Dear rn list, June 2
Actually, I've been really wanting to do up a message on the theme of
non-violence for a while now, but there are always other things needing doing.
Like sending out this message to tie up some of the loose ends on the
outreach thread and give you more information on globalization/MAI resources.
So, here we go!
*************************************************************************
Subject: RE: reaching out
Date: Mon, 1 Jun 1998 08:48:52 -0700
Return-Receipt-To: "Adkins, Gerald" <•••@••.•••>
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X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.1960.3)
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Jan, just wanted you to know that your article was appreciated.
Especially, the five (5) things that the individual can do to further
the cause. I found you ideas empowering on this Monday a.m. You know
it is frustrating when you are not rich and therefore able to
financially support worthy causes like Renaissance - but your
suggestions, if adhered too, can make a difference. J
G. C. Adkins, M.S.
Human Resources Director
Saint Martin's College, Lacey, Wa. 98503-1297
ph: (360) 438 4495 (direct line)
fx:: (360) 412-6199
* always be kinder than necessary
********************************
Jan: Thanks, Gerald!
************************************************************************
Also, I got Dion Giles' name wrong, which gave rise to this interesting note:
X-POP3-Rcpt: jslakov@clan
Return-Path: •••@••.•••
X-Sender: •••@••.•••
Date: Mon, 01 Jun 1998 08:30:22
To: •••@••.•••
From: Dion Giles <•••@••.•••>
Subject: To JS re address
Cc: •••@••.•••
Jan:
My email address is •••@••.•••.
The "Murdoch" is Murdoch University in Perth, named after Walter Murdoch
who was a scholar and a gentleman unlike his scoundrel nephew Rupert.
My name is Dion, with an "i", like Dion O'Bannion who was not a scholar and
a gentleman.
Regards, Dion
***************************************************************************
To: Ed Deak <•••@••.•••>
From: •••@••.••• (Richard K. Moore)
Subject: just a note about "informed population"
Cc: •••@••.••• (Jan Slakov)
Dear Ed,
You wrote on 13 May:
>1. A person may have read and heard about the beneficial effects of free
>trade, global competition etc. for years and plays lipservice to the
>platitudes: "Yes, we must compete, so we can sell our products, create
>employment and wealth....."
>Well, you know all the usual baloney and the rest.
>
>2. Questions: Have you benefitted from free trade and globalization?
> Do you know anybody who has?
> Have you seen any jobs created by big investment, ie 45,000/bil?
> Have you seen any lowering of costs and prices?
> Have you found quality improved by imports of food, clothing, etc?
Here's another question that might be effective in this context...
"Did you know that this whole economic philosophy was implemented
once before, at the end of the nineteenth century? that it was
called `laissez faire' capitalism, or the `robber baron era'? and
that it was so disastrous both econonically and politically that it
was abandoned by all leading nations? and that's where all the
regulations came from that are now being removed?"
rkm
******************************************************************
Yesterday's message suggesting leads for countering corporate globalization
in the US especially gave rise to this comment from Pia Jensen:
Dear All,
Also in the US, Jason Kirkpatrick in Arcata has drafted
and perhaps by now passed, an anti MAI resolution with
Arcata's city council (Green Majority).
Thanks for the dynamo compliment, Jan. Feeling pretty tired
right now, though. Ready to end this campaign... and write
the book ! and pay my debts, have a life ... !
Pia
***********************************************************************
Note: Wanna "Get a Life"? There's a rather good book by that title written
by Wayne Roberts & Susan Brandum available from: Get a Life Publishing
House, 2255B Queen St. East, Suite 127, Toronto, ON, M4E 1G3. The full title
of the book: _Get a Life! how to make a good buck, dance around the
dinosaurs and save the world while you're at it. (One hundred and one ways
to tread lightly on Mother Earth, make bags of money [I'm not so sure about
that!], simplify your life, have a blast, keep fit and save your sanity
while everything is crunmbling all around you)
**************************************************************************
Another source of information on globalization:
From: Global Times <•••@••.•••>
To: <•••@••.•••>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Dear Richard,
Enlosed is an announcement about a new web site for those against
capitalist expansionism and new socioeconomic models. Please post it to
cyberjournal if you think it is appropriate; I do not know your policy
about such things.
