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Imagine, if you will, a piece of fruit, say a nice, round, firm orange. Now imagine a tiny spot of mold on its unblemished skin. Imagine then watching this orange through the lens of time-lapse photography: that singular spot of mold begins to grow. Slowly it begins to spread. The larger our spot grows—the faster the rate of spread, until finally the entire skin of the orange is covered. Now watch what happens: with no room left to grow the mold begins to die, our orange, once so firm and ripe, softens then shrivels, until it becomes a lifeless, wasted husk.
Our planet, the Earth, is like that orange. We, Humanity, are like that mold. And like the mold, we need to keep expanding and growing to survive.
Emerging out of Africa we have spread to cover the globe. All the arable land has been claimed and is being pushed to its limits to produce its maximum yield as we struggle to feed our growing population. Marginal land is farmed in desperation as the hungry poor seek to sustain themselves on subsistence rations. Advances in technology and agricultural science have barely kept us ahead of the curve. We are fast approaching the upper limit of sustainable carrying capacity.
There are, at latest estimates, approximately 7 billion of us sharing this world today. Most population forecasts predict 10 billion as early as 2020, with most of that growth happening in the developing world, those who can least afford the burden.
There is no uninhabited land left for us to expand to. Our national borders are fixed. Without room to grow, like the mold, we will eventually be forced to feed upon ourselves until nothing is left but that dead and withered husk. Along our present path I believe this outcome to be inevitable.
Yes, we may forestall our eventual demise, but only at a heavy price: the price of a drastically lower standard of living, the price of a substantially reduced calorie allotment, the price of a world which struggles to feed its teeming multitudes to the exclusion of all else.
Right now we still have the resources available to chart another path: a path which takes us to the Moon, Mars and beyond; a path which leads to our colonization of space.
Space, with infinite room to grow, with endless resources to harvest, with all our eggs not in one fragile basket.
Globally, in 2010, the aggregate spending on defense budgets was nearly 1.7 billion dollars. We are all armed to the teeth. Who are we going to fight? Each other? The next war, if we are insane enough to allow it to happen, will be the last one—for most of us. And there won’t be many of us left when it’s over (which, I suppose, would make most of the above moot. But it’s a hard, painful and ugly way to go.)
Let’s take that money and put it to work for a sustainable future for all of us. Let’s utilize the expertise of the military-industrial complex to build spaceships rather than cruise missiles. Let’s train a new generation of engineers and scientists to take us to the stars, rather than the brink of annihilation. Let’s harvest the wealth of the Asteroid Belt. Let’s give ourselves room to grow.
Horace Greeley, may have advised in the 1830’s, “go west, young man.” Now a new sense of manifest destiny is needed, it’s our shared human destiny. And my advise is, “Go up, young man, go up!”
World Peace. We want it, and you want it. How to achieve it—now there’s the rub.
Yes, folks, we do have a plan. But we need your help to implement it.
The board is set. The pieces are in place. The game is officially afoot. How it may unfold is anyone’s guess?
It began last March with the formation of Global Initiative 2012, Inc., the Non Profit Corporation we set up to begin to disseminate our philosophy and finance this endeavor. We applied for a 501 c 3 charitable exemption as an educational organization, which has, to date, not been granted. It appears the IRS is dragging its feet—could be they don’t like what we’re trying to do here? In the end it probably doesn’t matter.
The idea was to find outside sources for funding to help bear the financial burden during the initial start-up, and to be able to offer these elusive sources a tax deduction for their support. It doesn’t look like that was meant to be, and at this point it may be moot. If this movement is going to be successful it will rely on the support of concerned citizens such as yourself and what financial assistance you may choose to provide—and most of you, if you elect to help fund this effort, won’t be concerned with the tax ramifications of your contribution.
Our next step was to build and publish three websites. The first was for the Non Profit itself: globalinitiative2012.org, where we stated our mission: the pressing need for the implementation of a World Federal Republic to allow us the mechanism, as a species, to systematically address the problems which face us globally.
