Dear friends,
I am very glad to hear the news of a developing great movement against WTO in
Korea. I have being in Prague for the S26 protest.
The protest is sure the best we can do. Parallel to that we suggest also to
take some step to identify solutions to globalisation (contcentration of
wealths in the hands of few) and and alternatives to capitalism in its
principles.
During the protest I have being watching different forums and group
discussions. On the base of these observations and a programm by Proutist
Universal, we draw this simple statement which may be used as a possible
guide line on building up an alternative views and practice in the
socio-economic-cultural field for the thirth world countries which suffer
most the consequences of globalisation.
Any comment will be welcome.
Best regards and good work.
T.Bonotto
Proutist Universal - Italy
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BEYOND PRAGUE PROTEST - by Proutist Universal
During the month-long preparation for the Prague protest some relevant
questions came up. Do we expect that some cosmetic reform, if accepted by
these world bodies, will wipe out the ills of globalisation? Simultaneously
the proponents of globalization are claiming that this is the only way for
economic well-being and sustainable development. There cannot be a greater
lie than this. Even the 1998 statistics of WB reveals a different picture.
The 1998 statistics show that one-sixth of the worlds population enjoy
80% of income and 57% of world population in 63 countries share 6% of world
income-that is about $2 per day. The number of extremely poor people in South
Asia increased from 495 million in 1997 to 552 million in 1998. And in
sub-Saharan countries in one year, it has increased by 48 million. I would
like to remind you at this point that in this world there are 354
billionaires and thousands of multi-millionaires.
Even in rich countries there is a growing practice of merging of big
companies resulting in unemployment(about 10%). Only in the U.S.
unemployment decreased. And it is a well-known fact that GATT was signed to
bring life to the U.S. economy. Globalization of the economy has opened the
door of globalisation of poverty.
In her best-selling book, "Economic Horror", Vivian Forrester rightly
commented that economic neo-liberalism has introduced a new paradigm-
"Increasingly it offers the most vulnerable in our society a quite new
choice-poverty at work or poverty on dole." In terms of human value the worst
thing happened. In market-dominated society people have been converted into a
commodity. The usefulness of the working mass is counted in terms of their
contribution to the profit mechanism.
The grandeur of great promises, the marvels of material and
intellectual achievements of the industrial age must be visualized in order
to understand the trauma that realisation of its failure is producing today.
The industrial age has indeed failed to fulfill the great promise-unlimited
production, absolute freedom and unrestricted happiness, because of its
psychological premises, that is, radical hedonism which postulates that:
1. happiness can be achieved by fulfillment of any material or sensual
desire;
2. in order to fulfill those desires, egoism, greed and selfishness have to
be encouraged.
This, according to hedonist belief, will lead to harmony and peace. It
is well-known to the world that radical hedonism is the philosophy of rich
people and has been adopted by the neo-liberals.
Under the influence of such psychological premises we cannot expect that
the economic oligarchies will change their system.
With the new rules of the trinity (WTO, WB and IMF), free flow of
money, goods and services should be allowed but not free flow of labour. If
we look at the statistics in developing countries, investment has increased
by about 500% in the last 8 years, but unemployment generation has increased
by less than 1%. Each day about $800 billion to $1 trillion changes hand in
the stock market without generating any employment.
Who supports this system? Firstly the members of the corporate class
which comprises people such as corporate managers, lawyers, consulants,
public relations specialists, financial brokers and wealthy investors, and
secondly the people who get direct benefit from this system-the new upper
middle-class in developing and underdeveloped countries. This system
directly benefits 20% of the population and indirectly another 20%. Those are
the people who control the political power, economic power, mass media,
educational and cultural institutions. And the 60% of the population who
suffer due to this system has no power, no voice. They wait with the hope
that trickle-down economy may fall a few drops as a concession one day.
Now the question is what should we be trying to achieve? In economic
terms it is common sense to expect that guarantee of minimum requirements of
life for all should be the economic goal of any just economic system. It is
also a fact that material wealth is not unlimited.