Thanks,
Brian Hammer
Hello,
This is to inform you that Proutist Universal, an international
non-governmental organization affiliated with the United Nations has just
opened its website at
www.prout.org/
Proutist Universal promotes a social-economic theory based on the tenets
of self-reliance, sustainability and spirituality. It views human beings
as having a physical, mental and spiritual nature. It defines progress as
movement towards higher consciousness and holds that the natural function
of an economy is to provide for our collective basic needs and useful
amenities so that we may explore our higher mental and spiritual
potentialities.
This theory, called the Progressive Utilization Theory (PROUT), advocates
for the maximum utilization and rational distribution of all natural and
human resources toward our ultimate fulfillment as human beings, while
maintaining a balance with the earth and other life forms.
PROUT places our humanity, rather than profit or commodities, at the
center of our economic activity. As such it provides the fundamental
rationale for social cooperation and environmental harmony. PROUT finds
its expression in decentralized movements for economic democracy. We
regard PROUT as a viable alternative to the outdated and exploitative
models of communism and global capitalism.
The website contains, among other things, a complete Study Guide to the
Progressive Utilization Theory as well as 500 annotated links to other
websites that provide resources for local organizers committed to
sustainable economic development and local self-reliance.
If this site is of interest to you, please share it with others.
Thank you,
The Proutist Writers Group, North America
********************************************************************
And a woman I am honoured to count among my friends has been doing some
great research on anti-corporate globalization resources.
Here's Janet Eaton's book list:
From: "Janet M. Eaton" <•••@••.•••>
To: •••@••.••• (Richard K. Moore)
Date: Wed, 13 May 1998 18:07:01 +0000
Subject: (Fwd) (Fwd) MAI-NOT BOOK LIST- A MODEST BEGINNING !
I must preface it with this lovely quote, which Janet sent along with the
book list:
"Don't ever apologize for crying for the trees burning in the Amazon
or over the waters polluted from mines in the Rockies. Don't
apologize for the sorrow, grief and rage you feel... It is a measure
of your open heart, and as your heart breaks open, there will be
room for the world to heal."
all the best,
janet
Joanna Macy is a very informed prof and buddhist who has seen and
written on the parallels between general systems theory and
Buddhism's mutual causality. I admire her intellect and wholeness.
[BTW, Janet also complied a list of anti-MAI sites. It is long (no
surprise!) and I could post it to this list if there is enough interest
expressed or I could just send out copies individually.
All the best, Jan]
****************************************************************************
MAI-NOT BOOK LIST
A MODEST BEGINNING !
The following books were selected as a critical view of the effects of
the present globalization process and the "global economy," from a
broad, big-picture perspective. They have all been recommended by
mai-not list serve participants.
Please continue to forward your recommendations as well
as suggestions for related books including alternatives to the
present "globalization" process. . .
Thanks to all those who sent in their suggestions and
recommendations.
Janet Eaton [•••@••.••• ]
===========================
MAI- NOT BOOK LIST
The Global Economy - Critical Views
============================
"Over the last few decades there has been a rapid increase in the
movement of capital, as well as goods and services, across
international borders. ....These ....trends together make up what is
commonly referred to as "globalization," and there is heated debate
among policy makers as well as non-governmental organizations as to
the effects of this process on living standards, income distribution,
democracy, and the environment."
-- Karliner, Joseph. 1997--
------------------------------------------
Chossudovsky, Michel. 1997. Global Poverty: Impacts of IMF
and World Bank Reforms. Third World Network. ISBN:983-9794-23-1, 280
pages, US $15.00. Third World Network Website:
Since the debt crisis, the economic reforms imposed by the IMF and
the World Bank on developing countries have led to the
impoverishment of hundreds of millions of people. This timely and
controversial book analyses the new financial order and carefully
documents the role of the Bretton Woods institutions. The study
illustrates how the economies of sovereign countries are restructured
and brought under the custody of external creditors. Applied
simultaneously in more than 100 countries, these reforms are
conducive to the development of a global cheap labour economy which
feeds on human poverty and the destruction of the natural
environment.
