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Transforming World Bank, IMF and WTO
for Social Equity, Ecological safety and Distributive Justice
for Renewable Resource based Livelihoods
Dr. Muhammad Mukhtar Alam
A paper submitted for the Meeting of Global Call Against
Poverty in Bangkok, September 2006 and First Virtual
Conference on World Citizenship - Monday, March 06, 2006
THE CONTEXT
Anti-globalisation protest defines our times as much as
there are endeavours for globalisation of the movement of
capital and technologies, labour and services, consumption
and production patterns. Globalisation of the non-renewable
resource based consumption and production pattern has been
indicted to be responsible for increase in the emission
of green house gases. Millennium Development Goals has been
signed along with several other documents that call for
action for ensuring justice for all and ensuring an era
of peace with justice.
In India, Wada Na Todo Abhiyan (Keep the promises campaign)
and a group of organisations organized a South Asia Peoples
Summit Against Poverty in September 2005 where declarations
reflected the demands of the people, marginalized all over
the country. Special sessions were conducted on globalisation
that called for scrutiny of the foreign capital in the country
while describing World Bank, WTO and IMF as part of the
“unholy trinity” that is presiding over the misery
of people and destruction of planet. Declarations of the
People Summit Against Poverty have been shared with UN.
Civil Society organizations have organized several events
under Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP).
There is a global UN campaign for realizing millennium development
goals with calls for debt cancellation and debt forgiveness
for realizing millennium development goals. Events have
been planned all over the world calling for debt cancellation.
Oxfam has led a campaign for debt relief and trade justice.
Some announcements for debt relief were made but then the
same was proposed for deduction from the grants that were
to be provided under the official development assistance.
It can be seen that debt relief is not a sustainable solution
as there is no guarantee that unsustainable debts will not
be created in the future. Therefore, there is a need to
get beyond the call for debt cancellation and work for addressing
the root cause of indebtedness within and among the nations
and institutions.
This paper will focus on the following:
• Addressing the root cause of indebtedness
• Establishing linkage of the usurious finance system
with the ecologically hostile development paradigm promoted
as part of globalisation of the prescriptions of the economists
of Washington consensus and protected through the formulation
of security doctrines that does not care for the ecological
implications of the globalisation of unsustainable consumption
and production patterns.
• Protecting the ecologically sustainable livelihoods
as part of poverty reduction
• Establishing local and global solidarities of action
for transforming the finance sector
There are evidences supporting the case of the transforming
the processes and redesigning the mechanisms that ensure
freedom from indebtedness. It is important to seek redress
of the root cause of the indebtedness. Forgiving the debts
and transforming the debt to aid could be one time solution
but ensuring protection of the local resources and revenue
receipts from taxation in the highly indebtedness nations
is critical for preventing the outflow of hard earned foreign
exchanges. This can be done only through freeing the debt
from interest as interest based debts will continue to be
a reason for the outflow of the hard earned foreign exchanges
and chronic indebtedness of the nations. Thus freedom from
interest based debt and money is a critical step for addressing
the root cause of indebtedness of the poor and developing
countries that also form the group of highly indebted countries.
It has been also established that continuation of interest
bearing debt based financing is ecologically hostile. Creation
of the infrastructure without having a guaranteed supply
of the energy is also ecologically hostile. This makes it
imperative that international and national finance sector
is transformed. Considering the above, the paper will attempt
to address the following questions:
• Why there is a need to transform the finance sector
and transform World Bank, IMF and WTO
• What is being done at the global level towards transformation
• What is being done at the national level
• What can be done
• How to strengthen the movements and get results
REASONS FOR TRANSFORMING THE FINANCE SECTOR
Evidences are mounting indicating the need to transform
the finance sector radically though there is not much discussion
in the civil society about the ways transformation can be
effected. Even the left has no clue, as they are more content
with demonising the capitalist order. Based on the learnings
from interaction with the e-forums and movements globally,
I would like to cite the following reasons for transforming
the World Bank, IMF and WTO.
