Humanise The Earth

Boliva - the referendum..

2008-05-05T21:53:00.001+10:00

Supporting Bolivia

The Bolivian people are preparing to decide whether to approve or reject their new Constitution through a referendum. This Constitution will protect human rights, freedom of individuals and deepen real democracy, establishing levels of participation and autonomy that reaches down to the municipalities and communities. This Constitution that recognises in its multi-nationality, the original peoples, discriminated and exploited for centuries and that, without eliminating private property, includes the right of the communities to a collective economy and to recover the sovereignty of the Nation over natural resources. This advanced Constitution that rejects War as a method of conflict resolution – A Humanist Constitution.
It has been an admirable process that Evo Morales has lead with intelligence and courage, confronting the violence of economic power with the methodology of nonviolence.

Nevertheless, radical right-wing groups are forcing things in order to provoke a division of the country. They want to achieve their objectives with bad faith, circumventing democracy and legal process and with total irresponsibility towards the lives of their fellow countrymen. Their objectives are to recover their privileges and appropriate resources that are for all. They call Autonomy what in reality is secession, a separation of the Nation. Separation that of course will leave them with control of the riches and the population abandoned.

Latin American Governments showed great stature in resolving the recent conflict between Ecuador and Colombia and latterly in prioritizing the democracy of each country when it has been in danger. It is necessary that they pronounce once more in support of Evo Morales and the referendum on the New Constitution.
It is important to make the Bolivian people feel that their Latin American brothers and sisters and people around the world are supporting them and that we will not accept fragmentation of the Bolivian State.

The people must proclaim to the four winds that it is no longer possible that someone comes along and subjects them to massacres, because there is a Latin American and Global community that will not allow it. They will not accept that, with interventionist pretexts, like those used in Iraq and in so many other places, democracy is interrupted when it is no longer convenient to the interests of the powerful.
The United States has to understand that Latin America will no longer be a mere object of greed for their businesses and their geopolitical convenience. They must comprehend that our peoples must be treated with respect, valuing the life of every person, because everyone is important.

The response that populations and governments give to the people of Bolivia is very important. If secession is a valid path, soon violent economic groups that do not like the limits imposed by the State will resort to this mechanism to disintegrate nations. It is not indifferent what happens in Bolivia as other liberation processes set in motion in the region will also be affected by the results.
Humanists of the world, in solidarity with the Bolivian people, call on the international community to make statements and other actions to influence those leaders who defend division to renounce their seditious objectives and to sit down and dialogue, taking the process along the path of unity and peace within a legal framework.

We request your support for the Bolivian Government and its president Evo Morales and we ask that you refuse to recognise any referendum that puts Bolivian unity in danger.

Tomás Hirsch
Spokesperson for Humanism in Latin America

Religion – its part of all of us..

2008-04-20T21:15:00.001+10:00

Religion forms one of the cornerstones of Humanity. For millennia, it has provided us with social cohesion through common belief. It has provided social order where violent chaos would have prevailed. Within religion was founded the concepts of logical explanation of phenomena, or ‘science’, no matter how far science & religion seem ‘divorced’ now..
It is certain that some of the earliest communication between man was the fundamental questions – Who are we, where do we come from? And it is still the ‘unknown’ that drives Humanity now – the capacity to ask the questions & seek the answers..
It is not possible to ‘suppress’ religious influence. It is part of all of us, whether we wish to accept this or not. We may choose to observe a ‘secular’ life here in the West, but our ‘system of values’ is firmly rooted in the history of Christianity, and the ‘distortions’ of it.
Religion through history has frequently been used for ‘social control’ by opportunists, and the true ‘meaning’ of most religions has become distorted over time to include violent solutions. No widely accepted religion has violence at its true roots. There is no way that religion could be seen as an ‘issue in need of attention’, in itself, if violence were completely absent..
And a religion’s present ‘status’ is determined by how we practise it. If we are ‘violently passionate’ about an issue or perception, it may provide for emotional connection with other like-minded – but the violence is at odds with the true meaning.. Violence does not work, personally or socially.
The Centre of Cultures brings people together to allow for acceptance of all that is Nonviolent within religion and culture. It similarly allows for the rejection of all that is violent, no matter what the source – individual, or a component of a doctrine..

The History of Tibet - but its no excuse for the current violence..

