Fwd: A PLAN OF ACTION FOR EUROPEAN POLITICS
from
Roberto SAVIO
on Aug 30, 2011 05:33 PM
Would anybody in a forum disagree with this. I am
certain, nobody. So, why we cannot make press
statements on issues which are important in
public debates, and mark a presence of the WSF during the forums? Roberto Savio
>X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.2.4 (2008-01-01) on server1.ips.org
>X-Spam-Level:
>X-Spam-Status: No, score=-98.7 required=5.0 tests=AWL,HTML_MESSAGE,
>
>MIME_QP_LONG_LINE,MISSING_MID,USER_IN_WHITELIST autolearn=no version=3.2.4
>X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 7.1.0.9
>Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2011 13:26:22 -0400
>To: utopie@...
>From: Roberto SAVIO <utopie@...>
>Subject: Fwd: A PLAN OF ACTION FOR EUROPEAN POLITICS
>X-Antivirus: AVG for E-mail 10.0.1392 [1520/3867]
>X-Antispam: NO; Spamcatcher 6.2.1. Score 1
>X-AVG-ID: ID74E9833B-6840F949
>
>
>
>
>No se'si tu hija lee ingles.....un beso fuerte
>>X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.2.4 (2008-01-01) on server1.ips.org
>>X-Spam-Level:
>>X-Spam-Status: No, score=-99.0 required=5.0 tests=AWL,HTML_MESSAGE,
>> RCVD_IN_IADB_LISTED,RCVD_IN_IADB_SENDERID,RCVD_IN_IADB_SPF,SPF_PASS,
>> SUBJ_ALL_CAPS,USER_IN_WHITELIST autolearn=no version=3.2.4
>>DKIM-Signature: v=1; q=dns/txt; a=rsa-sha256;
>>c=relaxed/relaxed; s=1000073432;
>>d=auth.ccsend.com;
>>h=to:subject:mime-version:message-id:from:date:list-unsubscribe:reply-to;
>>bh=utNGL/zqCCqJzsSUO8QEFz26pLSeM3HMZyPhFZ7i+4w=;
>> b=XUKXaJyMI1xHvpDGVAqgb5LtTpe680EncUWO6HURHVh/P+kytReix6lrxkY/26WVF9eV0UR9qImzvi2Y6uGmUMaA0I2O0yDFm/kga5Pw5wYiucZCLuy6AnwjSNHmhtEiYXfG6dbHjkUbf6xC4aLJ30t+Zqp+yjqpdsiJQCfoCgg=
>>Date: Wed, 17 Aug 2011 13:08:17 -0400 (EDT)
>>From: Other News - Roberto Savio <soros@...>
>>Reply-To: newsletter@...
>>To: utopie@...
>>Subject: A PLAN OF ACTION FOR EUROPEAN POLITICS
>>X-Mailer: Roving Constant Contact 2009 ( http://www.constantcontact.com)
>>List-Unsubscribe:
>>http://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=un&mse=0013J7BZf17TJVX6oHXyMhRcpDNRAaXiZ6Q&t=001zxX1lV_B-0Wi-172lOcEQQ%3D%3D&llr=rbut8ocab
>>
>>X-Return-Path-Hint:
>>ESC1107171310949_1102157828145_6423_r20@...
>>X-Roving-ID: 1102157828145.6423
>>X-Lumos-SenderID: 1102157828145
>>X-Roving-CampaignId: 1107171310949
>>X-Roving-StreamId: 0
>>X-Antivirus: AVG for E-mail 10.0.1392 [1520/3840]
>>X-Antispam: NO; Spamcatcher 6.2.1. Score 1
>>X-AVG-ID: ID6B927938-710DC3BE
>>
>>"Other News" is a personal initiative seeking
>>to provide information that should be in the
>>media but is not, because of commercial
>>criteria. It welcomes contributions from
>>everybody. Work areas include information on
>>global issues, north-south relations,
>>governance of globalization. Roberto Savio
>> //Reproduction in whole or in part without
>> permission is prohibited, article sent for information purposes.//
>>
>>A PLAN OF ACTION FOR EUROPEAN POLITICS
>>
>>By Roberto Savio (*)
>>
>>
>>Before anything else, what we need today is a
>>paradigm to diagnose and address the numerous
>>and grave global problems that face all of us
>>but which are experienced differently in the
>>various regions of the world. Since the crisis
>>is more evident in Europe and is causing
>>suffering to tens of millions of people, the
>>young especially, we must take it as reality.
>>
>>The Paradigm: there is no peace without
>>security, especially in these times. But
>>security is not military security, which soaks
>>up 1.6 trillion dollars per year. Security is
>>human security, though the combined government
>>spending on development amounts to a mere USD
>>50 billion. If just ten percent of military
>>spending went to aid humans, we would have
>>another 160 billion dollars -far more than the
>>UN would require for a climate control accord.
>>A world in which the richest 51 million people
>>have the wealth of the 1.2 billion poorest people is not sustainable.
