[Peace-discuss] Fwd: [HumanRights] A (draft) global call - input sought

Wed Mar 25 17:08:51 UTC 2020

From friend Max Qumseyeh, still working for peace and justice.

> *A (draft) global call from Palestine Action for the Planet*
> [Please email us private feedback and/or if you like to help
> info at palestinenature.org . This is also  posted at
> https://popular-resistance.blogspot.com/2020/03/global-call.html  where you
> can leave public comments/criticism etc.]
> 
> World War II transformed our planet in ways not foreseen before including
> creating instruments like the United Nations ostensibly to stop wars and
> conflict and encourage cooperation across borders. Yet, we had many wars &
> economic blockades and inequality that killed tens of millions of people
> since 1945. A large part of this had to do with the flawed system created:
> the dominance of five nations at the  UN, the presumption that challenges
> in 1945 are the same as our challenges decades later, and the hegemony of
> the United States thought to be more benevelonet than others as a policeman
> of the world (including the use of the US dollar in global trade and
> reserve currency even after the US dropped the Bretton Woods agreement in
> 1971). The IMF and World Bank instruments also drifted to become tools of
> hegemony and control.
> 
> This system whether one thinks it worked for a while or not is clearly
> unsustainable in the 2020s and beyond - era of global challenges like
> climate change and pandemics. The COVID-19 crisis showed clearly that we
> cannot continue in this system of supposed “growth” in certain national
> economies via rampant uncontrolled capitalism and hegemony of rich
> individuals or corporations who can and do usurp democracy via mass media.
> The rich thus got richer and the poor poorer even in supposed rich
> countries. This old system is threatening our collective survival as a
> species and has direct negative impact on our planet.The global climate
> crisis and increased frequency of pandemics in an interconnected world
> highlight the need for a new global system of sustainable human and natural
> communities. To do this, we humans of all backgrounds, living throughout
> this planet must work together to create new paradigms and systems. We
> collectively make this urgent call to restructure, not just to face this
> COVID-19 crisis, but to face climate change and future global challenges.
> 
> Boldly, we demand and will work towards these objectives:
> 
> 1)  This program when developed with the widest participation of
> professionals and the general public will build on the excellent UN
> Sustainable Development Goals (https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/) and
> other conventions such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (
> https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/). Building on
> those is with the aim of sustainability and survival of our species and
> our fragile ecosystems.
> 
> 2) Measuring development by GDP or the averaged PPP (GDP per person
> averaged at a national level) is a misleading approach and ignores human
> needs. We demand that governments do not burden future generations with
> debt and illusion of growth that is profiting few at the expense of the
> many. The earth has plenty of resources and production to keep all of us
> healthy and well fed when we reset our priorities towards: social services
> (elderly, those in need), agriculture (especially permaculture), health,
> education, and research (technological advances that help sustainability).
> Currently much of the world's economy is spent on the military, wars, and a
> "security" in general (increasingly militarized police) and much unneeded
> infrastructure that destroys our planet. Even a small fraction of what a
> country like the US spends annually on military would be enough to cure
> hunger that kills tens of thousands every year that is properly (food)
> "security".
> 
> 3) We must abandon our consumerist ways by living simply and humbly and
> reducing our footprints on this earth. We aim for zero-waste, for using
> renewable energy, for growing our own food in our own communities, and for
> cleaner, and healthier environment for all of us (humans, fauna, flora).
> 
> 4) We can choose to respond to crises without giving-up on our liberties.
> History has shown that national authorities remove our liberties in crisis
> and they rarely return them in full. To address this, citizens must vote
> directly on certain issues and all measures must expire and if need be
> renewed in reasonable dates via vote of citizens.
> 
> 5) Nationalism as a political organizational structure has run its course
> and like other systems before it (city-states, kingdoms, and empires) must
> now evolve into a new system to face new realities of global threats. The
> nature of a new system needs significant thinking, but it is clear that to
> respond to an increasingly global crisis (climate change and pandemics), we
> have to have both local empowerment and global systems of joint struggle
> and solidarity. A corollary of this is that certain natural resources like
> the Amazon rainforest and oceans must be protected as a planetary resource,
> and not left to the whims of national systems that can shift quickly for
> greed and imperialism. Thus, we must strengthen local communities,
> particularly native people. Corollary is that we must limit national
> authority and create new systems that challenge colonialism, racism,
> sexism, and exploitation.
> 
> 6) Reduce, Recycle, Refuse Refuse. Reduce our use of water (e.g. via
> compost toilets, proper water management, etc) and of material and supplies
> (living humbly). Reduce solid wastes, plastics, and fossil fuels (towards
> final elimination). Recycle what cannot be eliminated. But most
> significantly refuse the urge to shop (consumerism).
> 
> 7) Increase vegetation (preferably with native trees and bushes) globally
> 
> 8)   Deal with human overpopulation (including family counseling, reducing
> unwanted pregnancies etc).
> 
> 9) Reconnect to nature and learn from it. Ecosystem balance must be
> restored and we humans must recognize ourselves as part of nature and we
> must live in harmony with nature.
> 
> https://www.palestinenature.org/palestine-action
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