Chapter IV Global Community concepts and universal values
Article 1: The Glass Bubble concepts
The Glass Bubble concept was designed to illustrate the concepts of 'a global community' and "the Global Community". It is an imaginary space enclosed in a glass bubble. Inside this is everything a person can see: above to the clouds, below into the waters of a lake or in the earth, to the horizons in front, in back, and on the sides. Every creature, every plant, every person, every structure that is visible to him(her) is part of this "global community."
Look up, look down, to the right, to the left, in front and behind you. Imagine all this space is inside a giant clear glass bubble. This is "a global community."
Wherever you go, you are inside a "global
community". Every thing, every living creature there, interacts one upon the
other. Influences inter-weave and are responsible for causes and effects. Worlds
within worlds orbiting in and out of one another's space, having their being.
Your presence has influence on everything else inside your immediate global
community.
To interact knowledgeably within one's global community has to
be learned. All life forms interact and depend upon other life forms for survival.
Ignorance of nature's law causes such damage, and working in harmony with nature produces such good results.
Your presence has influence on everything else inside your immediate global
community.
Learn to be aware of that and act accordingly, to create good or destroy, to help or to hurt. Your choice.
Now let us explore this Global Community that we have visited and discover why each member is important ~ each bird, each tree, each little animal, each insect, plant and human being ~ and how all work together to create a good place to live.
You walk like a giant in this Global Community. To all the tiny members you are so big, so powerful, even scary…
You can make or break their world. But by knowing their needs,
and taking care, you can help your whole Global Community be a good one.
* Why are you important to this "Global Community"?
* Why is it important to you?
* What do you like about it?
* What bothers you about it?
* Anything need to be done?
* What is really good there?
* What is very very important?
* What is not so important?
* What is not good?
* What is needed to keep the good things?
* What could make them even better?
* What could you do to keep the good things good?
* Could they help get rid of bad things?
* What unimportant things need to go?
* How could you help get rid of these things?
to sustain the Global Community, humanity and all life.
Let each child be aware he either grows up to be a person who
helps or a person who destroys.
Each child makes his own choice. He creates his own future in this way. He
becomes a responsible citizen.
This may or may not inspire some sort of creative project of what "could be" to aid this Global Community to remain healthy.
To interact knowledgeably within one's global community has to be taught ~ especially to urban children. It has to be brought to them very clearly all life forms interact and depend upon other life forms for survival. They need to know "reasons why" ignorance of nature's law causes such damage, and why working in harmony with nature produces such good results.
The concept of the Glass Bubble can be extended to
include the planet Earth and all the "global communities" contained
therein.
Article 2: Definition of the Global Community
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The following definition of the Global Community is
appropriate:
"The Global Community is defined as being all
that exits or occurs at any location at any time between the Ozone layer above
and the core of the planet below." The technical definition being "a sound balance among the
interactions of the impacts (positive and/or negative), or stresses, on the four
major quality systems: People, Economic Development, Environment and
Availability of Resources," and
The none-technical definition being "a sound balance among the
interactions designed to create a healthy economic growth, preserve
environmental quality, make a wise use of our resources, and enhance social
benefits."
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.
Earth Government can help you to realize your actions by coordinating efforts efficiently together.
Chapter 4.2 Universal Values
Article 1: Social Universal Values are meant to bring together the billions of people around the world for the good of all humanity
Social Universal Values are meant to bring together the billions of people around the world for the good of all humanity.
These values are the common grounds to start a new global dialogue. East and West talking; capitalism and communism, all different
political and social philosophies and structures reaching to one another, compromising, changing, letting go old ways that dont work,
creating new ways that do, and finding what is very important to ensure a sound future for Earth. All peoples on Earth will now join
forces to bring forth a sustainable global society embracing universal values related to human and Earth rights, economic and social justice,
respect of nature, peace, responsibility to one another, and the protection and management of the Earth. Everyone shares
responsibility for the present and future well-being of life within the Global Community.
The following universal values are now an integral part of Earth Government.
a.
Working together to keep our planet healthy, productive and hospitable for all people and living things. This requires quality symbiotical relationships and responsibility to one-self and others, and dealing wisely with consumption, work, finances, health, resources, community living, family, life purpose, wildlife and the Earth.
b.