2008-04-14T21:55:00.002+10:00

I. For Lords and Lamas
Along with the blood drenched landscape of religious conflict there is the experience of inner peace and solace that every religion promises, none more so than Buddhism. Standing in marked contrast to the intolerant savagery of other religions, Buddhism is neither fanatical nor dogmatic--so say its adherents. For many of them Buddhism is less a theology and more a meditative and investigative discipline intended to promote an inner harmony and enlightenment while directing us to a path of right living. Generally, the spiritual focus is not only on oneself but on the welfare of others. One tries to put aside egoistic pursuits and gain a deeper understanding of one’s connection to all people and things. “Socially engaged Buddhism” tries to blend individual liberation with responsible social action in order to build an enlightened society. A glance at history, however, reveals that not all the many and widely varying forms of Buddhism have been free of doctrinal fanaticism, nor free of the violent and exploitative pursuits so characteristic of other religions. In Sri Lanka there is a legendary and almost sacred recorded history about the triumphant battles waged by Buddhist kings of yore. During the twentieth century, Buddhists clashed violently with each other and with non-Buddhists in Thailand, Burma, Korea, Japan, India, and elsewhere. In Sri Lanka, armed battles between Buddhist Sinhalese and Hindu Tamils have taken many lives on both sides. In 1998 the U.S. State Department listed thirty of the world’s most violent and dangerous extremist groups. Over half of them were religious, specifically Muslim, Jewish, and Buddhist. 1In South Korea, in 1998, thousands of monks of the Chogye Buddhist order fought each other with fists, rocks, fire-bombs, and clubs, in pitched battles that went on for weeks. They were vying for control of the order, the largest in South Korea, with its annual budget of $9.2 million, its millions of dollars worth of property, and the privilege of appointing 1,700 monks to various offices. The brawls damaged the main Buddhist sanctuaries and left dozens of monks injured, some seriously. The Korean public appeared to disdain both factions, feeling that no matter what side took control, “it would use worshippers’ donations for luxurious houses and expensive cars.” 2As with any religion, squabbles between or within Buddhist sects are often fueled by the material corruption and personal deficiencies of the leadership. For example, in Nagano, Japan, at Zenkoji, the prestigious complex of temples that has hosted Buddhist sects for more than 1,400 years, “a nasty battle” arose between Komatsu the chief priest and the Tacchu, a group of temples nominally under the chief priest's sway. The Tacchu monks accused Komatsu of selling writings and drawings under the temple's name for his own gain. They also were appalled by the frequency with which he was seen in the company of women. Komatsu in turn sought to isolate and punish monks who were critical of his leadership. The conflict lasted some five years and made it into the courts. 3 But what of Tibetan Buddhism? Is it not an exception to this sort of strife? And what of the society it helped to create? Many Buddhists maintain that, before the Chinese crackdown in 1959, old Tibet was a spiritually oriented kingdom free from the egotistical lifestyles, empty materialism, and corrupting vices that beset modern industrialized society. Western news media, travel books, novels, and Hollywood films have portrayed the Tibetan theocracy as a veritable Shangri-La. The Dalai Lama himself stated that “the pervasive influence of Buddhism” in Tibet, “amid the wide open spaces of an unspoiled environment resulted in a society dedicated to peace and harmony. We enjoyed freedom and contentment.” 4 A reading of Tibet’s history suggests a somewhat different picture. “Religious conflict was commonplace in old Tibet,” writes one western Buddhist practitioner. “History belies the Shangri-La image of Tibetan lamas and their followers living together in mutual tolerance and nonviolent goodwill. Indeed, the situation was quite different. Old Tibet was much more like Europe during the religious wars of the Counterreformation.” 5 In the thirteenth century, Emperor Kublai Khan created the first Grand Lama, who was to preside over all the other lamas as might a pope over his bishops. Several centuries later, the Emperor of China sent an army into Tibet to support the Grand Lama, an ambitious 25-year-old man, who then gave himself the title of Dalai (Ocean) Lama, ruler of all Tibet.His two previous lama “incarnations” were then retroactively recognized as his predecessors, thereby transforming the 1st Dalai Lama into the 3rd Dalai Lama. This 1st (or 3rd) Dalai Lama seized monasteries that did not belong to his sect, and is believed to have destroyed Buddhist writings that conflicted with his claim to divinity. The Dalai Lama who succeeded him pursued a sybaritic life, enjoying many mistresses, partying with friends, and acting in other ways deemed unfitting for an incarnate deity. For these transgressions he was murdered by his priests. Within 170 years, despite their recognized divine status, five Dalai Lamas were killed by their high priests or other courtiers. 6For hundreds of years competing Tibetan Buddhist sects engaged in bitterly violent clashes and summary executions. In 1660, the 5th Dalai Lama was faced with a rebellion in Tsang province, the stronghold of the rival Kagyu sect with its high lama known as the Karmapa. The 5th Dalai Lama called for harsh retribution against the rebels, directing the Mongol army to obliterate the male and female lines, and the offspring too “like eggs smashed against rocks…. In short, annihilate any traces of them, even their names.” 7In 1792, many Kagyu monasteries were confiscated and their monks were forcibly converted to the Gelug sect (the Dalai Lama’s denomination). The Gelug school, known also as the “Yellow Hats,” showed little tolerance or willingness to mix their teachings with other Buddhist sects. In the words of one of their traditional prayers: “Praise to you, violent god of the Yellow Hat teachings/who reduces to particles of dust/ great beings, high officials and ordinary people/ who pollute and corrupt the Gelug doctrine.” 8 An eighteenth-century memoir of a Tibetan general depicts sectarian strife among Buddhists that is as brutal and bloody as any religious conflict might be. 9 This grim history remains largely unvisited by present-day followers of Tibetan Buddhism in the West.Religions have had a close relationship not only with violence but with economic exploitation. Indeed, it is often the economic exploitation that necessitates the violence. Such was the case with the Tibetan theocracy. Until 1959, when the Dalai Lama last presided over Tibet, most of the arable land was still organized into manorial estates worked by serfs. These estates were owned by two social groups: the rich secular landlords and the rich theocratic lamas. Even a writer sympathetic to the old order allows that “a great deal of real estate belonged to the monasteries, and most of them amassed great riches.” Much of the wealth was accumulated “through active participation in trade, commerce, and money lending.” 10Drepung monastery was one of the biggest landowners in the world, with its 185 manors, 25,000 serfs, 300 great pastures, and 16,000 herdsmen. The wealth of the monasteries rested in the hands of small numbers of high-ranking lamas. Most ordinary monks lived modestly and had no direct access to great wealth. The Dalai Lama himself “lived richly in the 1000-room, 14-story Potala Palace.” 11Secular leaders also did well. A notable example was the commander-in-chief of the Tibetan army, a member of the Dalai Lama’s lay Cabinet, who owned 4,000 square kilometers of land and 3,500 serfs. 12 Old Tibet has been misrepresented by some Western admirers as “a nation that required no police force because its people voluntarily observed the laws of karma.” 13 In fact. it had a professional army, albeit a small one, that served mainly as a gendarmerie for the landlords to keep order, protect their property, and hunt down runaway serfs. Young Tibetan boys were regularly taken from their peasant families and brought into the monasteries to be trained as monks. Once there, they were bonded for life. Tashì-Tsering, a monk, reports that it was common for peasant children to be sexually mistreated in the monasteries. He himself was a victim of repeated rape, beginning at age nine. 14 The monastic estates also conscripted children for lifelong servitude as domestics, dance performers, and soldiers.In old Tibet there were small numbers of farmers who subsisted as a kind of free peasantry, and perhaps an additional 10,000 people who composed the “middle-class” families of merchants, shopkeepers, and small traders. Thousands of others were beggars. There also were slaves, usually domestic servants, who owned nothing. Their offspring were born into slavery. 15 The majority of the rural population were serfs. Treated little better than slaves, the serfs went without schooling or medical care, They were under a lifetime bond to work the lord's land--or the monastery’s land--without pay, to repair the lord's houses, transport his crops, and collect his firewood. They were also expected to provide carrying animals and transportation on demand.16 Their masters told them what crops to grow and what animals to raise. They could not get married without the consent of their lord or lama. And they might easily be separated from their families should their owners lease them out to work in a distant location. 17 As in a free labor system and unlike slavery, the overlords had no responsibility for the serf’s maintenance and no direct interest in his or her survival as an expensive piece of property. The serfs had to support themselves. Yet as in a slave system, they were bound to their masters, guaranteeing a fixed and permanent workforce that could neither organize nor strike nor freely depart as might laborers in a market context. The overlords had the best of both worlds.One 22-year old woman, herself a runaway serf, reports: “Pretty serf girls were usually taken by the owner as house servants and used as he wished”; they “were just slaves without rights.”18 Serfs needed permission to go anywhere. Landowners had legal authority to capture those who tried to flee. One 24-year old runaway welcomed the Chinese intervention as a “liberation.” He testified that under serfdom he was subjected to incessant toil, hunger, and cold. After his third failed escape, he was merciless beaten by the landlord’s men until blood poured from his nose and mouth. They then poured alcohol and caustic soda on his wounds to increase the pain, he claimed.19 The serfs were taxed upon getting married, taxed for the birth of each child and for every death in the family. They were taxed for planting a tree in their yard and for keeping animals. They were taxed for religious festivals and for public dancing and drumming, for being sent to prison and upon being released. Those who could not find work were taxed for being unemployed, and if they traveled to another village in search of work, they paid a passage tax. When people could not pay, the monasteries lent them money at 20 to 50 percent interest. Some debts were handed down from father to son to grandson. Debtors who could not meet their obligations risked being cast into slavery.20The theocracy’s religious teachings buttressed its class order. The poor and afflicted were taught that they had brought their troubles upon themselves because of their wicked ways in previous lives. Hence they had to accept the misery of their present existence as a karmic atonement and in anticipation that their lot would improve in their next lifetime. The rich and powerful treated their good fortune as a reward for, and tangible evidence of, virtue in past and present lives. The Tibetan serfs were something more than superstitious victims, blind to their own oppression. As we have seen, some ran away; others openly resisted, sometimes suffering dire consequences. In feudal Tibet, torture and mutilation--including eye gouging, the pulling out of tongues, hamstringing, and amputation--were favored punishments inflicted upon thieves, and runaway or resistant serfs. Journeying through Tibet in the 1960s, Stuart and Roma Gelder interviewed a former serf, Tsereh Wang Tuei, who had stolen two sheep belonging to a monastery. For this he had both his eyes gouged out and his hand mutilated beyond use. He explains that he no longer is a Buddhist: “When a holy lama told them to blind me I thought there was no good in religion.”21 Since it was against Buddhist teachings to take human life, some offenders were severely lashed and then “left to God” in the freezing night to die. “The parallels between Tibet and medieval Europe are striking,” concludes Tom Grunfeld in his book on Tibet. 22In 1959, Anna Louise Strong visited an exhibition of torture equipment that had been used by the Tibetan overlords. There were handcuffs of all sizes, including small ones for children, and instruments for cutting off noses and ears, gouging out eyes, breaking off hands, and hamstringing legs. There were hot brands, whips, and special implements for disemboweling. The exhibition presented photographs and testimonies of victims who had been blinded or crippled or suffered amputations for thievery. There was the shepherd whose master owed him a reimbursement in yuan and wheat but refused to pay. So he took one of the master’s cows; for this he had his hands severed. Another herdsman, who opposed having his wife taken from him by his lord, had his hands broken off. There were pictures of Communist activists with noses and upper lips cut off, and a woman who was raped and then had her nose sliced away.23Earlier visitors to Tibet commented on the theocratic despotism. In 1895, an Englishman, Dr. A. L. Waddell, wrote that the populace was under the “intolerable tyranny of monks” and the devil superstitions they had fashioned to terrorize the people. In 1904 Perceval Landon described the Dalai Lama’s rule as “an engine of oppression.” At about that time, another English traveler, Captain W.F.T. O’Connor, observed that “the great landowners and the priests… exercise each in their own dominion a despotic power from which there is no appeal,” while the people are “oppressed by the most monstrous growth of monasticism and priest-craft.” Tibetan rulers “invented degrading legends and stimulated a spirit of superstition” among the common people. In 1937, another visitor, Spencer Chapman, wrote, “The Lamaist monk does not spend his time in ministering to the people or educating them. . . . The beggar beside the road is nothing to the monk. Knowledge is the jealously guarded prerogative of the monasteries and is used to increase their influence and wealth.”24 As much as we might wish otherwise, feudal theocratic Tibet was a far cry from the romanticized Shangri La so enthusiastically nurtured by Buddhism’s western proselytes.