The author's research on the globalization of poverty is supported by
extensive case study material covering the experiences of South and
Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the former
Soviet Union.
---The third World Network Website
http:// www.twnside.org.sg/south/twn/title/glob-cn.htm
---------------------------
Greider, William, 1997. ."One World, Ready or Not: The Manic Logic of
Global Capitalism". By Copyright . Simon and Schuster.
A fascinating tour of various corporations and countries that gets
underneath the globalization hype down to the nuts and bolts of
their operations to help show what globalization is really about.
Well worth a read! [--mai-not ]
An interesting book, but not one that I'd put at the top of the list!
[--mai-not]
---------------------------
Karliner, Joseph. 1997. The Corporate Planet : Ecology and Politics
in the Age of Globalization . Sierra Club Books.
The borders and regulatory agencies of most governments are caving
in to the New World Order of globalization, allowing corporations to
assume an ever more stateless quality, leaving them less and less
accountable to any government anywhere. These corporations, together
with their host governments, are reorganizing world economic
structures--and thus the balance of political power--through a
series of intergovernmental trade and investment accords. These
treaties serve as the frameworks within which globalization is
evolving--allowing international corporate investment and trade to
flourish across the Earth. "
----From Sierra Club Book Review--
--------------------------
Korten, David C. 1996. When corporations rule the world. A
co-publication of Kumarian Press, Inc. West Hartford, Connecticut,
and Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., San Francisco. 374 pp. ISBN
1-887208-01-1. Paper back. CAN$28.95.
The global economy has become like a malignant cancer, advancing the
colonization of the planet's living spaces for the benefit of
powerful corporations and financial institutions. It has turned
these once useful institutions into instruments of a market tyranny
that is destroying livelihoods, displacing people, and feeding on
life in an insatiable quest for money. It forces us all to act in
ways destructive of ourselves, our families, our communities, and
nature. Human survival depends on a community-based, people-centered
alternative beyond the failed extremist ideologies of communism and
capitalism. This alternative is already being created through the
initiatives of millions of people around the world who are taking
back control of their lives and communities to create places where
people can live and grow in balance with the living earth. When
Corporations Rule the World provides an agenda of national and global
reforms by which we may reclaim our power to localize our economies
while
globalizing our consciousness.
-- From David Korton's People Centred Development Forum
Website http://192.197.196.1/pcdf/ --
This book should be REQUIRED READING! Korten's book is written in
such clear simple language. It covers such a vast range of
issues/perspectives. It is never repetitive or redundant. I found it
a pleasure to read. He makes many useful recommendations..
[--mai-not -]
--------------------------
Mander , Jerry (Editor), Edward Goldsmith (Editor). 1997.
The Case Against the Global Economy: : And for a Turn
Toward the Local. Published by Sierra Club Books
Paperback, 560 pages, Dimensions (in inches): 1.52 x 8.98 x 6.01
ISBN: 0871568659
A excellent compilation of essays by the likes of Ralph Nader,
Vandanna Shiva, William Greider, Maude Barlow and numerous notable
others.
It is an excellent reference book. I have read this recently and
recommend it! [--mai-not--]
------------------------
Martin, Hans-Peter et al . 1997. The Global Trap : Globalization and
the Assault on Prosperity and Democracy . Pluto Press, Australia; Zed
Books, London and New York. Published in Canada by Black Rose Books,
CP1258, Succ. Plce du Parc, Montreal, Quebec, H2W 2R3. Distributed
in USA by St Martin's Press, Inc. 175 Fifth Ave. New York, This book
explores the spread of globalization and the likely consequences for
jobs and democracy and forsees a technological future
in which only one fifth of the world's current work force will be
needed.
Chapter One: The 20:80 Society found at following website:
http://www.zedbooks.demon.co.uk/ChapterOne/globtrap.htm
It is a devastating account of the effect of economic globa lization.
