we inhabit bombards us with messages to buy beyond our budgets and live beyond our means. We can be more happy
and content if we could but get off the habit of buying too much and consuming thoughtlessly. Hiding our unhappiness by frolicking in
this consumer paradise for some, we who can, eat too much, spend too much, and waste too much time on things that do not matter.
Along the way, we contribute to the plunder of nature's depleting capital and the theft of our children's future. It is time to construct a
future where people and nature matter, where wealth is based on the things that count rather than merely the things that can be counted. It
is time to find the means for putting our urban house in order by planting seeds that will establish new roots for our urban community;
enliven and enrich the nourishing soil on which we depend for human life itself.
Issue #614 Global education
Urban problems, employment, a future where people and nature matter, where wealth is based on the things that count rather than merely the things that can be counted
On May 23, 2007, the world reached a seemingly invisible but momentous milestone. For the first time in history the world's urban
population outnumbered the rural one. Now more than half its human population, 3.3 billion is living in urban areas. By 2030, this is
expected to swell to almost 5 billion. Many of the new urbanites will be poor. Their future, the future of our cities and the future of
humanity itself, all depends very much on decisions made now in preparation for this growth. Towns and town creation play an important
role to impose control over the country. It also directs the activities of urban residents towards the larger purpose of establishing an
administrative network and helps attain national prosperity. Unfortunately powerful political and economic interests shape urban policies
to line their own pockets. The middle and working classes pay the bills for humongous, perpetually undelivered projects and programs.
There is an ominous divide between the urban and rural economy. Incomes in the cities have greatly increased for some whereas rural
residents, who make up a huge section of the population, have barely felt the effect. This economic differential leads to large scale
resentment and a sense of deprivation. The widening divide in turn drives millions into the cities, creating slums filled with poor,
dislocated people. To slow down this stampede, we have to bring jobs to the countryside. Investors should be encouraged to build
factories away from the presently focused main cities and help boost the local cottage industry. The course of sustainable development at
the local and regional levels requires the pursuit of economic policies that do not add new burdens to the carrying capacity of our locale.
Population shifts or migrations to urban areas globally have traditionally been a tell-tale sign of many issues. Here people move for
assumed advantages, such as employment, educational and economic opportunities. There is also forced movement to flee environmental
crises, persecution and violence at the hands of the feudal. A lack of imagination, rather than lack of skills, is a far more critical distinction
between survivors and victims. To learn to make our cities livable we will have to break some longstanding chronic habits. The hardest
habit to break is the 'syndrome of tragedy', that brooding feeling, like we are terminal patients in almost all walks of life. There is absolutely
no dearth of 'specialists' out to prove that change is not possible. What has to be explained to them is that it takes the same energy to say
why something cannot be done as to figure out how to do it, provided an honest working will is there. Today our struggling cities, like
almost everything else, are portrayed as evolutionary dead ends, with no future to contemplate. Our vision should be less a dream, an
end-point or an unrealizable utopian existence, out there somewhere in the future; it should instead be an unending process to promote
social justice and economic well-being among all Pakistanis. We should work towards peace with nature and that enveloping ecosystem
which sustains life on our planet and is the true source of our natural capital. It is time to raise our voices in opposition to the degradation
of our lives, the jeopardizing of our individual and collective health and well being and above all the pollution of our politics. The
consumer culture we inhabit bombards us with messages to buy beyond our budgets and live beyond our means. We can be more happy
and content if we could but get off the habit of buying too much and consuming thoughtlessly. Hiding our unhappiness by frolicking in
this consumer paradise for some, we who can, eat too much, spend too much, and waste too much time on things that do not matter.
Along the way, we contribute to the plunder of nature's depleting capital and the theft of our children's future. It is time to construct a
future where people and nature matter, where wealth is based on the things that count rather than merely the things that can be counted. It
is time to find the means for putting our urban house in order by planting seeds that will establish new roots for our urban community;
enliven and enrich the nourishing soil on which we depend for human life itself.
Global problems arising from an overpopulated planet, reducing consumption, control our population growth, and comprehensive population policies
What happens when the energy supply stops growing, but the population continues to grow? More importantly, what happens when the
energy supply begins to decline, as population continues to grow? Peak oil is not simply an issue of learning to conserve or finding ways
to do more with less. It isn't simply about the possibility of economic collapse, war, starvation or global pandemic. It isn't just about
changing our behaviors or our beliefs. It is about turning ourselves inside-out, and not only surviving the transformation, but also being
and living equal and in harmony with all the rest.