We are committed to be responsible to ourselves and to one another, and to sustaining Earth. The key is personal responsibility and accountability. Therefore the individual is the important element, one who takes responsibility for his/her community. As previously defined, an 'individual' here may either be a person, a corporation, a NGO, a local community, a group of people, organizations, businesses, a nation, or a government.
c.
Apply a wellness approach in dealing with physical well-being. There is a multitude of influences shaping family life and its well-being. Wellness is a concept related to physical well-being. It is a new health paradigm replacing the old model of doctors, drugs, and treating symptoms. Spiritual well-being deals with mental, emotional and spiritual as well as physical health. Instead of blaming the doctor for an illness and expecting insurance companies and government to pick up the health care tab, a wellness approach places personal responsibility as part of the solution.
d.
All cultures and nations value the family as an important social unit. The family is the basic social unit of the Global Community.
e.
The Global Community is becoming pluralistic. Recognition and respect of this pluralism is a necessity for the survival of mankind. The history of humanity has always been that of an increasingly more complex interrelationship between its members. Clans to tribes, to nations, to empires, and to today's economic and political alliances. Societies have become global and communications have made us all 'neighbours'. Massive migrations within and among countries have contributed to increasing contacts between human beings of different origins, religions, ideologies, and moral-value systems.
f.
Earth Government recognizes that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. Freedom is both a principle and a
value. It is because human beings are free that they are subject of law and are creators and holders of rights. Freedom and human rights
are therefore basic to each other. Equality and freedom are therefore accepted and enshrined as universal values by which Earth
Government shall govern its affairs. As universal values they are concerned with our ability to decide, to choose values
and to participate in the making of laws, and they are dependent on the recognition of other people. These values forbid any form of
discrimination on the grounds of race, nationality, sex, religion, age or mother tongue. By accepting both values of freedom and
equality we can achieve justice. One can be answerable for one's actions in a 'just' way only if judgements are given in the
framework of democratically established laws and courts. Social justice is another universal value to which Earth Government aspires
and accepts as a universal value. Social justice consists in sharing wealth with a view to greater equality and the equal
recognition of each individual's merits. Human and Earth rights and democracy are closely intertwined. Respect for human and Earth rights and
fundamental freedoms is one of the characteristics of a democracy. The typical fundamental freedoms of a democracy (freedom of
expression, thought, assembly, and association) are themselves part of human and Earth rights.
These freedoms can exist everywhere.
g.
An adequate level of health care is a universal value as well as a human right. We expect adequate universal health services to be accessible,
affordable, compassionate and socially acceptable. Earth Government is proposing that every individual of a society is
co-responsible for helping in implementing and managing health programmes along with the government and the public institutions.
h.
There are universal quality of life values which lead to "human betterment" or the improvement of the human condition. In addition
to the value of species survival (human and other living organisms), they include: adequate resources, justice and equality,
freedom, and peace or balance of power. A better quality of life for all people of the Global Community is a goal for all of us
and one of our universal values.
i.
For a community to be sustainable there has to be a general social and economical well-being throughout the community. Health is the basic building block of this well-being. Health is a complex state involving mental, emotional, physical, spiritual, social and economical well-being. Health promotion generates living and working conditions that are safe, stimulating, satisfying and enjoyable. To reach a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, a community must be able to identify and to realize aspirations, to satisfy needs, and to change with the environment. The
overall guiding principle for the community is the need to encourage reciprocal maintenance, to take care of each other and the environment. The important part of the thinking in both community health and ecological sustainability is the need to find a sense of community as a crucial aspect of a healthy individual development.
j.
The Global Constitution is a declaration by every human being to the commitment of responsibility to themselves and to one another, and to sustaining Earth. The key is participation in the sustainable
development process, personal responsibility and accountability. Therefore the individual is the important element, one who takes responsibility for his/her community. As previously defined,
an 'individual' here may either be a person, a corporation, a NGO, a local community, a group of people, organizations,
businesses, a nation, or a government. We are all working together to keep our planet healthy, productive and hospitable for all people
and living things. This requires quality symbiotical relationships and responsibility to one-self and others, and dealing wisely with consumption,
work, finances, health, resources, community living, family, life purpose, wildlife and the Earth. We are also all accountable to others
about our actions and the things we do throughout our lives.
k.