>>
>>
>>Today the world suffers from a growing sense of
>>insecurity. Conflicts and terrorism are
>>progressively less present as a factor of
>>insecurity in the collective imagination. Daily
>>life is gradually becoming more disheartening.
>>I believe that it is important to enumerate
>>only the major problems and to prioritize them
>>or else the list becomes endless, even if the paradigm contains them all.
>>
>>
>>Six serious problems stand out and must be addressed:
>>
>>
>>1. The world is currently undergoing a profound
>>crisis of governability. The social and
>>economic decline of the countries of the North
>>(simultaneous to the emergence of new global
>>actors in the South) is giving rise to a
>>reckless gambit of parties and movements that
>>dream of a return to bygone eras. The Tea
>>Party, which has captured the US Republican
>>Party, and the right-wing xenophobic parties
>>that have emerged in progressive model
>>countries such as Holland, Norway, Finland,
>>Sweden, and others are also the consequence of
>>this reckless gambit. Add to this the fact that
>>we have witnessed a transition from the end of
>>ideologies to the embrace of pragmatism as the
>>most mature political formula. But without
>>analysis and a clear frame of reference we have
>>moved from pragmatism to utilitarianism, in
>>other words, the scope of political activity
>>has been reduced to only that which is useful.
>>
>>
>>And today's politics are not producing more
>>ideas, visions, or strategies but instead are
>>becoming self-referential and without any
>>connection to citizens, therefore lacking legitimacy.
>>
>>
>>Thus the political crisis emerges as the
>>priority. Greater participation in the
>>political process, one that goes beyond simply
>>voting, must be encouraged. We need a
>>participatory democracy in which the discussion
>>of the common good, and not only water and
>>nuclear power, is delegated to the people.
>>
>>
>>2. A key element in the crisis is the
>>uncontrolled frenzy of finance, which is
>>increasingly unregulated and opposed to the
>>real economy. While trade has dropped by 15
>>percent worldwide, financial transactions are
>>rising continuously, now amounting to 40
>>trillion dollars per day. Finance lacks any
>>form of international regulation. The pressure
>>from stock markets is so intense that today the
>>fiscal deficit is seen as more important than
>>the social deficit. As most economists claim,
>>we are engulfed in a crisis that will go beyond
>>this decade. Finance is putting political
>>Europe in crisis and is dramatically increasing
>>the number of people in poverty in the world.
>>The proposals to establish control mechanisms
>>are minimal and plans for recovery are directed
>>at rescuing the banking system. In the
>>meantime, according to the United Nations, the
>>crisis has produced 100 million newly impoverished people.
>>
>>
>>The first crucial step is this: we must
>>prioritize the social deficit . Savings banks
>>must be prevented from speculating with their
>>clients' money, which would help shrink the
>>speculation bubble. The number of speculation
>>instruments in use, many of which are no more
>>than high-risk lotteries, must be reduced.
>>
>>
>>3. These two crises have brought the idea of
>>international cooperation to its knees.
>>International social justice and solidarity are
>>now considered marginal. And yet in a
>>globalized world, profits and the market logic
>>cannot be allowed to be our sole guiding
>>principles. The maintenance of ethical
>>standards must be a fundamental part of international relations.
>>
>>
>>Another necessary step in this regard is
>>reviving the idea of a tax on financial
>>speculation, the volume of which is so colossal
>>that a tax as small as 0,01 percent could
>>generate 400 million euros a day. The revenue
>>could be distributed among the victims of the
>>crisis, the unemployed, the youth, to the
>>social deficit, proportionally to the size of
>>each country. There is no need to create
>>bureaucracy. It is enough to use the current
>>structures, even with their flaws. This would
>>be a new and important measure to merge crisis and solution.
>>
>>
>>4. One issue that involves all of humanity is
>>the environment. The data on global warming are
>>there for all to see. Yet the American
>>government is held hostage by a congress that
>>denies the reality of the process. Meanwhile a
>>new category of refugees is being created:
>>environmental refugees, which the UN believes
>>could grow to 400 million in 30 years. Those
>>most intensely affected by the process are the
>>poor, the Africans first and foremost, though
>>Europe will be hard hit as well. Wine producers
>>are already buying land in England because
>>southern Europe will suffer from a temperature
>>increase that will challenge its agriculture.
>>The rise in food prices is increasing the
>>number of poor people and will provoke great
>>riots born from rebellion and despair.
>>
>>
>>And so we call on members of parliament to
>>enact international mechanisms that will reduce
>>dependence on fossil fuels and introduce green
>>technologies - issues on which the world
>>(except perhaps China) is lagging behind. We
>>ask citizens to recognise that our current
>>model of development, based on consumerism, is
>>no longer sustainable, which means that
>>unfortunately our lifestyle must be changed.