Reducing consumption is imperative, but it's pointless to cut out meat and cars while having lots of children. When challenged,
environmentalists have coherent arguments to defend their retreat from the population debate. They insist that the pressure on the earth's
resources - its water, forests, soil fertility - and carbon emissions are all about consumption and lifestyle, not about sheer numbers of
human beings. They rightly point out that the average American produces some 20 tonnes of carbon a year while some of those living in
areas of the world with the fastest growing populations, such as Africa, produce a tiny fraction of that kind of carbon footprint. They
insist that the earth can support the 9 billion now predicted by 2050 (the increase in the next 40 years will equate to roughly what the entire
global population was in 1950) if everyone is living sustainable lifestyles. The focus of campaigning must stay on the consumption
patterns of the developed world, rather than on numbers of people.
We must bring a solution to our overpopulation problem.
Perhaps the most important step towards achieving societal sustainability this century is to control our population growth. World overpopulation is now at
the turning point and requires from each
and every one of us of agreeing about the
statement of rights and belonging to the
Global Community, the human family.
Comprehensive population policies are an
essential element in a global development
strategy that combines access to
reproductive health services, education
and economic opportunities, improved
energy and natural resource technologies,
and to healthyer models of consumption
and the good life.
The rate of world population growth is beginning to decline, but the total number of people could still double or even triple
from todays 6.3 billion before stabilizing a century or more from now. Women in most countries are still having more
than the two-child average consistent with a stable population size. Moreover, so many young people are now entering or moving
through their childbearing years that even a two-child average would still boost population size for a few decades until the
momentum of past growth subsides. Yet there is reason for optimism. The combination of access to family planning and other reproductive
health services, education for girls and economic opportunity for women could lower birthrates enough to stabilize world population
well before a doubling of todays total.
Motivation, rather than differential access to modern contraception is a major determinant of fertility. Individuals frequently respond
to scarcity by having fewer children, and to perceived improved economic opportunity by having more children.
Economic development does not cause family size to shrink; rather, at every point where serious economic opportunity beckons, family size preferences expand.
A) Foreign aid conveys to the recipients the perception of improving economic wellbeing, which is followed by an increase in the fertility
of the recipients of the aid.
B) Migrations from regions of low economic opportunity to places of higher economic opportunity result in an increase in the fertility of the
migrants that persists for a generation or two.
The need is not to control population growth. Governments cannot control childbearing and attempts
to do so have sometimes led to coercive approaches to reproduction that violate human rights. The need is rather to expand the
power individuals have over their own lives, especially by enabling them to choose how many children to have and when to have them.
The well-being of the world's forests is closely linked to the health and well-being of women. Investing in education for girls
helps them to contribute to their national economiesand to postpone childbearing until they are ready for a family. Providing credit and
other economic opportunities for women creates alternatives to early and frequent childbearing. Finally, better access to quality reproductive
health services directly benefits women and their families. These approaches increase human capacity, providing the greatest long-term return to
societies, individuals and the environment. Moreover, they are likely to lead to an early peak in world population in the coming centuryquite
possibly at levels that can co-exist with forests that teem with human and non-human life for centuries to come.
Comprehensive population policies are an essential element in a world development strategy that combines access to reproductive health services,
to education and economic opportunities, to improved energy and natural resource technologies, and to healthyer models of consumption and the "good life."
Policies to decrease world population:
delay reproduction until later in life
Delaying reproduction is important in influencing population growth rates. Over a period of 60 years, if people delay reproduction
until they are 30 years old, you would have only two generations, while if you do not delay reproduction you would have three generations (one generation every 20 years).
spread your children farther apart
to have fewer children overall
government commitment to decreasing population growth
Create policies that help decreasing the number of children being born. Policies such as income tax deductions for dependent children and maternity and paternity leaves are essentially pronatalist and should be eliminated.
programs that are locally designed and that include information on family planning and access to contraceptives
educational programs that emphasize the connection between family planning and social good
The vast disparities
in reproductive health worldwide and the greater vulnerability
of the poor to reproductive risk point to several steps all governments
can take, with the support of other sectors, to improve the health
of women and their families:
- Give women more
life choices. The low social and economic status of women and
girls sets the stage for poor reproductive health
- Invest in reproductive
health care
- Encourage delays
in the onset of sexual activity and first births
- Help couples prevent
and manage unwanted childbearing
- Ensure universal
access to maternal health care
- Support new reproductive
health technologies
- Increase efforts
to address the HIV pandemic
- Involve communities
in evaluating and implementing programs
- Develop partnerships
with the private sector, policymakers and aid donors to broaden
support for reproductive health
- Measure Progress
More and more young people on every continent want to start bearing children later in life and to have smaller families than at any
time in history. Likewise, in greater proportions than ever, women and girls in particular want to go to school and to college, and
they want to find fulfilling and well-paid employment. Helping people in every country obtain the information and services they
need to put these ambitions into effect is all that can be done, and all that needs to be done, to bring world population growth
to a stable landing in the new century.