The Global Constitution is an acceptance and commitment about peace, freedom, social and economic well-being, ecological protection, global ethics and spiritual values; it also recognizes the interactions between aspects included in the major quality systems such as: economic, environmental, social, and the availability of resources.
l.
Responsibility and accountability are universal values. Every individual on Earth is responsible and accountable for their action(s).
Article 1: Global ethics must always be grounded in realities.
1.
As a business you may:
a) be a corporate Knight
b) be a socially responsible investor
c) have taken the challenge of a more integrated approach to corporate responsibility by placing environmental and community-based objectives
and measures onto the decision-making table alongside with the strategic business planning and operational factors that impact your bottom-line results
d) provide not only competitive return to your shareholders but you also operate your business in light of environmental and social
contributions, and you have understood the interdependence between financial performance, environmental performance and commitment to the community
e) have taken a full life-cycle approach to integrate and balance environmental and economic decisions for major projects
f) have an active Environmental, Health and Safety Committee and integrated codes of conduct, policies, standards and operating
procedures to reflect your corporate responsibility management
g) have scored high on categories such as:
* environmental performance
h) support a balance and responsible approach that promotes action on the issue of climate change as well as all other issues related to the global life-support systems:
* product safety
* business practices
* help small business in the least developed countries
* commitment to the community
* abolition of child labour
* eliminate discrimination in respect of employment and occupation
* employee relations and diversity
* effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining
* corporate governance
* share performance
* global corporate responsibility
* against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery
* health, safety and security
* provided help to combat diseases such as AIDS
* uphold the freedom of association
* audits and inspections
* emergency preparedness
* corporate global ethical values
* ensured decent working conditions
* implemented no-bribe policies
* standards of honesty, integrity and ethical behaviour
* elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour
* in line with the Scale of Human and Earth Rights and the Charter of Global Community
* global warming
* Ozone layer
* wastes of all kind including nuclear and release of radiation
* climate change
* species of the fauna and flora becoming extinct
* losses of forest cover and of biological diversity
* the capacity for photosynthesis
* the water cycle
* food production systems
* genetic resources
* chemicals produced for human use and not found in nature and, eventually, reaching the environment with impacts on Earth's waters, soils,
air, and ecology
Now is time to reach a higher level of protection to life on Earth. We all need this for the survival of our species.
We can help you integrate and balance global life-support systems protection, global community participation, and economic decisions into your operations and products.
We want to help you be an active corporate member of the Global Community.
Apply to us to be a global corporate citizen of the Global Community.
A Certified Corporate Global Community Citizenship is a unique way to show the world that your ways of doing business are best for the Global Community.
You can obtain the citizenship after accepting the Criteria of the Global Community Citizenship and following an assessment of your business. The process shown here is
now standardized to all applicants. You are
then asked to operate your business as per the values of the citizenship.
The Global Community proposes to corporations that they take responsibility on behalf of society and people, and that they should pay
more attention to human and Earth rights, working conditions and getting ride of corruption in the world of business and trade. We have developed
a criteria, and we ask you to turn it into practice. Governments should encourage enterprises to use the criteria both by legal and moral means.
At first, the criteria should be adopted in key areas such as procurement, facilities management, investment management, and human resources.
Corporations want to be seen as good corporate leaders and have a stronger form of accountability.
Business and trade will prosper after stronger common bonds and values have been established. Adopting the criteria will have a beneficial
impact on future returns, and share price performance. Sign-up to obtain your Certified Corporate Global Community Citizenship (CCGCC)
to show the world your ways of doing business are best for the Global Community.
Obtaining the CCGCC shall help businesses to be part of the solution to the challenges of globalisation.
In this way, the private sector in partnership with the civil society can help realize a
vision: allowing a global equitable and peaceful development and a more stable and inclusive global economy.
2.