1. Increasing demands on the state to ensure equity and
ecological sustainability- Following the demands of the
movements and scientific assessments ensuring ecological
sustainability and global equity of the consumption and
production processes has been accepted as a key consideration
and sustainable development paradigm has been accepted to
be part of the development policies of the nations that
have signed the millennium development goals. Realization
of the millennium development goals for sustainable consumption
and production cannot be achieved without decelerating the
consumption of fossil fuel based services and utilities.
This is needed for meeting the challenges of the climate
change and addressing the Kyoto Protocol emission targets.
While technology transfer, clean development mechanisms
can have impact, it is important to get the required reduction
in the global emission of the green house gases through
transforming the consumption, production, budgetary allocation
and foreign direct investment (FDI) patterns. Eliminating
generation of debt-based money is an important way to minimize
the flow of money in the economies of North and South. It
is important to stabilize the currency values and ensure
protection to the ecologically sustainable sources of livelihoods
across the world. An unprecedented heating of economies
is being offered as the vision for growing economies such
as India and China without realizing the limits to the sustainability
condition of the exhaustible resources. There is no guarantee
for ensuring sustainability of the GDP growth rates as there
is no guarantee for the supplies of energy for fuelling
the transportation systems based on fossil fuel based energy.
2. Increased debt service obligation due to the charging
of the compound interests- debt service obligations of the
nations in South and North need to be eliminated for ecologically
sustainable growth and for liberating resources for ensuring
access to basic services. Some years ago India had to pay
more than 40% of the tax receipt for servicing the debt.
The money could have been used for developing infrastructure
for providing basic services. This is applicable to many
nations of the South that are advised to reform their economies
for attracting more and more FDIs while being compelled
to the repay the debts through getting more loans under
various stabilizing mechanisms. Charging of compound interest
for both short tem and long term loans needs to be avoided
as this is responsible for the outflow of the foreign currency
and tax receipts /local resources that are vital for the
ecologically sustainable development needs.
3. Creation of fiat money/ usurious money is accelerating
globalisation of non-renewable resource based consumption
and production patterns. Profit motive being the key drives
all the operations of the World Bank, IMF and other regional
banks such as Asian Development Bank. Making profit from
want is presented as a legitimate reason for charging of
interest even for the creation of productive and ecologically
sustainable capacities in the developing countries. It would
be important to liberate banking and finance from usury
and charging of the interests. This will have salutary effect
on the movement of capital, as lots of capital will be lost
due to the deletion of usurious money from the books of
the accounts. Banks will have no incentive for charging
interest on the loans.
4. Globalisation of the discontent due to the impacts of
climate change- more and more people are suffering from
the impact of climate change that has been induced by the
emission of inequitable consumption of the fossil fuel based
services and utilities across the cities that are experiencing
various sorts of globalisation. Differential responsibility
for addressing the climate is a hurdle that needs to be
addressed. Exclusion of China and India has been resented
as the countries with higher emission levels are called
for meeting the targets while the developing economies are
provided time. Deletion of the usurious money from the system
will have a significant impact on the development financing
and analytic and advisory outputs will be geared for ensuring
social equity and ecological sustainability while catalysing
civil society and political action for simultaneous adoption
of consumption patterns that are ecological friendly and
social equitable with focus on the ecologically sustainable
livelihoods. John Bunzl www.simpol.org has been advocating
the principle of simultaneity for meeting the global challenges
and this is need for sharing of the interest free loans
at interpersonal, national and global levels.
5. Interest based debt financing with freedom for deregulated
banking creating inequitable prosperity and unsustainable
accumulation of wealth. Usurious finance system is responsible
for over accumulation of wealth in some countries that are
benefiting some of the corporations. Instances of distributive
injustices galore and they fuel the call for ensuring the
divide for the consumption pattern within and between the
regions and populations groups. Debt relief has been accepted
for some countries that are highly indebted. Uganda is an
example where sustained growth has be projected with the
freedom from debt service obligations. Accumulation becomes
unsustainable as there are growing economic divide within
the countries that protect usurious institutions. Also accumulation
of non-renewable resource based wealth is transitory.
