From: •••@••.•••
Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 23:34:04 EDT
Subject: Re: rn: Janet Eaton & UN Balkans Environmental Team
To: •••@••.•••
In a message dated 7/23/99 1:20:40 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
•••@••.••• writes:
<< But I hate to give up on the UN and all its affiliates too easily. (I'm
quite sure it was Kurt Waldheim who said, "The UN has survived liars and
astrologers as Secretaries General. It's taken the rap for dirty deeds that
the Super Powers have wished on it... but if it didn't exist, then we'd have
to invent something like it.")
>>
He might have added a Secretary General who was a Nazi officer; i.e., himself.
Bill Blum
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Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1999 10:59:29 +0200
From: Andreas Rockstein <•••@••.•••>
To: Jan Slakov <•••@••.•••>
Subject: Re: rn: UNDP solicits funds from corporations
> The UNDP seems to be such a useful program
shouldn't we distrust in any UN organization? (see next mail!)
*********************************************************
Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1999 11:00:29 +0200
From: Andreas Rockstein <•••@••.•••>
Subject: Re: rn: UN co-opted by corporations, military?
Dear Jan,
> Subject: sfp-12: United Nations co-opted by corporations and military?
Of course - that's it!
And it's no novelty for me -- PGA has renamed Kofi Annan to "Nes"Kofi
after his scene at Geneva Business Dialogue last year (see attached
release below! -- probably you know already)
all the very best,
Andreas
-------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1998 14:41:03 +0000
From: •••@••.•••
Subject: Alert! United Nations sold out to MAI and the TNCs?
Alert! United Nations sold out to MAI and the TNCs?
Since taking office, Sec. Gen. Kofi Annan has repeatedly made himself an
outspoken partisan of "free" trade and neo-liberalism. His meeting with
the International Chamber of Commerce in February is described by Helmut
Maucher of Nestlé (President of ICC) as "a turning point in the attitude
of the United Nations with regard to international business". In May, the
United Nations was "occupied" by the WTO summit (although WTO is not part
of the United Nations system). Now Kofi Annan (people are calling him
"Nes"Kofi) has lent his prestige to the ICC conference, "Geneva Business
Dialogue" (Sept. 23-24), just as MAI talks are due to start again! Despite
the resistance of the Subcommission on Human Rights, the United Nations is
being co-opted into the neo-liberal, totalitarian "consensus". To protest
against this development, the Geneva Co-ordination against MAI organised
demonstrations in front of the United Nations and in front of the "Geneva
Business Dialogue" on the 23rd and 24th of September.
<snip>
To protest against MAI and the CCI’s takeover bid on the UN, we ask you to
sign the statement below. We are confident that the reason for its getting
out late will motivate many more people to sign it and send it around the
world!
Olivier de Marcellus,
for the Coordination Genevoise contre l’A.M.I.
***********************************************
United Nations selling out to TNCs
For human rights, against the MAI!
On the eve of new negotiations concerning the Multilateral Accord on
Investment (MAI), the International Chamber of Commerce, is organising a
conference ("The Geneva Business Dialogue", 23-25 September) well timed to
enlist the principal international organisations, and particularly the UN,
in their campaign for MAI and neoliberal trade policies in general. (As
the lobby organisation of the 200 most powerful transnational corporations
(TNCs), ICC boasts that it inspired some of the most extremist provisions
of MAI, among others the possibility for TNCs themselves to attack
national States and legislations in the court of their choice... such as
the ICC's "tribunal"!)
Amazingly, the ICC is publicising its conference as the result of an
"agreement" with U.N. Sec. Gen. Kofi Annan, quoting his approval of this
"timely... means of consultation between the United Nations and the
business community". Since taking office, Kofi Annan has repeatedly
expressed personal and unilateral opinions on the supposed benefits of
"free" trade, privatisation and neo-liberal economic policies for the
developing countries. By what kind of rhetoric can Mr. Annan reconcile
these positions with the United Nations Charter on economic rights and
duties (1974), which proclaims "Each nation has the inalienable right to
regulate foreign investment and to exercise its control on investment",
precisely the right that MAI would alienate for a period of at least 20
years?
In sharp contrast, the experts of the U.N. Subcommission on Prevention of
Discrimination and Protection of Minorities have for the second time just
called upon all member States of the United Nations to develop mechanisms
to defend economic, cultural and social rights, violated in total impunity
by the current trend of globalisation, characterised by ever-increasing
inequality, the weakening of popular sovereignty and the increasing
concentration of power by giant TNCs. In August 1998, the UN Subcommission
unanimously adopted a resolution calling for close scrutiny of MAI, "which
might limit the capacity of States to take proactive steps to ensure the
enjoyment of economic, cultural and social rights by all people, creating
benefits for a small, privileged minority at the expense of an
increasingly disenfranchised majority."