Earth Government found a way of dealing with globalization: global ethics. In the past, corporations
ruled without checks and balances. Now, global ethics will be a basic
minimum to do business, and there will be checks and balances. Our judgement
will be based on global ethics. Global ethics must always be grounded in
realities. But realities are changing constantly and are different in different
places. We live in a world that makes progress toward democracy. Ethics
and morality exist only when human beings can act freely. In our free society,
rights are tied to responsibilities. Corporations are committed to improvement
in business performance and want to be seen as 'good corporate citizens'
on a local and a global scale. Corporations have social responsibilities
as they are an integral part of society. Global ethics recalls that those
realities, on which others build upon, have to be protected first. Earth Government has found that universal values and
human rights as described above were the foundation of global ethics.
3.
The Global Community has now at hand the method and framework to conduct societal checks and balances of a global sustainable development. A more balance world
economy will result of annual checks and balances. Corporations will take their social responsibilities and become involved in designing, monitoring, and implementing these checks
and balances. Several corporations have already done so. Results will be taken into account in the evaluation of sustainable development. Corporations are required to expand their
responsibilities to include human rights, the environment, community and family aspects, safe working conditions, fair wages and sustainable consumption aspects.
Chapter 4.4 Global Sustainability
Chapter 4.4.1 Definition and graphical representation of global sustainability
Article 1: Definition of sustainable development.
The following graphics was designed to illustrate the meaning of sustainable
development and other global concepts. It is the basis for understanding:
a) the Global Community concepts
b) that Earth is a spiritual Being, a part of the Soul of Humanity
c) interactions between the four major quality systems (small circles, not to scale) shown here
d) that the ecosystem and life-support system of the planet (the large circle around the planet) are much more important for all of humanity and other lifeforms
e) the reason for developing and implementing the Scale of Human and Earth Rights
f) the search of sound solutions and therefore a sound balance amongst interactions
g) the measurement and evaluation of the impact equation
h) the development and use of indicators and indices
i) the reason for creating Earth Government
j) Earth management and good governance
Chapter 4.4.2 Fulfilling the requirements of global sustainability
Article 1: Essential elements of an adequate global sustainability
We will fulfill the requirements for a global sustainable development by using essential elements of an adequate urban and rural development:
a) suitable community facilities and services;
b) decent housing and health care;
c) personal security from crime;
d) educational and cultural opportunities;
e) family stability;
f) efficient and safe transportation;
g) land planning;
h) an atmosphere of social justice;
i) aesthetic satisfaction;
j) responsive government subject to community participation in decision-making;
k) energy conservation and energy efficiency are part of the decision-making process and made part of the community design;
l) the application of the 4 Rs is integrated in the community design;
m) community businesses, working areas, play areas, social and cultural areas, education areas, and training areas;
n) the use of renewable energy sources, central heating where possible, and cogeneration of electricity are made part of the community design when possible;
o) the form of community development integrates concepts such as cooperation, trust, interdependence, stewardship, and mutual responsibility;
p) promote self-sufficiency in all areas such as energy, garbage, food and sewage disposal; and
q) rely on locally-produced goods.
Article 2: Scale of Good Practices
A Scale of Good Practices is developed with respect to the Scale of Human and Earth Rights, and it is
developed not only from what it means to fulfill the requirements of a global sustainable development but also from the perspective of keeping us all healthy and sustaining Earth to make it happen. Health is created and lived by people within a global community: where they work, learn, play, and love. Health is a complex state involving mental, emotional, physical, spiritual, economical and social well-being. Each community can develop its own ideas of what a healthy community is by looking at its own situation, and finding its own solutions. Health promotion generates living and working conditions that are safe, stimulating,
satisfying and enjoyable. To reach a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, a community must be able to identify and to realize aspirations, to satisfy needs, and to change with the environment. The overall guiding principle for the global community is the need to encourage reciprocal maintenance, to take care of each other and the environment. The important part of the thinking in both community health and ecological sustainability is the need to find a sense of global community as a crucial aspect of healthy individual development.
Article 3: Implementing economic activity that can advance sustainability
We will fulfill the requirements for a global sustainable development by implementing economic activity that can advance sustainability by:
a) reducing per capita consumption of energy and resources;
Article 4: Implementing various conservation strategies
b) reducing energy and resource content per unit of output;
c) reducing waste discharges per unit of output and in total;
d) decreasing wastage of natural resources during harvesting and processing, thus increasing the amount put to productive use.