6. Dispossession of the poor due to non-payment of interest
based loans within and between the nations- many among the
poor and Dalits have lost their small landholding for paying
the usurious loans collected from the moneylenders in the
rural areas. Situation in the urban area may be slightly
different where access to public health services is relatively
better. Shaheed a construction worker got a serious injury
in the head and he succumbed to death, as medical attention
was not provided in time. Sajnu got his leg dismembered
due to lack of medicine in right time for small wound in
the leg. Bhikhan, the father of Sajnu in a village called
Kishandaspur (Bihar) in Bhagalpur district and had to sell
his land for meeting the medical costs for his son. There
are many poor and Dalits who are suffering and losing their
smallholdings for meeting the medical costs in the various
states of India. Arif a young boy is suffering from ulcer
and his parents had to take a usurious loan of Rs.18, 000,
- for meeting the medical costs. Arif is suffering from
peptic ulcer and his father has taken a usurious loan for
meeting the medical cost. Aseer, the father of Arif and
Darudni his mother are working hard as sharecroppers for
meeting the medical cost of his son and they are using the
hard earned food grains to pay off the usurious loans .His
parent may not be able to pay all the amount and his hard
earned agricultural produce as a sharecropper will be needed
to pay for the loan he incurred for meeting the medical
costs. There are millions of such cases where poor and Dalits
are feeling the burnt of the privatisation of the medical
assistance services and lack of access to affordable medicine
and public health delivery services. It is likely that millennium
development goals for health may not be achieved if access
to quality health care is not ensured and poor are not freed
from pawning their meagre resources. Farmers have committed
suicides in the several states of India, as they have not
been able to pay the usurious loans. Formation of the union
of wives of such farmers named All India Widow and Destitute
Women’s Movement is a testimony of the peoples suffering.
They demonstrated in Delhi and met Sharad Pawar, the Union
minister for Agriculture, Government of India in March.
Instead of promising transformation in the policies, finance
minister has announced the rate of interest for agricultural
loans cannot be less than 7%. Indebtedness of the nations
similarly dispossesses and deprives the nations of the vital
resources and tax receipts that could be used for providing
basic services.
7. Ecologically hostile development paradigm is getting
accelerated application eliminating renewable resource based
livelihoods- Usurious finance system is responsible for
the generation of fictitious money that is being pumped
in the ecologically sustainable economies for projects that
are ecologically not sustainable. This is being done through
arguing for more foreign direct investment and then creating
a better regulatory environment for investments. This has
been part of most of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers
that have been done for obviating the critique for the structural
adjustment programmes that were launched in early 90s after
collapse of Soviet Union.
8. Instituting interest free transactions across the world
for ensuring environment sustainability and ecological safety
– For those who have been convinced of the need to
remove usury from the transaction of value at various levels,
it is important to transform the institutions that are involved
in shaping the investment patterns across the regions and
continents. There is a need to communicate on the eliminating
permission for private money lending through charging of
usury. There is need to communicate that all men and women
believing in God and the Day of Judgment must stop charging
interest on the money that has been lent. There is need
to educate the future generations through including this
in the curricula at all levels. There is a need to eliminate
usury and interest from the loans. This could be one of
the major demands of GCAP as it is easier to convince for
interest free loans then debt cancellation by all the nations
that are highly indebted. Returning the principal amount
is easier and more dignified. Even so, forgiving debt is
itself a virtuous act.
ACTIONS AT THE GLOBAL LEVEL
1. Global Justice Movement www.globaljusticemovement.net
argues that usury is not necessary. They have based their
conclusions on the need to generate interest free loans
for productive capacities. Rodney Shakespeare and Robert
Ashford base their conclusions on the work on binary economics.
Dr. Muhammad Mukhtar Alam has argued for the need to adopt
monotheistic framework for resolving the disputes and creating
a global consensus for transforming banking and money where
charging interests is considered a non-negotiable foundation.
2. Norman Kurland, the director of Center for Economic and
Social Justice through advocacy of the Third Way is calling
for the elimination if usurious finance.