Issue #615 Health and wellness
Urban problems, employment, a future where people and nature matter, where wealth is based on the things that count rather than merely the things that can be counted
On May 23, 2007, the world reached a seemingly invisible but momentous milestone. For the first time in history the world's urban
population outnumbered the rural one. Now more than half its human population, 3.3 billion is living in urban areas. By 2030, this is
expected to swell to almost 5 billion. Many of the new urbanites will be poor. Their future, the future of our cities and the future of
humanity itself, all depends very much on decisions made now in preparation for this growth. Towns and town creation play an important
role to impose control over the country. It also directs the activities of urban residents towards the larger purpose of establishing an
administrative network and helps attain national prosperity. Unfortunately powerful political and economic interests shape urban policies
to line their own pockets. The middle and working classes pay the bills for humongous, perpetually undelivered projects and programs.
There is an ominous divide between the urban and rural economy. Incomes in the cities have greatly increased for some whereas rural
residents, who make up a huge section of the population, have barely felt the effect. This economic differential leads to large scale
resentment and a sense of deprivation. The widening divide in turn drives millions into the cities, creating slums filled with poor,
dislocated people. To slow down this stampede, we have to bring jobs to the countryside. Investors should be encouraged to build
factories away from the presently focused main cities and help boost the local cottage industry. The course of sustainable development at
the local and regional levels requires the pursuit of economic policies that do not add new burdens to the carrying capacity of our locale.
Population shifts or migrations to urban areas globally have traditionally been a tell-tale sign of many issues. Here people move for
assumed advantages, such as employment, educational and economic opportunities. There is also forced movement to flee environmental
crises, persecution and violence at the hands of the feudal. A lack of imagination, rather than lack of skills, is a far more critical distinction
between survivors and victims. To learn to make our cities livable we will have to break some longstanding chronic habits. The hardest
habit to break is the 'syndrome of tragedy', that brooding feeling, like we are terminal patients in almost all walks of life. There is absolutely
no dearth of 'specialists' out to prove that change is not possible. What has to be explained to them is that it takes the same energy to say
why something cannot be done as to figure out how to do it, provided an honest working will is there. Today our struggling cities, like
almost everything else, are portrayed as evolutionary dead ends, with no future to contemplate. Our vision should be less a dream, an
end-point or an unrealizable utopian existence, out there somewhere in the future; it should instead be an unending process to promote
social justice and economic well-being among all Pakistanis. We should work towards peace with nature and that enveloping ecosystem
which sustains life on our planet and is the true source of our natural capital. It is time to raise our voices in opposition to the degradation
of our lives, the jeopardizing of our individual and collective health and well being and above all the pollution of our politics. The
consumer culture we inhabit bombards us with messages to buy beyond our budgets and live beyond our means. We can be more happy
and content if we could but get off the habit of buying too much and consuming thoughtlessly. Hiding our unhappiness by frolicking in
this consumer paradise for some, we who can, eat too much, spend too much, and waste too much time on things that do not matter.
Along the way, we contribute to the plunder of nature's depleting capital and the theft of our children's future. It is time to construct a
future where people and nature matter, where wealth is based on the things that count rather than merely the things that can be counted. It
is time to find the means for putting our urban house in order by planting seeds that will establish new roots for our urban community;
enliven and enrich the nourishing soil on which we depend for human life itself.
Issue #616 Employment for all
Urban problems, employment, a future where people and nature matter, where wealth is based on the things that count rather than merely the things that can be counted
On May 23, 2007, the world reached a seemingly invisible but momentous milestone. For the first time in history the world's urban
population outnumbered the rural one. Now more than half its human population, 3.3 billion is living in urban areas. By 2030, this is
expected to swell to almost 5 billion. Many of the new urbanites will be poor. Their future, the future of our cities and the future of
humanity itself, all depends very much on decisions made now in preparation for this growth. Towns and town creation play an important
role to impose control over the country. It also directs the activities of urban residents towards the larger purpose of establishing an
administrative network and helps attain national prosperity. Unfortunately powerful political and economic interests shape urban policies
to line their own pockets. The middle and working classes pay the bills for humongous, perpetually undelivered projects and programs.
There is an ominous divide between the urban and rural economy. Incomes in the cities have greatly increased for some whereas rural
residents, who make up a huge section of the population, have barely felt the effect. This economic differential leads to large scale
resentment and a sense of deprivation. The widening divide in turn drives millions into the cities, creating slums filled with poor,
dislocated people. To slow down this stampede, we have to bring jobs to the countryside. Investors should be encouraged to build
factories away from the presently focused main cities and help boost the local cottage industry. The course of sustainable development at
the local and regional levels requires the pursuit of economic policies that do not add new burdens to the carrying capacity of our locale.