In fact it is tremendously devastating to read! [--mai-not --]
-------------------------
McQuaig, Linda. 1998. The Cult of Impotence: Selling The Myth
of Powerlessness In The Global Economy, Canada: Penguin Group. ISBN
0-670-87278-4. The popular belief is that we can't have these things
(jobs and social programmes) because of factors beyond our control -
because globalization and technology have left us powerless to
achieve them. But in this provocative book, Linda McQuaig argues
that we are not really powerless. She shows that the international
community in fact has the tools to regulate the world financial
system in a way that would harness its enormous energy to our
collective advantage. ..This book challenges the most widely held
beliefs of our time. And it shows how if we stopped buying into the
cult of impotence, we could create a new order that would put the
rights of people ahead of the rights of capital.
--- Excerpt from backjacket notes--
It is 10 times better than "Shooting the Hippo" I recommend it for
Canadians ahead of Greider and Hans-Peter Martin. [--mai-not--]
-----------------------------
Nader, Ralph (Editor), The Case Against Free Trade : Gatt, Nafta And
the Globalization of Corporate Power . 1993. An Earth Island Press
Book.
A compilation of 42 essays with contributions by Jerry Mander
(Megatechnology, Trade, and the New World Order ); Margaret
Atwood( Blind Faith and Free Trade); Martin Kohr (Free Trade and
Third World); Vandana Shiva (Biodiversity and Intellectual
Property rights) ;Lori Wallach (Hidden Dangers of GATT and
NAFTA ); William Greider (The Global Marketplace: A Closet Dictator)
An excellent reference book! [--mai-not--]
------------------------------
Teeple, Gary . 1995. "Globalization and the Decline of Social
Reform" by Copyright Garamond Press.
A short lucid analysis of globalization and it's devastating
effects-
I recommend this book which is well worth a read! [--mai-not--- ]
================
MAI- Not Books
================
Clarke Tony and Maude Barlow. 1997. MAI: The Threat
to Canadian Sovereignty. Canada: Stoddard.
Few Canadians know that the federal government and its
counterparts in other industrialized nationa are poised to sign a
deal that will drastically affect our quality of life and our
ability to determine national destiny. MAI , the Multilateral
Agreement on Investment, expected to be ratified in 1988, will go
far beyond NAFTA to allow transnational corporations to vie for
control of our health care and education systems, telecommunications
and cultural industries, public utilities and municipal services, and
more. The agreement is deeply anti-democratic. It will grant
corporations, for the first time in history , equal legal status with
nation-states. And Under the MAI, transnationals will have access to
our domestic courts to challenge any legislation --labour laws,
copyright protection, environmental regulations, Canadian content
rules--that could be seen as contrary to the interests of foreign
investment. Most alarmingly the MAI will compromise our democratic
rights to participate in decisions on all these matters. With this
book as a tool for action, concerned groups and citizens must stop
the MAI before it destroys the services and programs Canadians have
fought for decades to build and maintain.
---Tony Clarke and Maude Barlow--
------------------------
Jackson, Andrew and Matthew Sanger . 1998. DISMANTLING
DEMOCRACY : The Multilateral Agreement on Investment and
its Impact . Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Publication
Edited by 346 pages / $19.95 CDN paperback
ISBN: 1-55028-614-5
The most up-to-date and comprehensive analysis of the MAI
available. Leading Canadian and international experts explore the
impact of the treaty on jobs, public services, health care, the
environment, culture, and national and international economic
development policies. Although negotiations on the MAI have been
temporarily suspended, it remains a key objective for foreign
investors. This book is a key resource for anyone interested in
understanding the agreement and its impact on Canada and the world.
---CCPA--
Much, if not all, of this book is on-line on •••@••.••• [Bob
Olsen]
--End---
Creo que el mundo es bello,
que la poesía es como el pan,
de todos.
(I believe the world is beautiful
and that poetry, like bread, is for everyone)
Roque Dalton
Jan Slakov, Box 35, Weymouth, NS, Canada B0W 3T0 (902) 837-4980
Democratic Renaissance messages: Mail to: •••@••.•••
---
Restore democratic sovereignty
Create a sane and livable world
Bring corporate globalization under control.
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