3. American Monetary Institute www.monetary.org is seeking
reform in USA. Stephen Zarlenga concluding a recent conference
in Washington called for the need for wider acceptance of
the need to reform the monetary system. Currently he is
organizing second conference for this in the city of Los
Angels. Details can be seen at www.monetary.org
4. Local exchange trading system LETS promoting barter followed
by hundreds of groups across Europe www.letslink.org. There
is recognition of the need to promote exchange of commodities
and services in real terms rather than through using paper
currency. People are already exchanging services and commodities
in LETS network. More than 250 networks have been formed
across Europe recognizing the evils of the paper currency
and eliminating usury. The groups appear to be inspired
by critical work of Margrit Kennedy: Interest and Inflation
Free Money (Published by Seva International; ISBN 0-9643025-0-0;
Copyright 1995 by Margrit Kennedy)
5. JAK bank (Sweden) calls itself first interest free bank.
They are running the bank based on the principle of cooperation
without charging interest. All those participating in the
bank are stakeholders and they are running the bank through
recognizing the peoples need for transaction of value rather
than for being part of the enterprise where peoples need
are exploited for generating usurious profit for some of
the stakeholders.
6. Islamic banking (banks following the commands against
the usury) is based on sharing of the losses and sharing
of the profits and Muslims globally are interested in freedom
from the usurious finance system. Allah commands all to
forgive debts if possible and stop charging usury. There
are several verses in Qur’an to this effect. There
are commands in the Bible and Sanskrit texts as well. Muslims
feel that Christians and Jews should follow the commands
of God in Bible and they should join their forces for liberating
banking from usury. Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains following
the commands need to oppose partaking of the food obtained
through usurious money. Thus all of us with various religious
identities need to say No to usury. Saying No to usury thus
is not only pleasing for God but also for establishing fair
deals for fellow human beings in need. Globalisation of
the usurious finance system is responsible for the ecologically
hostile and socially inequitable distribution, consumption
and production patterns. Thus abolition of the usury from
the loans is part of the negations that are ecological imperative.
In Dubai, Islamic Mint www.islamicmint.com produces e-dinars
and it is selling its e-gold products following the Islamic
standards. The e-dinars are produced for fulfilling the
religious obligation of paying zakat better.
7. In London, a campaign called Campaign for Interest free
money has been launched www.interestfreemoney.org for making
money and banking interest free. This indicates the fact
that more and more people are joining the crusade against
exploitative usurious finance system. There are more and
more reasons to attend to the call of the movements and
call for the need to transform the institutions and transform
the individual mindsets that are supportive of the usurious
finance system.
8. Bernard Laitier conceived EURO and defined the exchange
mechanisms. He has called for the rethinking money in an
article that was published in the Ecologist. He has proposed
“terra” to be the global stable currency.
9. David Korten, the author of “When Corporations Rule
the World” changed his thesis for pointing out that
it is the finance system that is responsible for the over
accumulation of wealth, unstable security environment and
accelerating ecological degradation. In his powerful article
once posted at http://intraforum.com/money, he has called
for interest free money. David Korten has led the anti-globalization
movements.
10. www.seektoknow.net/money contains an article produced
by Samita Barua. She has built on the writings of Buckminister
Fuller and argues for interest free banking and money. She
writes from a Buddhist perspective.
11. Brettonwoods project is keeping a watch on World Bank,
IMF and WTO and their projects and programmes. There are
several movements that are weary of the machinations of
the Bank and Fund though they are not exactly proposing
what the Fund and Bank should. This paper contains the ideas
for seeking a change in the operational principles of banking
and finance.
TRANSFORMING MONEY/ FINANCE IN INDIA
1. Bharat Jan Andolan has launched national Movement for
the eradication of usury under the overall guidance of BD
Sharma. BD Sharma has extensively worked on the state of
farmers and agricultural credit details the history of dilution
of laws preventing usury in Bihar and other states. He has
spoken in the various forums and has called for national
mobilization for liberating the debtors from compound interest.
2. South Asian People Summit Against Poverty called for
transformation of the “unholy” trinity of World
Bank, IMF and WTO – Peoples Summit Against Poverty
was organized on 3-4 September and there was a special session
on globalisation. Prof. Babu Mathew had drafted the concept
paper with the input from the people’s movements. Recommendations
included scrutiny of the foreign capital, transformation
of the policies of World Bank, WTO and IMF.