The second was to start a blog, worldorder4worldpeace.org, to begin explaining our rational as to why a World Federation of Nations is needed, and the forces which have brought us, Humanity, to where we are today in our sociopolitical evolution.
The third site we built is this one, globalstrikeforworldpeace.org, where we hope to convenience you all to take one day out of your lives next winter to help make a resounding statement to the powers that be that our present course is untenable, our current system is unworkable, and our patience with the greed-heads and power-trippers who have been running this show for their own amusement and profit has come to an end.
We hope our message is one that you will heed. The opportunity for drastic change in the way we all do business together, on this singular planet we share, is there for us to take, if we have the will to do so.
Our next step starts today. In the weeks and months to come we will attempt to connect with you, the various organizations, websites and individuals who profess to be working toward the goal of achieving world peace, to try and convince you that by uniting our voices together we can be heard. We will preach the mantra, “what have we got to lose?”
Admittedly our ideas may seem farfetched, unrealistic and even naive. Again, do you have a better idea, and really, what have we got to lose…
If nothing else, we hope to at least get the conversation started, globally, as to where we are at as a species and where, eventually, do we hope to be. Without a goal for our future we can not move forward in a rational way; without a goal for our future we will continue to stumble along as we are, with the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer, the middle class shrinking, the environment degrading, and the world economy floundering; without a goal for the future, self-serving demagogues will continue to fan the flames of tribal animosities, bigotry and prejudice for their own nefarious and short-sighted ends.
We beseech you, join forces with us, unite your voice with ours, spread the word to all your followers and contacts.
What have we got to lose?
The choice, my friends, is yours to make…
World Peace, an achievable goal, or an unrealistic utopian fantasy.
To answer that question we first have to ask ourselves, “what does world peace mean?”
Obviously one main component certainly has to be the cessation of hostilities both locally and regionally.
Most local conflict arises from the sense of disenfranchisement of a particular group as it relates to their perceived lack of status in the greater whole, or in their inability to exercise political self-determination within the localized established governmental entity.
When you perceive yourself as powerless to control your own destiny and are not privy to a means of addressing whatever the concerns or fears which have caused your discontent, your choices are limited to continuing to abide in an unpalatable and untenable situation, or to lash out violently against those who you believe are subjugating you.
Basically, when you have no political juice, no right to redress, and no hope for the future you pick up a gun. Given guarantees of the right to fairly and freely participate in the political process to resolve those issues of concerns, most violent local conflicts can be adverted.
The other main cause of local conflict is ancient tribal animosities. Somewhere in your past someone done you wrong and your prideful ignorance won’t let you forget it. This is more of an inbred cultural aberration. It’s irrational, unrealistic and counter-productive and only results in a vicious self-perpetuating cycle of tit-for-tat retribution. Lamentably, some of us haven’t evolved past the monkey flinging feces stage of development, only the weapons have evolved. The only cure for this type of local conflict is gradual cultural assimilation and educating bigotry and prejudice out of the young. It can be done, but it takes a well-funded systematic approach usually lacking in the geographic regions where this type of conflict is prevalent.
Regional Conflict is another matter entirely. Although tribal animosities may play a part in these conflicts, they usually arise out of more pragmatic considerations: border and land disputes, resource acquisition and control, defensive preemption and sadly, the simple lusting for power by misguided political leadership. The resolution of these conflicts historically went to the side which wielded the bigger club. In the modern era, shifting coalitions of concerned nations have managed to eventually defuse most of these conflicts through economic coercion, or applied multinational force.
World peace is more, however, than the elimination of conflict. For us to live together successfully and peacefully as a species we must implement a rational universal economic system which minimizes speculative market manipulation and unfair trade policies within a framework of globally accepted and codified rules and regulations. The rule of law must be applied fairly and equitably, world-wide, for businesses and nations to accommodate themselves to the strategies necessary to compete in a fair and open global marketplace, as well as to insure confidence that the such a system will protect their rights into the future.