II. Secularization vs. Spirituality
What happened to Tibet after the Chinese Communists moved into the country in 1951? The treaty of that year provided for ostensible self-governance under the Dalai Lama’s rule but gave China military control and exclusive right to conduct foreign relations. The Chinese were also granted a direct role in internal administration “to promote social reforms.” Among the earliest changes they wrought was to reduce usurious interest rates, and build a few hospitals and roads. At first, they moved slowly, relying mostly on persuasion in an attempt to effect reconstruction. No aristocratic or monastic property was confiscated, and feudal lords continued to reign over their hereditarily bound peasants. “Contrary to popular belief in the West,” claims one observer, the Chinese “took care to show respect for Tibetan culture and religion.”25 Over the centuries the Tibetan lords and lamas had seen Chinese come and go, and had enjoyed good relations with Generalissimo Chiang Kaishek and his reactionary Kuomintang rule in China.26 The approval of the Kuomintang government was needed to validate the choice of the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama. When the current 14th Dalai Lama was first installed in Lhasa, it was with an armed escort of Chinese troops and an attending Chinese minister, in accordance with centuries-old tradition. What upset the Tibetan lords and lamas in the early 1950s was that these latest Chinese were Communists. It would be only a matter of time, they feared, before the Communists started imposing their collectivist egalitarian schemes upon Tibet.The issue was joined in 1956-57, when armed Tibetan bands ambushed convoys of the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army. The uprising received extensive assistance from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), including military training, support camps in Nepal, and numerous airlifts.27 Meanwhile in the United States, the American Society for a Free Asia, a CIA-financed front, energetically publicized the cause of Tibetan resistance, with the Dalai Lama’s eldest brother, Thubtan Norbu, playing an active role in that organization. The Dalai Lama's second-eldest brother, Gyalo Thondup, established an intelligence operation with the CIA as early as 1951. He later upgraded it into a CIA-trained guerrilla unit whose recruits parachuted back into Tibet.28Many Tibetan commandos and agents whom the CIA dropped into the country were chiefs of aristocratic clans or the sons of chiefs. Ninety percent of them were never heard from again, according to a report from the CIA itself, meaning they were most likely captured and killed.29 “Many lamas and lay members of the elite and much of the Tibetan army joined the uprising, but in the main the populace did not, assuring its failure,” writes Hugh Deane.30 In their book on Tibet, Ginsburg and Mathos reach a similar conclusion: “As far as can be ascertained, the great bulk of the common people of Lhasa and of the adjoining countryside failed to join in the fighting against the Chinese both when it first began and as it progressed.”31 Eventually the resistance crumbled.Whatever wrongs and new oppressions introduced by the Chinese after 1959, they did abolish slavery and the Tibetan serfdom system of unpaid labor. They eliminated the many crushing taxes, started work projects, and greatly reduced unemployment and beggary. They established secular schools, thereby breaking the educational monopoly of the monasteries. And they constructed running water and electrical systems in Lhasa.32 Heinrich Harrer (later revealed to have been a sergeant in Hitler’s SS) wrote a bestseller about his experiences in Tibet that was made into a popular Hollywood movie. He reported that the Tibetans who resisted the Chinese “were predominantly nobles, semi-nobles and lamas; they were punished by being made to perform the lowliest tasks, such as laboring on roads and bridges. They were further humiliated by being made to clean up the city before the tourists arrived.” They also had to live in a camp originally reserved for beggars and vagrants--all of which Harrer treats as sure evidence of the dreadful nature of the Chinese occupation.33 By 1961, Chinese occupation authorities expropriated the landed estates owned by lords and lamas. They distributed many thousands of acres to tenant farmers and landless peasants, reorganizing them into hundreds of communes.. Herds once owned by nobility were turned over to collectives of poor shepherds. Improvements were made in the breeding of livestock, and new varieties of vegetables and new strains of wheat and barley were introduced, along with irrigation improvements, all of which reportedly led to an increase in agrarian production.34Many peasants remained as religious as ever, giving alms to the clergy. But monks who had been conscripted as children into the religious orders were now free to renounce the monastic life, and thousands did, especially the younger ones. The remaining clergy lived on modest government stipends and extra income earned by officiating at prayer services, weddings, and funerals.35Both the Dalai Lama and his advisor and youngest brother, Tendzin Choegyal, claimed that “more than 1.2 million Tibetans are dead as a result of the Chinese occupation.”36 The official 1953 census--six years before the Chinese crackdown--recorded the entire population residing in Tibet at 1,274,000.37 Other census counts put the population within Tibet at about two million. If the Chinese killed 1.2 million in the early 1960s then almost all of Tibet, would have been depopulated, transformed into a killing field dotted with death camps and mass graves--of which we have no evidence. The thinly distributed Chinese force in Tibet could not have rounded up, hunted down, and exterminated that many people even if it had spent all its time doing nothing else.Chinese authorities claim to have put an end to floggings, mutilations, and amputations as a form of criminal punishment. They themselves, however, have been charged with acts of brutality by exile Tibetans. The authorities do admit to “mistakes,” particularly during the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution when the persecution of religious beliefs reached a high tide in both China and Tibet. After the uprising in the late 1950s, thousands of Tibetans were incarcerated. During the Great Leap Forward, forced collectivization and grain farming were imposed on the Tibetan peasantry, sometimes with disastrous effect on production. In the late 1970s, China began relaxing controls “and tried to undo some of the damage wrought during the previous two decades.”38In 1980, the Chinese government initiated reforms reportedly designed to grant Tibet a greater degree of self-rule and self-administration. Tibetans would now be allowed to cultivate private plots, sell their harvest surpluses, decide for themselves what crops to grow, and keep yaks and sheep. Communication with the outside world was again permitted, and frontier controls were eased to permit some Tibetans to visit exiled relatives in India and Nepal.39 By the 1980s many of the principal lamas had begun to shuttle back and forth between China and the exile communities abroad, “restoring their monasteries in Tibet and helping to revitalize Buddhism there.”40 As of 2007 Tibetan Buddhism was still practiced widely and tolerated by officialdom. Religious pilgrimages and other standard forms of worship were allowed but within limits. All monks and nuns had to sign a loyalty pledge that they would not use their religious position to foment secession or dissent. And displaying photos of the Dalai Lama was declared illegal.41In the 1990s, the Han, the ethnic group comprising over 95 percent of China’s immense population, began moving in substantial numbers into Tibet. On the streets of Lhasa and Shigatse, signs of Han colonization are readily visible. Chinese run the factories and many of the shops and vending stalls. Tall office buildings and large shopping centers have been built with funds that might have been better spent on water treatment plants and housing. Chinese cadres in Tibet too often view their Tibetan neighbors as backward and lazy, in need of economic development and “patriotic education.” During the 1990s Tibetan government employees suspected of harboring nationalist sympathies were purged from office, and campaigns were once again launched to discredit the Dalai Lama. Individual Tibetans reportedly were subjected to arrest, imprisonment, and forced labor for carrying out separatist activities and engaging in “political subversion.” Some were held in administrative detention without adequate food, water, and blankets, subjected to threats, beatings, and other mistreatment.42Tibetan history, culture, and certainly religion are slighted in schools. Teaching materials, though translated into Tibetan, focus mainly on Chinese history and culture. Chinese family planning regulations allow a three-child limit for Tibetan families. (There is only a one-child limit for Han families throughout China, and a two-child limit for rural Han families whose first child is a girl.) If a Tibetan couple goes over the three-child limit, the excess children can be denied subsidized daycare, health care, housing, and education. These penalties have been enforced irregularly and vary by district.43 None of these child services, it should be noted, were available to Tibetans before the Chinese takeover.For the rich lamas and secular lords, the Communist intervention was an unmitigated calamity. Most of them fled abroad, as did the Dalai Lama himself, who was assisted in his flight by the CIA. Some discovered to their horror that they would have to work for a living. Many, however, escaped that fate. Throughout the 1960s, the Tibetan exile community was secretly pocketing $1.7 million a year from the CIA, according to documents released by the State Department in 1998. Once this fact was publicized, the Dalai Lama’s organization itself issued a statement admitting that it had received millions of dollars from the CIA during the 1960s to send armed squads of exiles into Tibet to undermine the Maoist revolution. The Dalai Lama's annual payment from the CIA was $186,000. Indian intelligence also financed both him and other Tibetan exiles. He has refused to say whether he or his brothers worked for the CIA. The agency has also declined to comment.44In 1995, the News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina, carried a frontpage color photograph of the Dalai Lama being embraced by the reactionary Republican senator Jesse Helms, under the headline “Buddhist Captivates Hero of Religious Right.”45 In April 1999, along with Margaret Thatcher, Pope John Paul II, and the first George Bush, the Dalai Lama called upon the British government to release Augusto Pinochet, the former fascist dictator of Chile and a longtime CIA client who was visiting England. The Dalai Lama urged that Pinochet not be forced to go to Spain where he was wanted to stand trial for crimes against humanity. Into the twenty-first century, via the National Endowment for Democracy and other conduits that are more respectable sounding than the CIA, the U.S. Congress continued to allocate an annual $2 million to Tibetans in India, with additional millions for “democracy activities” within the Tibetan exile community. In addition to these funds, the Dalai Lama received money from financier George Soros.46Whatever the Dalai Lama’s associations with the CIA and various reactionaries, he did speak often of peace, love, and nonviolence. He himself really cannot be blamed for the abuses of Tibet’s ancien régime, having been but 25 years old when he fled into exile. In a 1994 interview, he went on record as favoring the building of schools and roads in his country. He said the corvée (forced unpaid serf labor) and certain taxes imposed on the peasants were “extremely bad.” And he disliked the way people were saddled with old debts sometimes passed down from generation to generation.47During the half century of living in the western world, he had embraced concepts such as human rights and religious freedom, ideas largely unknown in old Tibet. He even proposed democracy for Tibet, featuring a written constitution and a representative assembly.48In 1996, the Dalai Lama issued a statement that must have had an unsettling effect on the exile community. It read in part: “Marxism is founded on moral principles, while capitalism is concerned only with gain and profitability.” Marxism fosters “the equitable utilization of the means of production” and cares about “the fate of the working classes” and “the victims of . . . exploitation. For those reasons the system appeals to me, and . . . I think of myself as half-Marxist, half-Buddhist.49 But he also sent a reassuring message to “those who live in abundance”: “It is a good thing to be rich... Those are the fruits for deserving actions, the proof that they have been generous in the past.” And to the poor he offers this admonition: “There is no good reason to become bitter and rebel against those who have property and fortune... It is better to develop a positive attitude.”50In 2005 the Dalai Lama signed a widely advertised statement along with ten other Nobel Laureates supporting the “inalienable and fundamental human right” of working people throughout the world to form labor unions to protect their interests, in accordance with the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In many countries “this fundamental right is poorly protected and in some it is explicitly banned or brutally suppressed,” the statement read. Burma, China, Colombia, Bosnia, and a few other countries were singled out as among the worst offenders. Even the United States “fails to adequately protect workers’ rights to form unions and bargain collectively. Millions of U.S. workers lack any legal protection to form unions….”51The Dalai Lama also gave full support to removing the ingrained traditional obstacles that have kept Tibetan nuns from receiving an education. Upon arriving in exile, few nuns could read or write. In Tibet their activities had been devoted to daylong periods of prayer and chants. But in northern India they now began reading Buddhist philosophy and engaging in theological study and debate, activities that in old Tibet had been open only to monks.52 In November 2005 the Dalai Lama spoke at Stanford University on “The Heart of Nonviolence,” but stopped short of a blanket condemnation of all violence. Violent actions that are committed in order to reduce future suffering are not to be condemned, he said, citing World War II as an example of a worthy effort to protect democracy. What of the four years of carnage and mass destruction in Iraq, a war condemned by most of the world—even by a conservative pope--as a blatant violation of international law and a crime against humanity? The Dalai Lama was undecided: “The Iraq war—it’s too early to say, right or wrong.”53 Earlier he had voiced support for the U.S. military intervention against Yugoslavia and, later on, the U.S. military intervention into Afghanistan.54