3. Arundhati Roy has been writing extensively on the need
to transform institutions through exposing the working of
World Bank. Her writings and participation in the movements
of the oppressed and displaced are part of the expressions
of the strong opposition to the globalisation of the ecologically
unsustainable development policies across the world.
WHAT CAN BE DONE
1. Build solidarities of action and communication for transforming
the finance sector – Considering the criticality of
the millennium development goals, it is important to free
the resources for investment is sustainable social development
projects that help men and women in preserving ecologically
sustainable livelihoods across the nations and regions.
Governments, networks, civil society organisations, movements,
citizen groups and clubs all need to call for action against
usurious transaction. A Global March/Movement for Transforming
Finance Sector is proposed for discussing suitable actions
all over the world.
2. Call for transforming functioning and principles of banking
and money- It is important to call for transforming World
Bank, IMF and WTO and make them ecological friendly and
socially responsive. Considering the call for elimination
of usury from the transactions across the religions, it
can be seen that responses are for the pleasure of God as
well and thus in the best interests of all.
3. Seek consensus for the unified proposal for World Bank,
IMF and other key banker of bankers-Islamic movements, liberals,
democrats, Muslims, Greens, Left, faith leaders and all
need to unite for generating the mass movement for a unified
proposal for transforming institutions. As per the established
procedures, first and foremost is to generate acceptance
for the proposals that are ecologically sound and that serve
the best interests of future generations. The consensus
can be generated for liberating debts from simple and compound
interest. God fearing men and women leading the governments
and organization will have not difficulty in accepting the
proposal. Those who do not believe in the merit of abolishing
usury can be persuaded for abolishing usury considering
the ecological limits to globalisation of non-renewable
resource based consumption, production and urban planning
patterns.
4. Include the demand for transforming money and banking
in all the communications related to poverty reduction-
Millennium Development Campaign has been focusing on the
goals 1-7 and call to the funding consortiums have been
made for increasing aid for the nations as part of goal
number 8. It is extremely unlikely that goal number 7 for
ensuring environment sustainability will be met unless there
is a global adoption of interest free banks and debts.
5. Combine the learning of secular and faith based perspectives
for making money and banking interest free-The work of Rodney
Shakespeare and Robert Ashford on binary economic analysis
has proved the need to get rid of usury. Global Justice
Movement recognizes the importance of Islam-submitting to
the commands of Allah/God/Brham/../ communicated through
various messengers in all the languages. Binary economic
analysis is a secular analysis and it has been concluded
that interest is not necessary. Muslims will be the happiest
if they have to deal with usury free local/regional/national/international
transaction neighbourhood. It is only men and women who
have not faith in the commands of Allah who will resist
the communication based on the need to seek best here and
in hereafter through eliminating usury from the transactions.
Pious Jews, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, Zoroastrians, Buddhists
and Jain are equally cognizant of the commands against charging
interest for loans in the related Sanskrit texts. Following
the dictum of not loving things that one does not like for
oneself, ones own relatives and friends, it is likely that
all of us following various religions will stand up against
the usury and call for its abolition from our own transactions
and from the transaction of institutions.
STRENGTHENING MOVEMENT'S SAFEGUARDING FUTURES
1. Environmental sustainability is linked with the development
model –globalisation of fossil fuel based consumption
and production pattern is proving deadly for ecological
safety. There are many evidences for the same. Increased
intensity of the cyclones are linked with global warming
that is directly related with increased emission of green
house gases. Globalisation of ecologically hostile development
paradigm supported through usurious finance system has to
be halted, as it is responsible for creating socially inequity
in the consumption and production patterns at the global
scale. Delhi is an example of a city that is experiencing
the same. Metro project has consumed lot of space that had
trees while there is no guarantee for the supplies of energy
in the future. India has been forced to vote for an immoral
position on Iran for securing nuclear energy with the assistance
of the US and other countries controlling the supplies of
Uranium. One the one hand, tribal and forest dwellers are
being relocated for industrial development and defence related
projects, on the other hand they are being relocated for
the protecting the wild species. Such policy moves are depriving
millions from access to ecologically sustainable livelihoods
that had been available for millions of years. Apparently
globalisation of non-renewable resource based consumption
and production is being sought without recognizing the facts
that fossil fuels and such other treasures gifted by God
is exhaustible. Dean Steele supporting the globalisation
of hydrogen fuelled vehicles calls for preservation of the
hydrocarbons for essential need and not for leisure and
pleasure.