The undersigned persons and organisations hereby express their opposition
to MAI and to the "buyout" of the United Nations by TNCs.
Convenors committee of People's Global Action
Coordination Genevoise contre l'A.M.I.
Return to: AMP c/o IAS, 5 Rue Samuel Constant, Ge 1201 - Tel/Fax 4122
3444731
e-mail: •••@••.•••
NOTE FROM JAN: This sign-on is surely out of date by now.
*****************************************************************
From: "Ib Bang" <•••@••.•••>
To: "Renaissance Network" <•••@••.•••>
Subject: Comment on Debt & Jeffrey Sachs
Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 16:07:40 +0200
Dear RNs,
In your entry today titled 'Debt and Jeffrey Sachs, you address a topic of
immense importance; the poverty of many countries forcing them to extreme
means to cope with their debts.
And these countries do not even know, that they possess the key themselves
to get out of this poverty.
Instead they have hired foreign experts, who instead of helping them out of
poverty, teach them how to forge the chains themselves which keep them enslaved.
This is not necessarily because these experts are evil persons, but they
have been taught an economical system and are not aware, that this system
has a lot of sacred cows, which will have to be slaughtered.
Money as such is neutral. It is the way money is used, which is either
positive or negative. Money is not the root of all evil, but our present
monetary system is the root of a lot of evil.
The positive use of money is as a lubricant for our society. It should
ensure an easy exchange of goods and services. As a lubricant it should be
plentiful - he who lubricates well drives well.
The negative use of money is to control people. But if you have lots of
money, you cannot be controlled economically, thus money has to be scarce.
As our societies are short of money, the money apparently is used negatively.
A statement said
All of this lending was based on the shaky
assumption of former Citibank Chairman Walter
Wriston who made famous the saying, "Countries do
not go bankrupt."
In a way that statement is right, but that is from another point of view.
Each country has the right to issue its own currency. If they did so instead
of loaning from the plutocracy, they would not end up in the interest trap
making them slaves of debt to the plutocracy.
A counter statement uses to be, that if a country just prints its own money,
they will just create inflation. But how will the market be able to detect
the difference, whether the money is lent or printed nationally.
The point is, that excess money does not create inflation. It is lack of
supplies, that does. Imagine you have enough money and want to buy a certain
thing. If you come to the shop, and they have one left, but ten customers,
then you will outbid each other. But if the shop have fifty items on the
shelves, then you will not starting outbidding each other. You will just
take an item each. Contrarily if a producer reduces the price of his
product, then he may sell his products first ensuring him an income. In
other words, shortages give inflation and abundance gives deflation.
But if a country has tried to cope with its debts, it may have created
shortages, and then they believe that it is the surplus money, that creates
inflation and not the shortage of supplies.
In other words, a country should manage its own monetary system, and not let
the plutocracy do it. The plutocracy is not democratically elected, and
should not have economical power to control the democratically elected persons.
If you want it further detailed, I can recommend you to visit my homepage,
the URL of which is:
http://users.cybercity.dk/~ida1561/
I have written a book called "Debating Our Society" and am about to write
the next one called "Towards the Millenium". In the first mentioned book
chapter 8 deals with these problems, and in the latter it is the chapter
called "From a Society of Deficiency to a Society of Abundance".
Anything at my homepage may be used freely.
Thank you for your attention!
Sincerely,
Ib Bang.
*********************************************************
Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1999 11:21:44 -0300
To: •••@••.•••
From: David Cameron/Nancy Sherwood <•••@••.•••>
Subject: Re: Ib Bang commentary on UN
Yes the UN and most institutions, governing bodies, and human endeavours
are controlled and/or sullied by corporate power. Our shelter, food, water,
clothing, transportation, health, education, work, money, environment...all
bought & sold & manipulated to the aggrandizement of the relative few. The
globalization of the economy is a most sucessful hegenomy.
Choices:
We can struggle from within & vote for & support NDP or Green (if there are
those choices) and hope for the kind of mitigation & balance THAT strategy
sometimes provides.
We can be outlaws and live by our individual & collective lights, taking
the lumps for doing so if they come & setting that kind of example for
those that need alternative models.
We can work within legal & monetary bounds, patiently getting approvals &
building alternative sustainable communities including permaculture
practices, alternate birthing, schooling and health care, voluntary
simplicity/light-living and alternate spiritual practices.
None of the above will do much to affect the over-all downward spiral of
global ecology and "resources", but will give dignity to those that live
out those experiments.
Nothing short of a miracle like "Y2K out of control"(with those prepared
really ready to take charge & run with the ball when it is dropped!) or
outright global revolutionary activity will affect the bigger picture. "We"
can only carry out non-violent revolution or "profound change" using the
assets of the ruling paradigm and with the understanding and support of the
general population. That's a lot to ask for.
No wonder apathy is so popular!
DavidC
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