We will fulfill the requirements for a global sustainable development by implementing various conservation strategies such as:
a) the maintenance of ecological succession, soil regeneration and protection, the recycling of nutrients and the cleansing of air and water;
b) the preservation of biological diversity, which forms the basis of life on Earth and assures our foods, many medicines and industrial products;
c) the sustainable use of ecosystems and species such as fish, wildlife, forests, agricultural soils and grazing lands so that harvests do not exceed rates of regeneration required to meet future needs;
d) the use of non-renewable resources in a manner that will lead to an economy that is sustainable in the long term. This will require the development of renewable substitutes;
e) the reduction in soil erosion by changing farming practices.
Article 5: Assessing using a combined social and economic accounting system
We will fulfill the requirements for a global sustainable development by developing a combined social and economic accounting system that covers
not only the conventional economic indicators (GDP, GNP, etc.) but also such matters as soil depletion, forest degeneration, the costs
of restoring a damaged environment and the effects of economic activity on health.
Article 6: Creating tests for sustainability
We will fulfill the requirements for a global sustainable development by creating tests for sustainability:
a) the amount of arable land and forest that is being lost;
Article 7: Making forest management to include getting more value out of the wood
b) the amount of silt in rivers coming from eroded farm fields;
c) the loss of large numbers and even whole species of wildlife;
d) the positive and negative impact of process and products on health;
e) the impact of development on the stock of non-renewable resources such as oil, gas, metals and minerals;
f) the impact of waste products;
g) the ability of new proposals to implement cleaner and more resource-efficient techniques and technologies.
We will fulfill the requirements for a global sustainable development by being committed to make forest management to include getting more value
out of the wood. This means wasting less of the trees that are cut and making better use of what are now considered non-commercial tree
speices.
Article 8: Requiring formal impact assessment for all major projects
We will fulfill the requirements for a global sustainable development by requiring formal Impact Assessment for all major projects so as to
predict the sustainability of these developments and determine whether impacts can be mitigated.
Chapter 4.4.3 Developing a scale of values and designing and testing quality indicators
Article 1: Developing a scale of values and designing and testing quality indicators
Developing a scale of values and designing and testing quality indicators is the most important task. The Gross Environmental
Sustainable Development Index (GESDI) is
quantitatively describing quality indicators rather than merely measuring different variables. GESDI includes all possible aspects, all
physical, biological,
health, social and cultural components which routinely influences the lives of individuals and communities.
If we are to achieve effective evaluation of quality, comprehensive data are needed about the status and changes of the variables.
Optimally, these data may be organized in terms of indices that in some fashion aggregate relevant data. These indices are in turn
used to predict the impact of public and private actions, assess conditions and trends, and determine the effectiveness of programs
in all areas. For instance, reliable data are needed to evaluate the effects of human activities on the environment and to determine
what possible actions that can be done to ameliorate the adverse effects. The quality of urban environment constitutes a major test of
the level of the well-being of a nation as a society. Essential elements of an adequate urban environment include the following
parts:
* Health care system, * Educational system, * Seniors'care, * Food chain, nutrition, * Population growth, * Farming communities, * Parks, * Psychological,
biological, genetics and evolution, * Spiritual pathways, * Entertainment, * Quality of life, customs and beliefs, information access, communication, aesthetics * Decent housing, suitable community services, * Pollution, waste, * An atmosphere of social justice, * Family stability, * Religion, * Infrastructures and facilities, land planning, * Juvenile crimes, gangs, drugs, illiteracy, * Socio-cultural and political influences, multi-culturalism, laws, * Anthropological, Aboriginals, Natives issues.
Knowing what are the important elements of a global sustainable development allows us to structure indicators into major areas such as
demographic data; the economic data of the individual, family, and household; the status of the region's economy; housing, community
facilities, and aesthetic quality; social quality.
An other indicator was developed to measure the costs of development: the Gross Sustainable Development Product (GSDP). The GSDP is defined as the total value of production within a region over a specified period of time. It is measured using market prices for goods and services transactions in the economy. The GSDP is designed to replace the Gross Development Product (GDP) as the primary indicator of the economic performance of a nation.