2. Movements and institutions need to understand the linkage
and call for transforming the finance sector and transforming
consumption pattern as a global imperative- There is need
to understand this linkage and disseminate across the movements
and CSOs. Making loans wipes out the fictitious money. Transforming
consumption pattern through adopting alternative measures
for leisure helps in the deceleration of the consumption
of the fossil fuel based energy intensive utilities. GCAP
must not promote energy intensive poverty concerts as that
is an ecologically hostile activity. Several organisations
and movements boycotted the same in New Delhi on 4 September.
Such events are hurdles in realizing the MDGs for environment
sustainability and they are part of the copycat atheistic
neo-liberal globalisation of leisure use patterns that include
use of energy intensive modes of people’s assemblies
for communication and entertainment.
3. Global call to action against poverty should consider
this as part of consistent communication strategy- GCAP
and Millennium Development Campaign ought to consider the
need to free resources for social development across the
regions through abolishing interest based loans and minimizing
budgetary allocation for defence. The Global Compact for
realizing the millennium development goals needs to consider
the need to transform financing for developing through calling
for interest free money and debt both for ecological justice
and social justice. Outflow of large sums of money/local
resources for serving the usurious debt must stop for ensuring
ecologically sustainable development across the world. Money
freed can be used for realizing the MDGs 1-7 while ensuring
global partnership and meeting the MDG 8 for a just and
ecologically sustainable world.
4. Creating synergy through making this a cross cutting
concern- There is a need to have a united recognition of
the need to transforming operational principles of banking
for meeting and there is need to create global mobilization
of people for the same. We can see that interest free loans
are good for all. We will not have to reckon with the violent
armed struggles that are responsible for the loss of lives,
We will have ecologically sane development across the world
.We may have an utopia realized here in now that is responsive
to the concerns of collective human security, ecological
safety, social justice, global compact for MDGs. We would
be ready to meet the interspecies justice and secure an
ecologically sustainable, social just future for future
generations and ourselves.
HURDLES
UN system has been advised to identify hurdles in realizing
the MDG . It can be seen that usurious finance system is
single most important hurdle along with exhibitionist consumption
patterns that is propelled by the globalisation of atheistic
neo-liberal political and cultural ideology.
1. Economists and corporations who are interested in preserving
the status quo- Economists associated with the Washington
Consensus process are known to be forwarding the idea that
has been captured by some as market fundamentalism. Some
Greens also think that privatisation of all the services
will permit incorporation of the ecological costs as corporations
can not run without the support of the consumers who respond
to prices for their consumption patterns. Even so, we can
consider the amount of ecological rucksacks and footprints
that will have to be mitigated if there is no conscious
global action for transforming the World Bank and other
bankers. Application of atheistic social Darwinism for access
to the non-renewable resource based consumption patterns
and status markers will be extremely dangerous in a world
where politics of identity is being played at the global
level through subjugating the class and religion based discourses
for local and global governance.
2. Men and women who wish to continue the enterprise of
discontent without finding solutions through organizing
ecologically hostile conferences –This is being said
considering some patterns across the conferences that are
organized for meeting the global challenges and for solving
the global problems. The work on AIDS can be seen as an
example where a faith based communications is prohibited
recognizing the need to protect a privileged position for
the adulterers. Meetings of the financing for development
have been organized while recognizing the fact that some
issues are not practical. It is likely that the propositions
contained in this paper are described utopian. That is why,
it is important to expand the knowledge base and seek radical
solutions. Organisations such as Action Aid promoting radical
solutions are expected to take the proposal for transforming
the fundamental principle of banking and money for ensuring
global stability and ecological safety. It is expected that
GCAP will seize the historic opportunity for advocating
and changing the financing for development through making
it interest free. We may have a better scenario for poverty
in the year 2015, if we could ensure that financing for
MDGs is debt free.