III. Exit Feudal Theocracy
As the Shangri-La myth would have it, in old Tibet the people lived in contented and tranquil symbiosis with their monastic and secular lords. Rich lamas and poor monks, wealthy landlords and impoverished serfs were all bonded together, mutually sustained by the comforting balm of a deeply spiritual and pacific culture.One is reminded of the idealized image of feudal Europe presented by latter-day conservative Catholics such as G. K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc. For them, medieval Christendom was a world of contented peasants living in the secure embrace of their Church, under the more or less benign protection of their lords.55 Again we are invited to accept a particular culture in its idealized form divorced from its murky material history. This means accepting it as presented by its favored class, by those who profited most from it. The Shangri-La image of Tibet bears no more resemblance to historic actuality than does the pastoral image of medieval Europe. Seen in all its grim realities, old Tibet confirms the view I expressed in an earlier book, namely that culture is anything but neutral. Culture can operate as a legitimating cover for a host of grave injustices, benefiting a privileged portion of society at great cost to the rest.56 In theocratic feudal Tibet, ruling interests manipulated the traditional culture to fortify their own wealth and power. The theocracy equated rebellious thought and action with satanic influence. It propagated the general presumption of landlord superiority and peasant unworthiness. The rich were represented as deserving their good life, and the lowly poor as deserving their mean existence, all codified in teachings about the karmic residue of virtue and vice accumulated from past lives, presented as part of God’s will. Were the more affluent lamas just hypocrites who preached one thing and secretly believed another? More likely they were genuinely attached to those beliefs that brought such good results for them. That their theology so perfectly supported their material privileges only strengthened the sincerity with which it was embraced. It might be said that we denizens of the modern secular world cannot grasp the equations of happiness and pain, contentment and custom, that characterize more traditionally spiritual societies. This is probably true, and it may explain why some of us idealize such societies. But still, a gouged eye is a gouged eye; a flogging is a flogging; and the grinding exploitation of serfs and slaves is a brutal class injustice whatever its cultural wrapping. There is a difference between a spiritual bond and human bondage, even when both exist side by sideMany ordinary Tibetans want the Dalai Lama back in their country, but it appears that relatively few want a return to the social order he represented. A 1999 story in the Washington Post notes that the Dalai Lama continues to be revered in Tibet, but . . . few Tibetans would welcome a return of the corrupt aristocratic clans that fled with him in 1959 and that comprise the bulk of his advisers. Many Tibetan farmers, for example, have no interest in surrendering the land they gained during China’s land reform to the clans. Tibet’s former slaves say they, too, don’t want their former masters to return to power. “I’ve already lived that life once before,” said Wangchuk, a 67-year-old former slave who was wearing his best clothes for his yearly pilgrimage to Shigatse, one of the holiest sites of Tibetan Buddhism. He said he worshipped the Dalai Lama, but added, “I may not be free under Chinese communism, but I am better off than when I was a slave.”57It should be noted that the Dalai Lama is not the only highly placed lama chosen in childhood as a reincarnation. One or another reincarnate lama or tulku--a spiritual teacher of special purity elected to be reborn again and again--can be found presiding over most major monasteries. The tulku system is unique to Tibetan Buddhism. Scores of Tibetan lamas claim to be reincarnate tulkus. The very first tulku was a lama known as the Karmapa who appeared nearly three centuries before the first Dalai Lama. The Karmapa is leader of a Tibetan Buddhist tradition known as the Karma Kagyu. The rise of the Gelugpa sect headed by the Dalai Lama led to a politico-religious rivalry with the Kagyu that has lasted five hundred years and continues to play itself out within the Tibetan exile community today. That the Kagyu sect has grown famously, opening some six hundred new centers around the world in the last thirty-five years, has not helped the situation.The search for a tulku, Erik Curren reminds us, has not always been conducted in that purely spiritual mode portrayed in certain Hollywood films. “Sometimes monastic officials wanted a child from a powerful local noble family to give the cloister more political clout. Other times they wanted a child from a lower-class family who would have little leverage to influence the child’s upbringing.” On other occasions “a local warlord, the Chinese emperor or even the Dalai Lama’s government in Lhasa might [have tried] to impose its choice of tulku on a monastery for political reasons.”58Such may have been the case in the selection of the 17th Karmapa, whose monastery-in-exile is situated in Rumtek, in the Indian state of Sikkim. In 1993 the monks of the Karma Kagyu tradition had a candidate of their own choice. The Dalai Lama, along with several dissenting Karma Kagyu leaders (and with the support of the Chinese government!) backed a different boy. The Kagyu monks charged that the Dalai Lama had overstepped his authority in attempting to select a leader for their sect. “Neither his political role nor his position as a lama in his own Gelugpa tradition entitled him to choose the Karmapa, who is a leader of a different tradition…”59 As one of the Kagyu leaders insisted, “Dharma is about thinking for yourself. It is not about automatically following a teacher in all things, no matter how respected that teacher may be. More than anyone else, Buddhists should respect other people’s rights—their human rights and their religious freedom.”60What followed was a dozen years of conflict in the Tibetan exile community, punctuated by intermittent riots, intimidation, physical attacks, blacklisting, police harassment, litigation, official corruption, and the looting and undermining of the Karmapa’s monastery in Rumtek by supporters of the Gelugpa faction. All this has caused at least one western devotee to wonder if the years of exile were not hastening the moral corrosion of Tibetan Buddhism.61What is clear is that not all Tibetan Buddhists accept the Dalai Lama as their theological and spiritual mentor. Though he is referred to as the “spiritual leader of Tibet,” many see this title as little more than a formality. It does not give him authority over the four religious schools of Tibet other than his own, “just as calling the U.S. president the ‘leader of the free world’ gives him no role in governing France or Germany.”62 Not all Tibetan exiles are enamoured of the old Shangri-La theocracy. Kim Lewis, who studied healing methods with a Buddhist monk in Berkeley, California, had occasion to talk at length with more than a dozen Tibetan women who lived in the monk’s building. When she asked how they felt about returning to their homeland, the sentiment was unanimously negative. At first, Lewis assumed that their reluctance had to do with the Chinese occupation, but they quickly informed her otherwise. They said they were extremely grateful “not to have to marry 4 or 5 men, be pregnant almost all the time,” or deal with sexually transmitted diseases contacted from a straying husband. The younger women “were delighted to be getting an education, wanted absolutely nothing to do with any religion, and wondered why Americans were so naïve [about Tibet].”63 The women interviewed by Lewis recounted stories of their grandmothers’ ordeals with monks who used them as “wisdom consorts.” By sleeping with the monks, the grandmothers were told, they gained “the means to enlightenment” -- after all, the Buddha himself had to be with a woman to reach enlightenment. The women also mentioned the “rampant” sex that the supposedly spiritual and abstemious monks practiced with each other in the Gelugpa sect. The women who were mothers spoke bitterly about the monastery’s confiscation of their young boys in Tibet. They claimed that when a boy cried for his mother, he would be told “Why do you cry for her, she gave you up--she's just a woman.”The monks who were granted political asylum in California applied for public assistance. Lewis, herself a devotee for a time, assisted with the paperwork. She observes that they continue to receive government checks amounting to $550 to $700 per month along with Medicare. In addition, the monks reside rent free in nicely furnished apartments. “They pay no utilities, have free access to the Internet on computers provided for them, along with fax machines, free cell and home phones and cable TV.” They also receive a monthly payment from their order, along with contributions and dues from their American followers. Some devotees eagerly carry out chores for the monks, including grocery shopping and cleaning their apartments and toilets. These same holy men, Lewis remarks, “have no problem criticizing Americans for their ‘obsession with material things.’”64To welcome the end of the old feudal theocracy in Tibet is not to applaud everything about Chinese rule in that country. This point is seldom understood by today’s Shangri-La believers in the West. The converse is also true: To denounce the Chinese occupation does not mean we have to romanticize the former feudal régime. Tibetans deserve to be perceived as actual people, not perfected spiritualists or innocent political symbols. “To idealize them,” notes Ma Jian, a dissident Chinese traveler to Tibet (now living in Britain), “is to deny them their humanity.”65 One common complaint among Buddhist followers in the West is that Tibet’s religious culture is being undermined by the Chinese occupation. To some extent this seems to be the case. Many of the monasteries are closed, and much of the theocracy seems to have passed into history. Whether Chinese rule has brought betterment or disaster is not the central issue here. The question is what kind of country was old Tibet. What I am disputing is the supposedly pristine spiritual nature of that pre-invasion culture. We can advocate religious freedom and independence for a new Tibet without having to embrace the mythology about old Tibet. Tibetan feudalism was cloaked in Buddhism, but the two are not to be equated. In reality, old Tibet was not a Paradise Lost. It was a retrograde repressive theocracy of extreme privilege and poverty, a long way from Shangri-La. Finally, let it be said that if Tibet’s future is to be positioned somewhere within China’s emerging free-market paradise, then this does not bode well for the Tibetans. China boasts a dazzling 8 percent economic growth rate and is emerging as one of the world’s greatest industrial powers. But with economic growth has come an ever deepening gulf between rich and poor. Most Chinese live close to the poverty level or well under it, while a small group of newly brooded capitalists profit hugely in collusion with shady officials. Regional bureaucrats milk the country dry, extorting graft from the populace and looting local treasuries. Land grabbing in cities and countryside by avaricious developers and corrupt officials at the expense of the populace are almost everyday occurrences. Tens of thousands of grassroot protests and disturbances have erupted across the country, usually to be met with unforgiving police force. Corruption is so prevalent, reaching into so many places, that even the normally complacent national leadership was forced to take notice and began moving against it in late 2006. Workers in China who try to organize labor unions in the corporate dominated “business zones” risk losing their jobs or getting beaten and imprisoned. Millions of business zone workers toil twelve-hour days at subsistence wages. With the health care system now being privatized, free or affordable medical treatment is no longer available for millions. Men have tramped into the cities in search of work, leaving an increasingly impoverished countryside populated by women, children, and the elderly. The suicide rate has increased dramatically, especially among women.66China’s natural environment is sadly polluted. Most of its fabled rivers and many lakes are dead, producing massive fish die-offs from the billions of tons of industrial emissions and untreated human waste dumped into them. Toxic effluents, including pesticides and herbicides, seep into ground water or directly into irrigation canals. Cancer rates in villages situated along waterways have skyrocketed a thousand-fold. Hundreds of millions of urban residents breathe air rated as dangerously unhealthy, contaminated by industrial growth and the recent addition of millions of automobiles. An estimated 400,000 die prematurely every year from air pollution. Government environmental agencies have no enforcement power to stop polluters, and generally the government ignores or denies such problems, concentrating instead on industrial growth.67 China’s own scientific establishment reports that unless greenhouse gases are curbed, the nation will face massive crop failures along with catastrophic food and water shortages in the years ahead. In 2006-2007 severe drought was already afflicting southwest China.68If China is the great success story of speedy free market development, and is to be the model and inspiration for Tibet’s future, then old feudal Tibet indeed may start looking a lot better than it actually was.