>>
>>
>>5. One issue that must never be forgotten is
>>human rights. According to the International
>>Labour Organisation, each year 12.3 million
>>people are captured by criminal groups and
>>forced to work in inhuman conditions. According
>>to the OSCE, there are hundreds of thousands of
>>people in Europe who at the very least work
>>under virtual slavery. The ILO reports a case
>>in an area south of Naples in which 1,200
>>homeless and undocumented land laborers work 12
>>hours a day for a ridiculous salary and live in
>>tents controlled by private security guards. So
>>much has been said about the underage Moroccan
>>girl, whose "final user" was Berlusconi: but
>>who talks about the dozens of thousands of
>>women lured with false job promises and then forced into exploitation?
>>
>>
>>On this issue we are going upstream. We
>>recognize that without an immigration policy
>>based on the immigrant's dignity, Europe's
>>growth is impossible. The same can be said
>>about maintaining social security schemes,
>>since the inter-generational relationship has
>>reduced the birth rate. Merkel consulted a
>>group of five experts so as to get
>>recommendations on how to keep Germany's
>>competitiveness for the next twenty years. One
>>recommendation was increasing the number of
>>immigrants. Today it is fashionable and popular
>>to say the opposite. It is also fashionable to
>>ignore climate change. But as the Romans used
>>to say, facts have long legs. It is our
>>responsibility to know.We need an open debate
>>to create a European immigration policy that
>>goes beyond the commonplaces that European politicians hide behind.
>>
>>
>>6. One final priority is to restore the dignity
>>of labour. Today labour unions represent only
>>12 percent of the labour force worldwide,
>>defending their members from an increasingly
>>savage employment environment. Eighty percent
>>of the world's workers have no benefits. Youth
>>unemployment is 30 to 70 percent above average.
>>According to the ILO, the average pension for
>>those aged 20 to 30 today will be 470 euro per
>>month. What kind of society will it be? And
>>what society can their children expect,
>>considering they won't be able to rely on their
>>parents as social-shock absorbers?
>>
>>Politicians in the world face this immense
>>social mutation with no sense of urgency or propositions.
>>
>>
>>And so the concepts of solidarity and
>>intergenerational responsibility need to be
>>revitalised. The economic and fiscal system
>>must be reengineered to shrink the growing gap
>>between those who are inside the system -and
>>often do well- and those who are stranded on
>>the outside. The issue is usually left
>>unaddressed since tackling it implies political
>>suicide. But if nothing is done, we will be
>>drawn into a world of profound misery and destitution.
>>
>>
>>The present situation demands commitment,
>>sacrifice, and common and individual efforts
>>from all of us. Today there is nothing like a
>>Churchill who, promising blood and tears,
>>managed to mobilise his country against Nazism.
>>Nor is there a Manifesto to galvanise and guide
>>us. However, the facts are clear and
>>unequivocally point to the conclusion that we
>>are unable to avoid what lies ahead. Blaming
>>politicians will not be enough. We are all
>>equally responsible.(San Salvador, Bahamas, Aug.2011)
>>
>>(*) Roberto Savio is founder and president
>>emeritus of the Inter Press Service (IPS) news
>>agency and Publisher of Other News.
>>________________________________________________________________
>>This and all "other news" issues can be found
>>at
>><http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=rbut8ocab&et=1107171310949&s=6423&e=001totyYrkBtkrsEpfYuPkWYWql-wpXsstzQ6vsInOBE3REuCWsrar1piHYyj7_VYT0DLoDbuVaDeVChuAurf2ZFHpolOvw8FOK152K26LZrEWqt4UoZctawKHL8KwcsU9P>http://www.other-net.info/index.php
>><http://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/email.jsp?m=1102157828145>
>>Join Our Mailing List
>><http://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/email.jsp?m=1102157828145>
>><http://ui.constantcontact.com/sa/fwtf.jsp?llr=rbut8ocab&m=1102157828145&ea=utopie%40ips.org&a=1107171310949>Forward
>>email
>><http://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=un&mse=0013J7BZf17TJVX6oHXyMhRcpDNRAaXiZ6Q&t=001zxX1lV_B-0Wi-172lOcEQQ%3D%3D&reason=001y5KaVlBn7_Y%3D&llr=rbut8ocab>
>>[]
>><http://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=un&mse=0013J7BZf17TJVX6oHXyMhRcpDNRAaXiZ6Q&t=001zxX1lV_B-0Wi-172lOcEQQ%3D%3D&reason=001y5KaVlBn7_Y%3D&llr=rbut8ocab>
>>
>>This email was sent to utopie@... by
>><mailto:soros@...>soros@... |
>>Instant removal with
>><http://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=un&mse=0013J7BZf17TJVX6oHXyMhRcpDNRAaXiZ6Q&t=001zxX1lV_B-0Wi-172lOcEQQ%3D%3D&reason=001y5KaVlBn7_Y%3D&llr=rbut8ocab>SafeUnsubscribe
>>| <http://ui.constantcontact.com/roving/CCPrivacyPolicy.jsp>Privacy Policy.
>>Othernews | Via Panisperna, 207 | Rome | Italy | 00184 | Italy
>
>Roberto Savio / utopie@... / www.robertosavio.info
Roberto Savio / utopie@... / www.robertosavio.info
text.html (text/html) 15.2 kB