3. Political parties that are not aware of the long-term
needs – Green Parties across the world though with
a following of the minority are cognizant of the need to
address the ecological challenges. Left do not appear to
be arguing specifically for meeting the ecological challenges
as they still appear not to be distinguishing between the
call for distributive justice for non-renewable and renewable
resource based livelihoods. Even so, outcome of their resistance
for halting the march of atheistic neo-liberal capitalism
are eco friendly. They need recognize the contribution of
the faith based political parties such as Christian democrats,
PAS , Hamas and others across who recognize the importance
of seeking eternal well-being for all through promoting
the use of faith based measures. Use of violence by some
groups can be seen in the specific social, political and
cultural context. Maoists in Nepal seek establishing of
constitutional democracy (The Hindu, Feb 9-10 2006) with
or without the monarchy. They have been calling for an end
to the monarchy for promoting competitive democracy and
seek the change though violent actions if required.
There is need for all the political parties to understand
the collective challenges .It would be useful for colleagues
in GCAP and MDG campaign if the conferences were organized
for educating the political leaders across the world. It
is possible to generate agreement on the commons for transforming
the finance sector as the call is being made utilizing both
secular and faith based arguments. Government and corporate
sector could also organize meetings and discussion for establishing
the argument for transforming the finance sector and consumption
patterns. Governments are responding to the same and the
pace can be accelerated with the formulation of key propositions
that are addressing for eliminating the crosscutting hurdles.
4. Lack of education on the faith-based alternatives- there
is significant absence of education on faith-based alternatives
for addressing the issue of poverty, indebtedness, and development
and there are strong resistances globally for the faith-based
alternatives. Author has grown to believe that adoption
of the commands of God noted in the texts of various religious
traditions is needed for facilitating decisions against
usurious finance system. There are calls for resisting and
opposing the globalisation of the economic system but then
there does not exist articulation and discussion on the
faith based alternatives as that is associated with Samuel
Huntington’s thesis on clash of civilizations and then
crusades. Understanding the common for united response is
critical and there is a need to get beyond atheistic indoctrination
for denouncing the faith based measures. There are assessments
of the “post-modern” condition without any prescription
for an alternative form of economic, political, cultural
and global governance.
SOLUTIONS
1. Institutionalisation of the discourse on transforming
the finance sector –This is being proposed considering
the need to educate for global action, as we may not get
the results quickly. The ICT enabled communication; capacity
building and dissemination packages will be able to quickly
transmit the key arguments with local actions across the
world. Inclusion of the interest free banking as a theory
and practice is an urgent academic innovation that needs
inclusion in the teaching of economics across the world.
As of now, there does not exist arguments for interest free
banking derived from the faith based communications as they
have been ignored by the atheistic rationalists. Already
there are associations of ecological economists who have
been arguing for rethinking progress. Richard B Norgaard
has called for the same through exposing the myths around
the definition of progress. Pavel Kasyanov, the president
of Ecological Economists Association in Russia had been
part of alternative draft of WSSD in 2002 along with the
author of this note and Michael Ellis.
2. Mass mobilization for abolishing usury from interpersonal
and institution transactions –Mass mobilization is
need for creating a global consensus for calling World Bank
and other banks for eliminating usury and interest from
the transactions. God fearing men and women will be most
forthcoming is supporting the move as they would not be
able to say Yes to usury fearing the destiny on the Day
on Judgment. There are clear commands. More awareness and
communication on the issue will be required for social groups
where even faith-based communication against usury is low.
For atheistic rationalists, it would not be possible to
deny the ecological impact of the globalisation of non-renewable
resource based consumption pattern. Greens all over the
world cannot deny. Atheistic communists cannot fail in recognizing
usury to be the important of part of capitalism. Buddhists
and Jains would not be able to deny considering the injunctions
and exhortations for choosing the right livelihood. Hindus
would not refuse the precepts of dhammapada. (Please refer
the article on The History of Interest at www.monetary.org
that has cited commands in the sacred texts across the religions).