Notes:1. Mark Juergensmeyer, Terror in the Mind of God, (University of California Press, 2000), 6, 112-113, 157.2. Kyong-Hwa Seok, "Korean Monk Gangs Battle for Temple Turf," San Francisco Examiner, 3 December 1998.3. Los Angeles Times, February 25, 2006.4. Dalai Lama quoted in Donald Lopez Jr., Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West (Chicago and London: Chicago University Press, 1998), 205.5. Erik D. Curren, Buddha's Not Smiling: Uncovering Corruption at the Heart of Tibetan Buddhism Today (Alaya Press 2005), 41.6. Stuart Gelder and Roma Gelder, The Timely Rain: Travels in New Tibet (Monthly Review Press, 1964), 119, 123; and Melvyn C. Goldstein, The Snow Lion and the Dragon: China, Tibet, and the Dalai Lama (University of California Press, 1995), 6-16.7. Curren, Buddha's Not Smiling, 50.8. Stephen Bachelor, "Letting Daylight into Magic: The Life and Times of Dorje Shugden," Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, 7, Spring 1998. Bachelor discusses the sectarian fanaticism and doctrinal clashes that ill fit the Western portrait of Buddhism as a non-dogmatic and tolerant tradition.9. Dhoring Tenzin Paljor, Autobiography, cited in Curren, Buddha's Not Smiling, 8.10. Pradyumna P. Karan, The Changing Face of Tibet: The Impact of Chinese Communist Ideology on the Landscape (Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, 1976), 64. 11. See Gary Wilson's report in Worker's World, 6 February 1997.12. Gelder and Gelder, The Timely Rain, 62 and 174.13. As skeptically noted by Lopez, Prisoners of Shangri-La, 9.14. Melvyn Goldstein, William Siebenschuh, and Tashì-Tsering, The Struggle for Modern Tibet: The Autobiography of Tashì-Tsering (Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 1997).15. Gelder and Gelder, The Timely Rain, 110.16. Melvyn C. Goldstein, A History of Modern Tibet 1913-1951 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989), 5 and passim.17. Anna Louise Strong, Tibetan Interviews (Peking: New World Press, 1959), 15, 19-21, 24.18. Quoted in Strong, Tibetan Interviews, 25.19. Strong, Tibetan Interviews, 31.20. Gelder and Gelder, The Timely Rain, 175-176; and Strong, Tibetan Interviews, 25-26.21. Gelder and Gelder, The Timely Rain, 113.22. A. Tom Grunfeld, The Making of Modern Tibet rev. ed. (Armonk, N.Y. and London: 1996), 9 and 7-33 for a general discussion of feudal Tibet; see also Felix Greene, A Curtain of Ignorance (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1961), 241-249; Goldstein, A History of Modern Tibet, 3-5; and Lopez, Prisoners of Shangri-La, passim.23. Strong, Tibetan Interviews, 91-96.24. Waddell, Landon, O'Connor, and Chapman are quoted in Gelder and Gelder, The Timely Rain, 123-125.25. Goldstein, The Snow Lion and the Dragon, 52.26. Heinrich Harrer, Return to Tibet (New York: Schocken, 1985), 29.27. See Kenneth Conboy and James Morrison, The CIA's Secret War in Tibet (Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas Press, 2002); and William Leary, "Secret Mission to Tibet," Air & Space, December 1997/January 1998.28. On the CIA's links to the Dalai Lama and his family and entourage, see Loren Coleman, Tom Slick and the Search for the Yeti (London: Faber and Faber, 1989).29. Leary, "Secret Mission to Tibet."30. Hugh Deane, "The Cold War in Tibet," CovertAction Quarterly (Winter 1987).31. George Ginsburg and Michael Mathos Communist China and Tibet (1964), quoted in Deane, "The Cold War in Tibet." Deane notes that author Bina Roy reached a similar conclusion.32. See Greene, A Curtain of Ignorance, 248 and passim; and Grunfeld, The Making of Modern Tibet, passim.33. Harrer, Return to Tibet, 54. 34. Karan, The Changing Face of Tibet, 36-38, 41, 57-58; London Times, 4 July 1966.35. Gelder and Gelder, The Timely Rain, 29 and 47-48.36. Tendzin Choegyal, "The Truth about Tibet," Imprimis (publication of Hillsdale College, Michigan), April 1999.37. Karan, The Changing Face of Tibet, 52-53.38. Elaine Kurtenbach, Associate Press report, 12 February 1998.39. Goldstein, The Snow Lion and the Dragon, 47-48.40. Curren, Buddha's Not Smiling, 8.41. San Francisco Chonicle, 9 January 2007.42. Report by the International Committee of Lawyers for Tibet, A Generation in Peril (Berkeley Calif.: 2001), passim.43. International Committee of Lawyers for Tibet, A Generation in Peril, 66-68, 98.44. im Mann, "CIA Gave Aid to Tibetan Exiles in '60s, Files Show," Los Angeles Times, 15 September 1998; and New York Times, 1 October, 1998.45. News & Observer, 6 September 1995, cited in Lopez, Prisoners of Shangri-La, 3.46. Heather Cottin, "George Soros, Imperial Wizard," CovertAction Quarterly no. 74 (Fall 2002).47. Goldstein, The Snow Lion and the Dragon, 51.48. Tendzin Choegyal, "The Truth about Tibet."49. The Dalai Lama in Marianne Dresser (ed.), Beyond Dogma: Dialogues and Discourses (Berkeley, Calif.: North Atlantic Books, 1996)50. These comments are from a book of the Dalai Lama's writings quoted in Nikolai Thyssen, "Oceaner af onkel Tom," Dagbladet Information, 29 December 2003, (translated for me by Julius Wilm). Thyssen's review (in Danish) can be found at http://www.information.dk/Indgang/VisArkiv.dna?pArtNo=20031229154141.txt.51. "A Global Call for Human Rights in the Workplace," New York Times, 6 December 2005.52. San Francisco Chronicle, 14 January 2007.53. San Francisco Chronicle, 5 November 2005.54. Times of India 13 October 2000; Samantha Conti's report, Reuter, 17 June 1994; Amitabh Pal, "The Dalai Lama Interview," Progressive, January 2006.55. The Gelders draw this comparison, The Timely Rain, 64.56. Michael Parenti, The Culture Struggle (Seven Stories, 2006).57. John Pomfret, "Tibet Caught in China's Web," Washington Post, 23 July 1999.58. Curren, Buddha's Not Smiling, 3.59. Curren, Buddha's Not Smiling, 13 and 138.60. Curren, Buddha's Not Smiling, 21.61. Curren, Buddha's Not Smiling, passim. For books that are favorable toward the Karmapa appointed by the Dalai Lama's faction, see Lea Terhune, Karmapa of Tibet: The Politics of Reincarnation (Wisdom Publications, 2004); Gaby Naher, Wrestling the Dragon (Rider 2004); Mick Brown, The Dance of 17 Lives (Bloomsbury 2004).62. Erik Curren, "Not So Easy to Say Who is Karmapa," correspondence, 22 August 2005, www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=22.1577,0,0,1,0.63. Kim Lewis, correspondence to me, 15 July 2004.64. Kim Lewis, correspondence to me, 16 July 2004.65. Ma Jian, Stick Out Your Tongue (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2006).66. See the PBS documentary, China from the Inside, January 2007, KQED.PBS.org/kqed/chinanside.67. San Francisco Chronicle, 9 January 2007.68. "China: Global Warming to Cause Food Shortages," People's Weekly World, 13 January 2007