We will always be a contentious and competitive society, and like it or not, globalization is here to stay. We must found a system which accommodates healthy competition, sustainable growth and a level playing field to maintain a health global economy.
The last, and ultimately the most important leg of the foundational triad of world peace, is a healthy and viable environment. Without this all other questions are moot. Without arable land to feed ourselves, without fresh water to drink, without clean air to breathe nothing else really matters. Life, as we know it, will cease to exist.
We are all stewards of our global environment. No individual, corporation or nation has the right to foul our communal nest in the name of profit, power or personal prerogative.
World peace is attainable. In need not remain an unrequited utopian fantasy. We can eliminate most of the justifiable causes of conflict. We can devise and implement a viable global economy, and we can protect and preserve our shared environment.
We can do all these things through the auspices of a unified, representative World Federation of Nations. A Federation, utilizing the combined weight of its membership, and the moral authority granted to legitimate multinational efforts to intervene and resolve conflicts, locally and regionally, through just and equitable recourse or, in extreme circumstances, the use of applied armed force.
Through the implementation of a World Federal Republic we can devise a global economic structure which allows for sustained growth, free and fair global trade, technological innovation and a higher standard of living for all.
And finally, under the umbrella of a fairly elected, popularly supported, and effectively represented World Federation of Nations, we can work together to insure a healthy environment, a legacy we can all be proud to leave to our children, and their children.
World Peace—we can do better!
Can we possibly do worse than what we’ve got now? It’s hard to imagine.
Right now we’ve got nothing but a laughingly inept, inefficient and ineffective United Nations as the prime agitators for World Peace and Global Unity. We have tribalistic nation-states ruled by self-serving politicians, self-appointed despots, and military dictators running the world like a three-ring circus with no ringmaster in sight.
We have a directionless global economy teetering on the brink of total collapse, which seems to be guided by the principles of get as much as you can, while you can, and everyone else be damned. We have financial markets manipulated by greedy speculators and shady bankers. We have failing economies, and massive, unsustainable third-world debt. We have the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer, and the middle class disappearing.
We have uncontrolled population increases, problematic climate changes, and unmitigated toxic environments to clean up.
What it is, is what we have, but it doesn’t have to be that way—we can do better.
World Peace—we must do better!
It is unacceptable that a significant number of us goes to bed hungry every night. It is unacceptable that a significant number of us live lives mired in abject poverty and endless despair.
We are running out of time. The disaffected know that there is a better way to live and they are tired of waiting for their fair share. They have nothing to lose and are fully prepared to see the rest of us go down if flames with them if they don’t get what they want—a better way of life for them and their families.
World Peace—we will do better!
The choice is ours to make. Are we content with more of the same—the same stagnation, the same indifference, the same false smiles and sorry excuses; or are we ready for another way, a better way, a way which works for all of us and not just for the chosen few?
Join us in a Global Strike For World Peace on December 21st, 2012. Join us in letting our leaders know that we are tired, angry and frustrated by their inability, or unwillingness, to provide answers to the problems which plague us.
The way it was, and the way it is, is not the way it has to be…
If they can’t right the wrongs—we will!
Our World Order, For Our World Peace. What’s it mean, and why is it there at the top of every page and blog we publish?
The phrase “World Order” conjures up lots of images, mainly negative, in most of our minds: goose-stepping, jack-booted thugs; repressive regimes and stifling censorship; Big-Brother watching over our shoulders. Add the prefix “New” and our thoughts turn to the Illuminati and Masonic conspiracies of popular fiction.
Actually, there really is a World Order today: it’s in the tribal mindset of our Nation-States; it’s in the machinations of those in control of the world economy; it’s preached from the pulpits of organized religion–it’s the way things are, because that’s the way they’ve always been.
It’s the World Order we’ve inherited from our ancestors. It’s the haphazard result of our sociopolitical evolution–it’s what we had, it’s what we have, and so far it’s what we’re stuck with. There is no rational rhyme or reason to its organization; there is no careful consensus or thoughtful consideration on policy issues among the players on the world stage–there is only concern for the immediate gain, the consolidation of power, and the strategic advantage. It is the World Order of the quick buck, of unrestrained greed, and of the insatiable need for more and more of everything–regardless of consequence.
