|
Introductory
Note
Global Justice
supporters tend to be people with links to other organisations,
including organisations abroad. In the USA, for example,
is the Center
for Economic and Social Justice in Washington,
D.C. which, with members in 31 countries, attracts
support from faiths all over the world – Catholics,
Muslims, Buddhists, Jews, you name it, they have it.
In
its continual output of new ideas and proposals CESJ
has put itself at the confluence of progressive thinkers
who realise that, since jobs are insecure, often poorly
paid, not always available and, in any case, not all
people can labour, the way forward for the bulk of
the population can only be through capital ownership.
The object of that ownership is to ensure a basic
income for all and a major Statement of Shared Vision
(already getting thousands of signatures) has been
drawn up by CESJ President Norm Kurland and Shann
Turnbull. Shann is the Australian fighter for justice
and author of Democratising the Wealth of Nations
and other works proposing the use of interest-free
money for wide capital ownership, and the reform of
company structures including stakeholder councils.
|
Statement
of Shared Vision
Towards a More Free and Just Global Economy
With great pleasure we present for your
serious consideration and support a "Statement of Shared
Vision" that was jointly developed by Shann Turnbull,
the Australian author of "Democratizing the Wealth
of Nations", and Norman Kurland, an advocate of the
late Louis Kelso's ideas for reaching the same goal as expressed
in Shann's title. If you agree to become a signatory to
this statement, we ask you also to make a concerted effort
to get at least 10 others in your personal and professional
networks around the world to join as signatories and make
a similar commitment. In this "each one reach ten"
approach we will achieve the critical mass of positive people
power needed to build a better world for ourselves and future
generations.
The
names of all the signatories will be posted weekly on the
web site of the Center for Economic and Social Justice (CESJ)
at http://www.cesj.org. As soon as 10,000 signatories worldwide
sign our "Statement of Shared Vision" and join
our movement for raising the level of justice in the global
economic order, we will convene a global conference in Washington,
D.C. At the conference we will explore alternative ideas,
economic systems, global strategies and the most effective
ways and means to achieve our shared vision consistent with
universal principles of human rights. If you agree to join
this bottom-up grassroots initiative for creating a more
prosperous and just world for all, please add your name
and contact data to the bottom of the statement and return
it by e-mail at thirdway@cesj.org or by fax at 703-243-5935.
Thank
you for taking the time to read this.
Norm
Kurland
Center for Economic and Social Justice
thirdway@cesj.org - CESJ Web: http://www.cesj.org
Shann
Turnbull
sturnbull@mba1963.hbs.edu
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~sturnbull/index.html
|
The
Statement
Having
entered the third millennium, new ideas are emerging
on how to overcome:–
•
Widespread poverty, hunger and homelessness
• The growing wealth gap between the richest
1% and the remaining 99% of humanity
• The growing fear of technological change
and its impact on the global environment and
the quality of life at the family and community
levels
• The rising sense of powerlessness and
alienation among the young toward traditional
leadership and basic institutions of human society
• The growing levels of corruption and
crime resulting from concentrated power
• The proliferating violence and deprivation
of human rights – at the family, community
and global levels. |
We
mutually acknowledge the reality of these concerns
and agree that none of the traditional approaches
– from the left to the right of the political
spectrum – can adequately address these social
ills.
We
therefore join together seeking a new, more liberating
and just economic system that will promote human dignity
and bring about genuine economic empowerment, security
and self-determination for every member of the human
family. This is our shared vision.
Further,
we agree that the critical means to attain these goals
within the emerging global marketplace will require:–
•
The elevation of full participation in future
productive asset ownership as a universal and
fundamental human right
• The democratization of credit to spread
widely the ownership of self-financing productive
assets and other basic economic reforms as appropriate
means for closing the wealth gap between the
rich and the non-rich
• New policies and laws that lift the
non-rich without depriving the rich of fundamental
human rights. |
In
solidarity with our shared vision and goals, we hereby
acknowledge our support for universal access to productive
asset ownership as a fundamental human right. While
respecting possible differences, we will strive to
work together whenever possible and to promote dialogues,
debates and conferences in which all can participate.
Having
read the above Statement of Shared Vision, I hereby
acknowledge my support and give permission to publish
my name with other signatories.
|
This
link takes you to the appropriate page on the website
of the Centre for Economic and Social Justice, Washington
DC, where you can directly
SIGN
THE STATEMENT - to reach the front of the CESJ
website (as mentioned above) CLICK
HERE
|
|