A just economic paradigm must design its policy based on the above 2
principles. To meet the above demands the following steps need to be taken,
which I believe, will not be supported by the economic oligarchies:
1. Scrap the policies of SAP and also TRIM, TRIP and GATS; and WB, IMF and
WTO should function under our world body to help different socio-economic
zones to achieve economic self-reliance. Economy should be
production-oriented and not export-oriented.
2. Industry should be based on availability of raw material, and local
consumption should get priority rather than export.
3. Except in exceptional cases only capital goods which are needed to
develop basic industries, and high-tech goods can be exported and imported.
4. Big corporations and banks should be compelled to pay 25% of their net
income to meet the social cost. Tax should also be levied on money exchange.
This will generate billions of dollars and can be utilized in education
promotion, health care, and ecological protection.
5. In all spheres of economic activities-farming, industry, trade, and
services, a cooperative system should be introduced. Individual ownership
should be encouraged in the case of small-scale farming and industries.
6. Income tax for low-income people should be eliminated in favor of taxes on
resource extraction, international money exchange, luxury goods, and
upper-level income. The best will be if the highest income does not exceed
20% of the lowest income for the time being.
7. Economic communities will benefit from the free flow of goods, money,
services and labor, only if the countries with same economic standards
combine to form one economic unit-like EU, ASEAN, SAARC, ANDEAN, African
countries, etc. Free market between countries of unequal standards(like
NAFTA) will be detrimental for the people of both the countries. East Europe
should form a separate economic unit and not join EU. Only after developing
its economy to Western standards can they join EU. One day the whole world
can become one economic unit but not as long as unjust distribution system
and gap between rich and poor countries exists.
8. Killing of whales, elephants, gorillas, birds and other endangered
species should be banned. Also destruction of rain forest and of the
eco-system should be banned.
9. Suppression of language and culture should be opposed.
It is inevitable that neither the trinity (WB, IMF, WTO) nor their
supportive governments can accept this recommendation. So the question
comes-what next?
The only alternative is to organize grassroots peoples' movements. We
should not forget that communism collapsed due to people's movements and we
also saw the collapse of the dictatorial regime of Marcos of Philippines by
peoples' movement.
Simultaneously wherever possible we should form economic cooperatives or
communities or communities mobilizing small farmers, industry-owners, and
traders. A few such projects already exist.
Each NGO also can take responsibility to establish economic projects for
the benefit of the local people. Such efforts also exist. The only thing
needed is to expand such efforts.
I finally propose on this occasion to form a platform to coordinate our
activities throughout the world. This can be termed as globalisation of
people's effort. We can give any name to this platform, such as -universal
social forum or neo-humanistic forum or any other.
I agree that after the collapse of Commintern and the ineffectiveness of
Socialist International this protest shows a new dimension to create
anti-thesis against concentration of wealth, unjust system and
neo-liberalism. I strongly believe that this will in the near future blossom
into a revolution - a revolution of a new paradigm.
But we should remember that economy as content of life is a deadly
illusion. If we want economic democracy to take its root, it is essential to
be aware of the cultural environment and political system that promotes it.
Psycho-economic exploitation precedes economic exploitation.
The economic system reflects the psychology promoted by the cultural and
political system. Hence if we have any vision for revolution we must be aware
of this phenomenon. The psychology of "to have" needs to be changed into
psychology of "to be".
We cannot solve today's problems with the ideas of 19th century.
Socialism needs to be redefined to fulfill the social, economical,
political, cultural and spiritual needs of human society.
Lastly, I would like to emphasize that as we are eager to restore
ecological balance and to live in harmony rather than in conflict with
nature. We should also make an effort to bring harmony within our physical,
intellectual and spiritual dimensions of life.
If we do not alter the framework of the social system and the
international order, which are based on force and exploitation of weaker
sections of society and backward nations, world peace will remain a hopeless
dream.
Published by Proutist Universal -2000 at Prague meetings.
www.proutworld.org
www.prout.org
(* This mail was delivered to KoPA on 5th Oct.)