The GSDP takes into accounts:
a) the economic impacts of environmental and health degradation or improvement, resource depletion or findings of new stocks, and depreciation or appreciation of stocks;
b) the impact of people activity on the environment, the availability of resources, and economic development;
c) the "quality" of the four major quality systems and the impacts of changes in these systems on national income and wealth;
d) global concerns and their impacts on the economy;
e) the welfare, economic development and quality of life of future generations;
f) expenditures on pollution abatement and clean-ups, people health, floods, vehicle accidents, and on any negative impact costs;
g) the status of each resource and the stocks and productive capacities of exploited populations and ecosystems, and make sure that those capacities are sustained and replenished after use; and
h) the depreciation or appreciation of natural assets, the depletion and degradation of natural resources and the
environment, ecological processes and biological diversity, the costs of rectifying unmitigated environmental damage, the values of
natural resources, capital stocks, the impacts of degradation or improvement, social costs, health costs, environmental clean-up
costs, and the costs of the environment, economic growth, and resources uses to current and future generations and to a nation’s income.
Chapter 4.4.4 The Global Community Overall Picture
Article 1: The Global Community Overall Picture
Within each Global Ministry there is a section about
the 'Global Community Overall Picture' which describes the situation in all nations of the
world and we divided the world in different regions:
North America, Central America and the Caribbean, South America, Africa, Europe, Asia,
South-East Asia, Middle-East, and Oceania. Each global ministry has a description
of what is happening in the different regions. There are actual facts about what is happening in the world about all issues we have discussed
during global dialogues in years 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2005. Issues of future global dialogues are also included in this project. Our work is too
create a plausible scenario(s) of what the world is now and what it could be between now and a not-so-distant future.
Hundreds of indicators were designed to assess the world situation in all aspects. Some of the very important aspects were listed here. The measurements
of the GESDI and the GSDP take into account all aspects.
Land and nations
Article 2: Measurement of the Gross Sustainable Development Product (GSDP)
Water and nations
Clean air and nations
Food supplies
Our overpopulated planet
Status of primordial human rights
Status of community and social rights
Status of cultural rights
Status of religious rights
Status of civil and political rights
Status of business and consumer rights
The measurement of GSDP shows that consumption levels can be maintained without depleting and depreciating the quality and quantity of
services. It indicates the solutions to the problems as well as the directions to take, such as:
a) invest in technology, R & D, to increase the end-use efficiency;
The measurement of GSDP also gives a proper and sound signal to the public, government and industry about the rate and direction of economic growth; it identifies environmental, health, and social quality; it identifies sustainable and unsustainable levels of resource and environmental uses; it measures the success or failure of
sustainable development policies and practices; and it identifies resource scarcity. Values obtained enable us to make meaningful comparisons of sustainable development between cities, provinces, nations over the entire planet.
b) increase productivity;
c) modify social, educational programs and services;
d) slow down or increase economic growth;
e) remediate components of the four major quality systems; and
f) rectify present shortcomings of income and wealth accounts.
A status report of all physical accounts show the physical state and availability of resources and the state of the environment. Examples of the physical stock accounts are:
• minerals • oil, gas and coal • forests
• wildlife • agricultural • soils • fish
• protected wilderness areas • flow rate of water
Article 3: Valuation in terms of money accounts for some non-market values
Valuation in terms of money accounts is difficult for some non-market values such as:
* aesthetic satisfaction * air quality * water quality
* soil carrying capacity and productivity * acid rain deposition
* biodiversity * wilderness and protected areas * land productivity
GESDI can be obtained for these quality indicators that are difficult to give a money value to. Both the GESDI and GSDP are measured together and tell us about the quality and cost of development, locally and globally.
Measurements of GESDI and GSDP provide insights for the discussion of issues such as :
a) Is the actual rate of development too slow or too fast?
b) Are People aspects being stressed too far?
c) Are resources and the environment managed in a sustainable manner?
d) What forms of community and home designs promote sustainability?
e) In what ways should social, educational, and health programs and services be modified?
f) Is this generation leaving to the future generation a world that is at least as diverse and productive as the one it inherited?
g) What improvements can be brought up to the quality of development?
