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WP21 Summary No. 2 (week of October 28 - November 3, 2002) : values for a WP needs to be values for the whole humakind
Arnaud BLIN, WP21 team
Wednesday, November 06, 2002 6:57 PM
ºººAbstract : More self- introductions from South America, the United
States, Europe and Asia. Generally, one sensed great enthusiasm and some
skepticism. Launch of the discussion: values that could be laid as the
foundation of a World Parliament need to be the values of humankind as a
whole. Instead of underlining the differences between cultures, one should
establish a system that promotes their common thread. The blending of
civilizations, rather than their clash, around areas of concern could
function around the principle of a "community of ideas" where a consensus
might be reached that reflects the main preoccupations of the inhabitants of
the planet.ººº
For this second synthesis we will again devote a large part of the weekly
summary to introductions while easing gradually into the topic of the month:
values, principles, and purpose.
New introductions
This week saw another high number of self-introductions. I was very
impressed by the high level of enthusiasm that pervaded all these messages.
Clearly, the idea of a world parliament seems to generate a keen interest
among people. One of the messages suggested that we discuss these
important, and indeed very serious issues, without losing our sense of
humor, which seems to be a very sensible way to approach the forum. Others
echoed this feeling by suggesting that we try to have a pleasant and
enjoyable time with this discussion. Some already warned to be careful not
to let one ideology dominate the discussion. Overall, I sensed both great
interest in the idea of a world parliament and some skepticism that it might
one day see the light. As one participant suggested, the future is
unknowable and thus should be treated with respect.
Spanish was the dominant language of origin this week, a good counter
balance to the French and English dominated discussion of last week. A
majority of messages came from South America, including Brazil with three -
two from the North East region -, Argentina, Peru and Ecuador. A couple
individuals wrote from France, a couple from the United States. One person
sent a message from Malaysia. A seasoned traveler with a Dutch passport and
a Haitian working in Miami completed the list. Several individuals alluded
to the fact one's nationality bears less and less relevance in an age of
globalization. As we all know too well, nationalism was the dominant
ideology of the twentieth century and one gets the impression here that it
might be time to move on.
The general feeling one gets reading these introductions is that we all feel
a certain sense responsibility for the future of the planet. Environmental
issues and animal rights rank high in people's minds. Professional
backgrounds were somewhat similar to last week's with a significant number
of introductions from lawyers, economists and professors. Ages ranged from
22 to 86, showing how these issues concern both the young and the not quite
as young. I was also impressed by the quality and range of the activities
undertaken by the participants. There are a lot of innovative ways in which
people try to tackle some basic problems such as poverty. It is encouraging
to see that a lot of these initiatives are grass roots, and run
independently of any government activity.
From these descriptions, it is all the more clear that governments around
the world are failing to deal with issues they are supposed to address. On
the other hand, it is also evident that citizens groups are getting
increasingly organized at the local level and are able to obtain significant
results. The various experiences, which are all too real, described in
these messages, tend to validate the basic proposition of this forum that
something needs to be done from the bottom up to the global level.
Initial discussion: values, principles, and purpose
This leads us directly to the discussion. For the first month of the forum,
the debate is very general before heading to more specific and technical
issues. It starts with a discussion on values, principles, and purpose.
Since we do not know what a world parliament will look like, defining the
values and principles upon which it can be based will lead us to understand
better what its purpose might be. In doing so, we keep in mind that our
goal is not to reach agreement on everything but to explore the breadth of
opinion and see where we agree and disagree and how we may be able to move
towards a more holistic consensus. I will attempt to summarize the ideas
articulated by the participants who contributed. The viewpoints summarized
do not necessarily represent those of the forum coordinators or the entirety
of the forum's participants.
Since the breadth of the topic is so wide, there were suggestions as to how
to organize the discussion. Following is an example of a possible approach:
a) a historical reference to understand globalization, b) the human being's
behavior, a central figure of this history, from sociological,
anthropological, psychological and spiritual perspectives, and c) the social
behavior and inside it the economic behavior.
Unequivocally, this week's contributions all seemed to converge around the
same idea, namely that the values that could be laid as the foundation of a
World Parliament need to be the values of humankind as a whole. It also
transpired that these values are already shared by many since we are a
global community of common interests. These values grow in a decentralized
way but a World Parliament can be the place where they might meet. It is
clear to some of our participants that the purpose of states is *not* to
promote or defend such values. Some participants feel that states are
primarily guided by a restrictive notion of national interest and they use
the currency of power, including economic power, to further their interests,
regardless of its impact on other states. Thus, a world parliament of
states would not promote the common interest but would rather perpetuate
with other means the same old values that do not correspond to the purpose
of the global community. By the same token, a parliament of "cultures"
would in the end yield the same result with dominant cultures overshadowing
smaller ones. A true world parliament should be different from this.
Instead of underlining the differences between cultures, one should
establish a system that promotes their common thread. The blending of
civilizations, rather than their clash, around areas of concern could
function around the principle of a "community of ideas" where a consensus
might be reached that reflects the main preoccupations of the inhabitants of
the planet. In order to found such a community of ideas, one needs to
determine the basic values that form a common trunk for all of humanity.
Such values could be peace, democracy and clarity. Another way to look at
it would be to define two levels of values, primary and secondary. One
participant presented the following example of what these "primary" values
could be: Solidarity and Respect; Transparency and Coherence;
Responsibility. To these, we could add "secondary values" such as
Protection; real Representation; Flexibility and Adaptability; and
"Ci-terrestrial-ship" (Earth citizenship).
The purpose behind these primary and secondary values would be to help
establish a society respectful of every living being, *human* or *not
human*, on a preserved earth knowing that a global government giving to all
humans a life in the dignity and in the respect of the fundamental needs is
indispensable. That being said, a parliament that would achieve this goal
would be futile if it allowed the massacre of the ecosystems and the
exploitation without conscience of species leading an ecological disaster.
Nevertheless, having common values should not blind one to the fact that
different people may have different needs. Having communities decide for
themselves should be the guiding light behind the purpose of a world
parliament.
WP21 Alliance Forum on a World Parliament for the 21st Century
E-mail : world-parl@forums.alliance21.org
Fax 1 717 264 5036
Information, inscriptions, désinscriptions: germa@alliance21.org
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