Aussie youth - the problems are becoming obvious..

2008-04-09T19:44:00.004+10:00

The SMH has covered the youth welfare crisis in Sydney admirably this week, and the conclusions are obvious.
This problem goes straight to the core of all that is wrong in Western society.
The breakdown of family support systems, combined with the fracturing of the family unit caused by socio-economic pressures, acceptance of drug & alcohol abuse etc. all stem from the capitalist, materialistic, politically neo-liberal rubbish we are still fed and forced to 'value'.
I think it could be time to change this situation..

International pressure on China, Now!

2008-03-18T19:26:00.003+11:00

As the violence escalates in Tibet, the rest of the international community sits back and waits for a conclusion – without accepting that it is ‘they’ who must apply the necessary economic pressure etc to quell China’s violent mishandling of the ‘Tibet demonstrations’.
The usual hypocrisy is noted well in the absence of any comment from the US administration, and the UN has commented benignly as expected. The economic ties between China & the West are distorting the political response.
Not dissimilar to the recent situation in Burma, the conventional media in Tibet is suppressed. Internet access is shut down, and the media is tightly controlled domestically in China. Most information is coming through India & Nepal, both also having some immediate involvement in this. The Nepalese Government appears to be aligning itself with the wishes of China, and the Dalai Llama, in his Indian exile, must take great care as to what he says, due to conditions imposed by the Indian Governments agreement with China.
But the personal digital camera is ‘leaking’ those graphic images that take the attention of the world. Modern communications make the once previously hidden available to millions, so we are all seeing the violence.
Dialogue must be opened at all levels over the Chinese occupation, and must include the international community. China must remove its insurgent troops from the streets of Lhasa, and allow the ‘usual’ local systems to resume immediately.
The Humanist Movement & the Centre of Cultures will take measures to promote a full international boycott of the Olympic Games if China refuses to relinquish over their current ‘Tibet occupation’.
It is unacceptable on all levels for the Violence to continue..

Sorry - the hardest word..

2008-02-14T20:55:00.001+11:00

Today, the Australian Government apologised for all of the injustices metered out to the Australian Indigenous population since population by Europeans..
For the last 238 years, Aboriginal Australians have been used, abused, and sometimes cared for by our British based law. Individuals have hated & sometimes genuinely loved & respected our co-inhabitants.
Over the last 50 years in Australia there has been recognition of the plight faced by the Aboriginal Nation and a number of attempts to improve the lot of our Brothers. Through reports prepared by the Labor Keating government, it was recommended that an ‘official’ apology be announced to the Aboriginal Nation – a symbolic recognition of the injustices suffered under previous (& present?) Australian Governments,
Until now, the Howard led ‘Liberal’ Government has steadfastly refused to take part in such an event. Yesterday, the recently elected Labor Government, led by Kevin Rudd, took over where Keating left in 1996, & apologised to the Aboriginal Nation.
It was an emotional moment. The word ‘Sorry’ used 6 times in a speech by Kevin Rudd was almost universally accepted. Programs were announced, inviting the Liberal Party opposition into the decision making process. The Liberal party head responded in kind, but in attempts to qualify some of the questionable actions of the past, had the backs of many turned toward him at gatherings across the Nation.
It was also universally agreed that this is merely another step in the path to reconciliation, to finding the balance between cultures..
Every now & then, something comes from the Australian ‘condition’, and accumulates into something great & progressive in the sense of world cultural democracy..

Scott Wilkie.

Screwing the average citizen..