It can be seen that with such an understanding, it would
not be possible to refuse the arguments. I think this ought
to be key proposition for the action plan of GCAP till 7
July 2007. We could demand all the financing for development
to be interest. Make developing financing interest free
for MDGs and poverty reduction globally and locally.
3. Review of the monotheistic perspective for united endeavour
at all levels-This is being suggested considering the appropriateness
of the monotheistic framework for generating united power
for transforming financing for development and then for
transforming consumption patterns. Induction of the standards
of piety all in the civil society movements with adoption
of prayer and meditation 5 times is a powerful tool for
transforming behavior, decision and consumption patterns
across the world. Promotion of interest free loans saves
lots of poor in India who are approaching the moneylenders
for meeting medical assistance, buying inputs for agriculture
and other. Freedom from debt service obligations provides
a lot of resources that can be used for providing vital
medical assistance to the poor who are being left at the
mercy of the market forces. A church movement called Sojourners
in US www.sojourners.com is calling for application of the
communications of Jesus Christ (Peace be upon him) for transforming
foreign policy and social security establishment in US.
4. Discussions with the World Bank, IMF and other institutions-
there is need to initiate discussions with the World Bank
while seeking global application of UNDP promoted Sustainability
Index for investments in general and FDIs in particular.
There is a need to point out the need for the adoption of
internal coherence in pursuing the development policies.
Use of environment impact assessments needs to be informed
more stringently considering the frequency of natural disasters
that are more man made. Ecological audits are be made compulsory
each year for the institutions and governments.
5. International meet on the solutions- It is possible for
GCAP to decide for regional conferences for discussing the
solutions. UN may be requested to consider an international
meet for transforming the finance sector and consumption
pattern for social justice and collective ecological safety.
Governments may be requested to consider the need to present
memorandums to the World Banks for transforming the finance
sector. Simultaneously, active follow up is need for ensuring
the participation of representative civil society organization
in the governance of IMF and WTO. Indication of some effort
can be seen at http://www.gapresearch.org/governance/civilsocietymore.html
6. Inclusion in the MDGs- This note has been developed considering
the inclusion of debt relief in the millennium development
goals while recognizing that the relief is a temporary measure.
There is need to call for debt free financing and interest
free debts for the realization of millennium development
as inequities can not be addressed without addressing the
underlying reason for equity. There is a need to eradicate
the reason for indebtedness within and between the nations
and eliminate the morally abominable, socially inequitable
and ecologically hostile practice charging interest on the
loans. Recognizing the criticality of MDGs, there is need
to suggest transforming finance sector and financing for
MDGs at least by 7-7-2007 when globally we will be mobilizing
for assessing the achievement of MDGs.
REFERENCES:
1. Human Development Report 2003, Millennium Development
Goals: A Compact Among Nations to End Human Poverty UNDP
2. Global Justice Movement: www.globaljusticemovement.net
3. Islamic Mint: www.islamicmint.com
4. American Monetary Institute: www.monetary.org
5. Social Watch India: Citizens Report on Governance and
Development 2004, National Social Watch Coalition
6. Interviews with Prachanda, the leader of Maoists in Nepal,
The Hindu, February 9-11,2006
7. Other web references drawn from: http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~roehrigw/
o Helmut Creutz: The Money Syndrome
o Silvio Gesell: Natural Economic Order (Link www.systemfehler.de/en
)
o Irving Fisher: Stamp Scrip 1933 (!)
o Erhard Glötzl: The How and Why of a New Monetary
System
o Margrit Kennedy: Interest and Inflation Free Money
o Werner Onken: A Market Economy without Capitalism
o Eiichi Morino: A Story of Robinson Crusoe (by Silvio Gesell)
as a Manga
o Jürgen Probst: Aberrations of an interest-based economy
o Dieter Suhr: The Neutral Money Network
o Vincent C. Vickers: Economic Tribulation
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