This is their World Order, the World Order of the rich, the powerful, and the well-connected. It may be totally dysfunctional, patently absurd, and on the brink of imminent collapse, but it works just fine for them. They can afford to live in gated communities, in palatial mansions and on private islands where the riff-raft can be held a bay; they can feed their families whatever the cost, they can fill their Mercedes and Hummers whatever the price of fuel.
Unfortunately, for most of the rest of us, it’s not a World Order that’s working too well. If we are very lucky we have a decent and secure job, a nice home to return to at the end of the day, some savings in the bank and some discretionary funds to play with–never mind that we’re mortgaged up to our eyeballs, our credit cards are maxed out. If we’re not so lucky, if we’ve been downsized, foreclosed and bankrupt–well, it’s just the unfortunate growing pains of the new global economy–things will get better, so they say. If we’re really unlucky we’re desperately poor, we’re hungry and we’re forgotten.
We want a World Order which works for us all. We want a World Order which cherishes and protects Human Rights. We want a World Order which provides the means for a dignified and productive existence for all–not just the fortunate. We want Our World Order!
We want true World Peace.
We don’t want a World Peace which promises business as usual; one which promotes corporate greed and irresponsibility; one which allows unscrupulous bankers and market speculators a free hand to pillage our savings and bankrupt our economies; one which accommodates itself to repressive regimes and Human Rights abuses.
We want a World Peace which works for all of us. We want Our World Peace!
Hello, and welcome my friends to my first official blog here at our Global Strike For World Peace website. I intend this to be an ongoing dialogue between you and me, as I lay out the arguments and rational as to what we believe to be the root cause of the problems we face, globally, and the way we can begin to resolve these problems to the benefit of all our fellow citizens on this planet we all call home.
I urge you to take the time to read what we’ve published under the About Us and Our Rational menu headings on this site. For most of you out there none of this is neither new nor news. It’s the same way you feel when you look around at the state of our world today. For others, this might be, for them, a new way at looking at our world and our shared entwinement–individually, nationally and globally.
And yes, I know–most of these are somewhat preachy so I promise to try to be less formal and more entertainingly conversationalist here in the days, weeks and months to come.
Let’s get some things straight right at the onset:
Like it, or not, we are all members of a single species–all members, ultimately, of a single tribe–Humanity. In effect, folks, any way you look at it, either through the mystical concept of Creation, or the empirical science of Evolution, we are all descended from a single ancestral line–be it Eve’s, or Lucy’s, take your pick, the conclusion is inarguable–we are all distant cousins. Regardless of some self-serving politician, or religious leader trying to tell you otherwise–it just ain’t so–we are a single species, a single tribe, a single family. And, like any family, we have our disagreements.
Our goal here is to help us establish the means for our family to settle its arguments in a fair, just and equitable manner–our new world order to achieve our world peace.
I am not against the wealthy. I’d like to be rich and so, most likely, would you. Having money is infinitely preferable to its alternative–having too little, or none at all. I don’t envy the rich nor begrudge them their wealth. What I do begrudge them is their notion that by dint of birth, luck or circumstance, their having money makes them somehow better than the rest of us, and conveys upon them the right to be governed by a different set of laws; laws which have been written, by them, to maintain, perpetuate and increase their wealth at the expense of the rest of us.
Less than 1% of the world’s population controls almost 40% of the world’s wealth with the top 10% High Net Worth Individuals owning nearly 85% of the world’s assets. The disparity between the wealth of those few at the top with the all the rest of us is unhealthy and unsustainable for both our species and our global society. We must find a way to reconcile the difference.
There are almost 7 billion of us alive today. Thirteen percent of us go to bed hungry every night–that’s over one billion people–many of them children. This is an indictment against the other 77% of us–a global shame. There is enough food and resources on our planet that this need not be–not in this day and age.
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