Population shifts or migrations to urban areas globally have traditionally been a tell-tale sign of many issues. Here people move for
assumed advantages, such as employment, educational and economic opportunities. There is also forced movement to flee environmental
crises, persecution and violence at the hands of the feudal. A lack of imagination, rather than lack of skills, is a far more critical distinction
between survivors and victims. To learn to make our cities livable we will have to break some longstanding chronic habits. The hardest
habit to break is the 'syndrome of tragedy', that brooding feeling, like we are terminal patients in almost all walks of life. There is absolutely
no dearth of 'specialists' out to prove that change is not possible. What has to be explained to them is that it takes the same energy to say
why something cannot be done as to figure out how to do it, provided an honest working will is there. Today our struggling cities, like
almost everything else, are portrayed as evolutionary dead ends, with no future to contemplate. Our vision should be less a dream, an
end-point or an unrealizable utopian existence, out there somewhere in the future; it should instead be an unending process to promote
social justice and economic well-being among all Pakistanis. We should work towards peace with nature and that enveloping ecosystem
which sustains life on our planet and is the true source of our natural capital. It is time to raise our voices in opposition to the degradation
of our lives, the jeopardizing of our individual and collective health and well being and above all the pollution of our politics. The
consumer culture we inhabit bombards us with messages to buy beyond our budgets and live beyond our means. We can be more happy
and content if we could but get off the habit of buying too much and consuming thoughtlessly. Hiding our unhappiness by frolicking in
this consumer paradise for some, we who can, eat too much, spend too much, and waste too much time on things that do not matter.
Along the way, we contribute to the plunder of nature's depleting capital and the theft of our children's future. It is time to construct a
future where people and nature matter, where wealth is based on the things that count rather than merely the things that can be counted. It
is time to find the means for putting our urban house in order by planting seeds that will establish new roots for our urban community;
enliven and enrich the nourishing soil on which we depend for human life itself.
Issue #617 Global security
The Global Community is defined around a given territory, that territory being the planet as a whole, as well as a specific population, which is the Global Community.
The Global Community is defined around a given territory,
that territory being the planet as a whole, as well as a specific population,
which is the Global Community. The Global Community has the power to make the laws of the land and to make the rules
for the territory of the Earth. Global Law has been and continue to be
researched and developed for this purpose.
Conservation, restoration, and management of the Earth resources
is about asking ourselves the question of "Who owns the Earth?"
We are all members of the Global Community. We all have the duty to protect the rights and welfare of all species and all people. No humans have the right to encroach on the ecological space of other species and other people,
or treat them with cruelty and violence. All life species, humans and cultures, have intrinsic worth. They are subjects, not objects of manipulation or ownership. No humans have the right to own other species, other people or the knowledge of other cultures through
patents and other intellectual property rights. Defending biological and cultural diversity is a duty of all people. Diversity is an end in itself, a value, a source of richness both material and cultural.
All members of the Global Community including all humans have the right to food and water, to safe and clean habitat, to security of ecological space.
These rights are natural rights, they are birthrights given by
the fact of existence on Earth and are best protected through community rights and global commons. They are not given by states or corporations, nor can they be extinguished by state or corporate action. No state or corporation has the
right to erode or undermine these natural rights or enclose the commons that sustain all through privatisation or monopoly control.
The Global Community found evident that
the ecological base is the essential prerequisite for the effectiveness
and exercise of all rights recognized for human beings. The stewardship
of the ecological base has to be given priority before the fulfilment of
various economic and social wishes. Demands resulting from the socio-economic
system of a particular country have to find their limits in the protection
of the global ecosystem. Vital interests of future generations have to
be considered as having priority before less vital interests of the present
generation. Supply chains have to be designed in a way, that the goods
can enter after usage or consumption into natural or industrial recycling
processes. If serious damages to persons, animals, plants and the ecosystem
cannot be excluded, an action or pattern of behaviour should be refrained
from. A measure for supplying goods or services should choose a path which
entails the least possible impact on the ecological and social system concerned.
This way functioning proven systems will not be disturbed, and unnecessary
risks will not be taken. Supply strategies consuming less resources should
have preference before those enhancing more resource consumption. When there is a need to find a
solution to a problem or a concern, a sound solution would be to
choose a measure or conduct an action, if possible, which causes reversible
damage as opposed to a measure or an action causing an irreversible loss.
The business community can help to create a biodiversity zone in the North by changing its ways of doing things, and ways of doing business,
and operate its business as per the Scale of Global Rights.
( see enlargement )