2008-02-10T14:53:00.000+11:00

The control of economic inflation & social equality…
by Scott Wilkie
Here in Oz, official (reserve bank) interest rates are on the rise & we now have the highest rate in 10 years, with no sign of abatement.
The rate rises are in response to growing ‘inflation’ of the $Au in the market place, and a therefore perceived overheating of the economy.
Now, the approach to restoring low inflation levels appears to be this. Reserve Bank sees prices & wages ‘on the rise’. In an effort to stop this spiral, it introduces a ‘sudden jump’ in the cost of purchasing through the only easy & traditional means it has – the official interest rate, the cost of its own money. This allows no time for ‘absorption’ by the economy & so some companies/people stop spending, forcing a retraction in the marketplace. When this takes hold, the RB quickly follows this with an interest rate drop, correcting the economy.
The above may be an oversimplification, but I’d like to comment..
Official Interest rate changes (through the banks) affect the average person, (through mortgage & credit interest rates), the entrepreneur, the service industry & any speculative enterprise. The people we should value (& leave unhurt) most, in my opinion.
Large corporations & banks in particular are left to pass on any cost imposed. For them, it is merely a matter of colluding and balancing the books, increasingly in their favour through the rate rises (lending & investment differential) so that the profit margin is increased, appeasing the shareholder.
I say fuck the shareholder (apologies) at this point, but only because the Banks & major financial businesses aren’t forced to take on some of the costs of inflation. I’m sorry but the value of shares should drop appropriately at this point, as they have recently. Things should be seen in proportion to human need. The partial loss of the value of your ‘shares & investments’ should not be protected in favour of those having their primary household residences repossessed, for example.
And why does the Fed Govt insist on adding to inflation by overtaxing basic ‘working class’ commodities such as beer? The retail tax rate beer & cigarettes in Australia is linked to the CPI (consumer price index) and such commodities are subject to an automatic, twice yearly tax increase. And its no small percentage, either. While we’re here would could also take a look at the virtual monopolisation of the ‘supermarket’ industry by Woolworths here in NSW. Woolworths have a terrible reputation for screwing their suppliers for every last cent and not passing on these cost reductions to the consumer..
The ultimate solution to all this is ‘detailed’ price control, but in this capitalist economy, post Bob Hawke’s floating of the $Au & the new world of global economics, this is certainly unpopular with the big end of town. Control of wages & the labour market are the ‘traditional’ method of cutting the cash flow
If this Federal Australian Labor Government truly wishes to serve its constituents, it should increase costs on ‘luxury’ items (through tax) on a sliding scale into the ‘necessities’. To me with this logic, we maintain the aims of the roots of democracy, & go a long way toward satisfying the concepts of equality and ultimately basic Human rights. We intend to not financially ‘nobble’ the people who are least capable of handling it.
All of this can be handled through a sliding ‘GST’ after careful examination of the flow-on impacts generally, especially at the ‘housing’ level (housing is a ‘basic neccessity’), the aim here to keep the effects of inflation (& effects of ‘mass’ correction) minimised where it matters, for those who can ill afford it..

Noam Chomsky comments on World Democracy..

2008-02-09T12:49:00.000+11:00

ISLAMABAD (February 02 2008): Noam Chomsky, a professor of
Linguistics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who is a
well-known writer, thinker and political activist. In this interview
that he gave to Business Recorder's and Aaj TV's Fahad Faruqui Professor
Chomsky analyses Pakistan's political scenario, its foreign policy and
relationships - over the years - with the West.

He also talks about Democracy and its abuse worldwide. He comes up
with some solutions with a view to making this world a better place. The
following are the excerpts:

Q: One of the characteristics of a failed state that you highlight
in your book -Failed States - is America's increasing failure to protect
its own citizens in relation to war-on-terror. Can you draw a parallel
with how Pakistan has participated in this global push and has suffered
the consequences in the form of increasing numbers of suicide bombings?

A: I'm afraid to say Pakistan is the paradigm example of a failed
state and has been for a long time. It has had military rule, violence
and oppression, Since the 1980's, it has undergone an extremely
dangerous form of radical Islamisation, which has undermined a good part
of the society, under the Zia-ul-Haq tyranny.

Now it is in danger of collapsing, there is a rebellion in
Balochistan, the FATA territories are out of control and always have
been - and it is getting worse. It is possible that the Bhutto
assassination might increase the severe unrest in Sindh, where there has
been plenty of oppression, and this may lead to another secessionist
movement.

The are recent polls of Pakistan, good polls, which show that the
Pakistani population is in favour of Democracy, possibly with an Islamic
flavour, but not this one of oppression, but those hopes are not even
near being realised in the existing political and social system.

Q: Don't you feel that democratic regimes can at times be authoritarian?

A: That is when they do not function. If you have formal democratic
structure, but they do not function, yes, it can be authoritarian, it
can be totalitarian! The old Soviet Union also called itself a democracy.

Q: What solutions do you propose for Pakistan in order for it to
become a true Democracy rather than a failed state?

A: By developing political and social arrangements in which the
population can actually determine effective policy. That is what
democracy is.

Q: How can Pakistan form a democratic regime with an Islamic flavour
when its Western allies buck the notion of Clash of Civilisations, which
is at odds with everything that belong to the East?

A: The Clash of Civilisations is a concept that was invented
actually by Bernard Lewis, a scholar of Islam, who has a bitter hatred
for Islam. It was picked up by Samuel Huntington, a well known political
scientist and he made it famous. The conception is supposed to be that
the United States and its Western allies are civilised, enlightened and
liberal, all sorts of wonderful qualities. And, the Islamic world is
developing in the opposite direction, what is sometimes called
Islamofacism - backward, regressive, violent, which doesn't understand
their elevated ideals and so on and so forth.

Looking at the facts such as Iraq which is the center of concern,
the US Military carried out regular intensive studies of public opinion
in Iraq because it is a core part of military occupation to try to
understand the opinions of people you are trying to control and
dominate. They released the study a few week ago, which was reported in
the Washington Post, the main national newspaper, on December 19th 2007.
The military experts say that they are very encouraged by what they call
"good news from Iraq." The "good news" is that the Iraqi's have "shared
beliefs." That is supposed to refute the idea that they can't come
together and that they are involved in tribal warfare and so on, so it
is very encouraging, until you look at what the "shared beliefs" are. To
which they say that the United States is responsible for all of the
atrocities and disasters that have taken place, since the invasion and,
therefore, the United States should get out. The aggressors should
leave. That is the Iraqi position.

Notice that the Iraqis accept the ideals United States professes,
for example, the ideals of the Nuremburg Tribunals, the American-run
Tribunal, which tried Nazi criminals and hanged them for their crimes.
The worst crime was the crime of aggression and which the Tribunal
called the supreme international crime, which includes all of the evil
that follows. So, in the case of Iraq, which is a textbook example of
aggression - US and British aggression - includes all of the evil that
followed: including sectarian warfare, the catastrophic affects on the
society, the hundreds and thousands of excessive deaths, millions of
people who were displaced, all of that is included in the supreme crime
of aggression. And, Iraqi's agree with it. Off-course! Americans don't
agree with that, nor does Europe, they don't agree with the ideals they
profess; in fact, they dismiss them with contempt. Any mention of what I
just said would be barely understood in the United States or the West,
by intellectual opinion, but the Iraqi's understand it.

Now let's compare the United States. There is much debate about what
the United States should do about Iraq. On January 20th 2008, The New
York Times (newspaper for the record) had a lead story - by its main
military correspondent, Michael Gordon - on Iraq and the elections,
which reviewed the various opinions open to the United States and
reviewed the opinion of the government officials, military experts, the
political candidates, commentators, specialists and so on - a very
extensive review.

Only one voice was missing, the voice of the people of Iraq. They
are not people; they are what are sometimes called un-people, not
people, so their voice doesn't matter. We, should ask ourselves if there
is a clash of civilisations, who are the enlightened liberal people.

Q: Pakistan has shifted in and out of democracy without stabilising
in any one position, is it possible for Pakistan to yield towards the
right direction?

A: For Pakistan, its alliance with the United States, I think, has
been quite harmful throughout its history. The United States has tried
to convert Pakistan into its highly militarised ally and has supported
its military dictatorship. The Reagan administration strongly supported
the Zia-ul-Haq tyranny, which had a very harmful affect on Pakistan, and
the Reagan administration even pretended they didn't know that Pakistan
was developing nuclear weapons.

Off course they knew, but they had to pretend they didn't, so that
Congress would continue to fund their support for Pakistan, for the
army, and for the ISI, all part of their support for the Mujahideen in
Afghanistan, which was not intended to help the Afghans.

We know that very well, just from what happened afterwards. It was
intended to harm the Russians, so the Reagan administration was using
Pakistan as a way to kill the Russians. Actually, that was the term that
was used by the head of the CIA station in Pakistan that "we have to
kill Russians," not that the poor Afghans would suffer, but who cares.

Q: Can Pakistan ever become a true Democracy when it is continually
expected to pander to external pressures, to act in ways which has a
negative impact on the people of the country?

