Opportunity, not fate:
giving globalization political shape
 from a speech by President Johannes Rau

Excerpts from German Federal President Rau's Berlin Address in May 2002 detailing facts which belie the global good promised by promoters of globalization. (746 words)

German Federal President Johannes Rau speaking in Berlin in May 2002 addressed the issue of globalization. The following is an extract from his “Berlin Address”.

Everyone must be able to share in the benefits of the global division of labour. We are a long way from this ideal. Globalization is not yet as global as  it sounds:

Johannes Rau

— Forty per cent of the world’s population live in the poorest countries of the world; their share of world trade is less than three per cent. In contrast, over three-quarters of world trade is effected by just under 16 per cent of the world population.

— Over 80 per cent of direct investment is concentrated on just 10 countries.

— Thirteen per cent of the world population lives in Africa, but they have only 0.3 per cent of all internet connections.

A policy of freedom will only be convincing in economic terms too if it frees people from exploitation, poverty and overindebtedness; if it provides equal opportunities; if it helps promote mutual respect and if it lets all people share in global developments.

A child in the industrial countries consumes on average 50 times as much as a child born in a developing country. When the sense of injustice spreads, people react with withdrawal or protest, rejection or even violence....

Freedom and justice — these are values to which we must orient ourselves if we want to shape globalization positively in both political and economic terms.

Debt

The overindebtedness of many countries is not merely an economic problem. It is an existential problem for many people. Their country’s indebtedness robs them of the freedom to share in the advantages of globalization. For far too long the developing countries’ debt problem was regarded merely as a question of their temporary inability to pay, and not as a structural problem. Attempts to solve the problem by granting more loans, and by extending their debts, were therefore bound only to make the situation worse.

Speculation

Ninety per cent of the money circulating in the world each day has nothing to do with the exchange of goods and services. Over 2 trillion euro is moved around each day purely speculatively. This can cause the social and political destabilization of entire countries, indeed can drive them to economic ruin.

A very broad coalition has emerged, comprising not only well-known critics of globalization but also politicians of all hues as well as Nobel economics laureates, all of whom agree on one thing: we must do something about speculation and we can do something about it.

Global co-operation

Global governance does not mean ruling the world, and it certainly does not mean that the nation-state is superfluous. We need regional and global co-operation, not centralism; we need multilateral co-operation, not the primacy of individual states.

The most important element is the United Nations. The United Nations must be strengthened. It is after all much more than just the Security Council. It also concerns itself with health issues and industrial health and safety, with global environmental issues and with the fight against hunger and poverty. The debate on the reform of the United Nations is at last under way. It is good that many sides are participating. The tasks facing us today are not those of 50 years ago. The United Nations must take account of this.

In 1999 Kofi Annan called upon the multinational enterprises to join in a “Global Compact”, pledging to respect human rights at all production centres, to employ neither forced nor child labour and to operate in an environmentally responsible manner. Even more companies should respond to this call. By the way, anyone can look on the internet to see which companies are facing up to their social responsibility worldwide, and how. All multinational companies must face up to the question of whether they comply with these standards.

Extremism

People [who have been marginalized] feel that their dignity has been violated. Anyone who feels himself to be homeless and uprooted can easily fall victim to fundamentalism or populism. Political extremists are gathering large followings in European countries too, gaining a frightening number of votes in elections.

We can only stem this dangerous development if we take seriously such feelings of alienation, and trace their causes. A globalization which overstretches people will in the end damage society as a whole. This too shows that globalization must be given political shape.

 

 "... We think... we can go on in the old ways... more competition, more greed... It is not so any longer; it does not work. If two-thirds of the world's population are living in poverty then the economic system does not work. If we think that they will go on without asking that it work for them, then we are sorely out of step with reality.   Maitreya will make that clear...
Benjamin Creme

"Without sharing there can be no justice;
without justice there can be no peace;
without peace there can be no future...
Man must change or die.
There is no other course."  
Maitreya, the World Teacher
http://www.Share-International.org

 

Links

 

Who is Maitreya?

mindlight.info home page

"The day that hunger is eradicated from the earth there will be the
greatest spiritual explosion the world has ever known. Humanity
cannot imagine the joy that will burst into the world on the day of
that great revolution."   Federico Garcia Lorca

“So a peace will come again on earth, but a peace unlike aught known
before. Then will the will-to-good flower forth as understanding, &
understanding blossom as goodwill in men.” The Tibetan

Glimpses of the future
A summary of forecasts from Maitreya, World Teacher for Aquarius,
Benjamin Creme's Master, and from Benjamin Creme.

 

Who is Maitreya?

Share International Home page

Disclaimer:
As a non-profit, educational, private initiative, the mindlight.info website, while very grateful for their Great Work, is not affiliated with the Theosophical Society, Lucis Trust, Alice Bailey, the Tibetan, Agni  Yogi Foundation, Helena Roerich, H.P. Blavatsky, George Adamski, Benjamin Creme, Share International, Peter Liefhebber, Sai Baba, Bette Stockbauer,  or Howard Ray Carey. Quoted texts are the intellectual property of the copyright holders. For the latest news on the emergence of Maitreya & the Masters of Wisdom, see the SI web site:  http://www.share-international.org