A: Yes, it can. I mean there is a lot wrong with India, horrible
things in India, but it is more or less a functioning democracy.
Pakistan could move to that level, but, I think, it has to disentangle
itself from the domination from the United States. Right now the US is
supporting Musharraf - is that a way to democracy?

Pakistanis have been polled extensively and we know information
about Pakistani opinion. A large number of Pakistanis want Democracy -
with an Islamic flavour - but that could be a functioning Democracy.
Their problem is to create it, and I think that the US influence has
been an impediment to that.

Q: Can a Democracy with an Islamic flavour be acceptable to the
world - especially its Western Allies?

A: It doesn't matter if it's acceptable to the Western countries,
what matters is what is acceptable to Pakistanis. The Western countries
would like to rule the world, but they have no authority to do that. I
think they have a lot of problems with their own democracies, for
example, take Iraq again, I said that the voice of Iraqis is missing in
these reviews, but I could add that the voice of Americans is also missing.

What Americans want doesn't matter, the large number of Americans
agree with Iraqis that US forces should withdraw from Iraq. Americans
are not as civilised as the Iraqis are in recognising that the US
aggression is to blame for the trocities.

The US citizens don't accept the professed American ideals to the
extent that the Iraqis do, but that is result of propaganda, deception
and so on, but their voice matters. This is not the only example in
which US policy is radically divorced from the public opinion.

Even with the issue of Iran-US and Iranian public opinion have both
been studied extensively by a leading polling agency in the World, and
they tend to agree on most issues such as how to resolve the problem,
and that Iran has the right to nuclear power, like any signatory of
non-proliferation treaty, but it does not have the right to acquire
nuclear weapons.

They also agree that there should a nuclear weapons free zone in the
whole region that would include Israel, Iran and Pakistan. An
overwhelming majority of Americans and Iranians agree with that.

Furthermore, a huge majority of American (over 80 percent), thinks
the United States should live up to its obligations under the
non-proliferation treaty and make good faith efforts to eliminate
nuclear weapons altogether. A large majority of Americans are even
opposed to any military threats against Iran, which they see as a crime.

If United States and Iran were both functioning democracies in which
public opinion mattered, this crisis, which is a serious one, could
probably be resolved. Unfortunately they are not, and that's not due to
a clash of civilisations because the problem is right here in the United
States. In fact, the opinions of the American population are not only
not implemented, but they are not even reported.

Q: You've highlighted public opinion. So, my concern is, is it
possible for Pakistan to steer towards the right direction, when 65% of
its population is illiterate and has no active participation in politics?

A: Yes, it's very possible; in fact, one of the dramatic and
successful achievements of Democracy, in recent years, has been in
Bolivia. Bolivia is the poorest country in South America. Extremely
impoverished population, illiterate and so on, but they carried out what
was a real triumph of Democracy - something that cannot be imagined in
the West.

In December 2005, the indigenous population, the Indian population,
which happens to be in majority in Bolivia, for the first time entered
the political arena and were able to take political power through the
vote and elected someone from their own ranks, who is committed to
cultural rights, letting the population control their own natural
resources, and many other moves towards justice and equality.

That is a remarkable exercising Democracy; it doesn't take place in
United States or Western countries. And, it was poor and the level of
literacy was quite low. These were the people who were fighting for
their rights for years.

The election didn't come out of nowhere. A few years earlier, the
Indian population had driven the World Bank and major corporations, like
Bechtel, out of the country because they were trying to privatise water.
Privatising water may look good in the study of economics at graduate
school, but for the population it means that they can't purchase water
for their children, so they rejected and they struggled in which many
killed. The drove the corporations and the world bank out.

Q: As you may know, elections in Pakistan will be held soon and
public polls on television depict a lack of confidence in the political
system. The poor masses have more immediate concerns such as rising
prices of flour and wheat, scarcity of gas and electricity in the
country, than bothering with who to vote for - if at all. What are your
thoughts on this and how can governments gain the confidence of people
and get their active participation in Politics?

A: Governments will gain active participation for the populous, if
the issues that concern the population like getting shoes for your
children or having water to drink or having cultural rights or
controlling your own natural resources, if those issues are open to vote
on then they'll vote, just like in Bolivia. If the vote is a matter of
picking one or the other member from the wealthy and oppressive elite
then people won't vote. The voting is very low in the United States for
similar reasons.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2008

The founder of the Humanist Movement - informal, informative conversation

2008-02-03T18:40:00.000+11:00

This is a summary of a conversation between two friends. One is the founder of the Humanist Movement.

Informal Conversation with Silo
Mendoza, 15th January 2008
(Notes by José S. and Marlon O.)
These points are non-textual notes. Fragments of a fragile memory that attempts to reconstruct an inspirational conversation. Its thematic structure contextualises some aspects of the moment of process in which new initiatives are emerging and Halls of Silo’s Message are multiplying.
Introduction:
The conversation started with a few comments about the last meeting of the General Assembly of GCs. The theme of the inter-node connections was highlighted and the Acrobat Connect system that is found to be in a process of being perfected. In a few months everything will be ready. It was seen to be interesting that signals were sent from the parks at La Reja and Caucaia and the connection from the halls. He commented, in addition, about the connection tests done in the previous days between the halls and specifically from Manantiales, where he was present and which worked with a system of cell cards.
The times
The contra
He referred to the advance of the parks and halls around the world, recent advances like those in Toledo, Attigliano, Red Bluff, Caucaia and others, where their development is presenting diverse characteristics. However, he dwelt on the consideration of the difficulties presented by the installation of Alexandria Park and the relationship with the contra. How do the contra arrive?... through different channels and now they come from Egypt, where we are accused of attacking morality and the good customs of Islam and working against it. Now they accuse us of being Zionists. Their way of working is always the same: first they make noise with the press, this creates the appropriate climate for the police to come and attack us, to the point that there was the deportation of one of our people who comes from Portugal.
We will not leave it there. We will withdraw for now, without leaving aside our interest in reaching these cultures, Arab, Islamic, Asian, that are millions. Not because there is resistance in the place do we have to abandon everything else. We should advance.
The contra is fundamentalist, it has no clear arguments. To have good contacts with the director of Alexandria Library has not been sufficient either. In reality, it is the same thing that has been repeated since our beginnings: a whole army to take down a hermitage. It is like something paranormal, it would seem that they sense that something is going to happen. It is not an organised question, but rather it arises simultaneously in the human consciousness. Nor is it something intentional, it is more visceral. It is they themselves who put on the self-bomb.
Destructuring
It recently started, and we have no idea what will be produced by growing destructuring. Destructuring is going to be around for a long time. It recently started, both inside and out.
The system is starting to be destabilised and strange things are starting to appear. It is no longer the times of the anti-heroes, where the husband went to work, his boss shouted at him and he bowed his head, he arrived back home, she threw the plates at him and he said nothing. We are no longer living in these times. Now we are living in times where personalities are emerging who dare to say and do interesting things. They are breaking schemes. Here are appearing strong personalities like Chavez, Evo, Correa, Ollanta and even Kirschner.
Chavez is interesting, but if he could listen he would be better. He made a mistake in his last referendum. He committed a communication error: “Homeland for everyone, socialism or death”… State socialism. Don’t say that! Don’t use phrases that produce rejection in the population and especially in young people. These are phrases that correspond to another landscape. He still doesn’t understand that his campaign was rolled out from his formation landscape. It cost him his failure with the youth who didn’t vote for him. They don’t want to hear talk of death. Different to Evo who speaks of life. Chavez doesn’t listen, the compulsion of his personality overpowers him. He must be careful with the spur of his energy. His error was in the communication… Don’t say that!... You have to locate yourself in these times! You can’t continue reproducing schemes of a world that has passed. It fulfils everything that we have said: every generation in power is out of date.
Then he commented about the incident produced by the phrase “why don’t you shut up!” being part of the surrealism of the times. This situation made things complicated for Zapatero , who of course is not a strong personality. This social democrat “is boring” as the Chileans say, he didn’t know which side to take. The situation overwhelmed him, he wasn’t expecting it, he wanted to be friendly with both of them, to make his handwriting look nice (Chilean Expression), so that his image stays good, more worried for his profile, how he will be in the photo, to always be well presented, but everything went wrong for him.
And he continued that strong personalities in negative are appearing like Bush, Aznar and Uribe who disorientate and could carry out actions, also with the support of many people.
What the President of Guatemala said when elected is interesting. He made it clear that his government will take charge of the poor because when their situation improves, “this will be good for everyone”. This proposal is very interesting as it opens possibilities to these human groups: that the poor improve their situation, is good for everyone. Not that it is bad for the power structures. On the contrary, it is good for all, because everyone would benefit, when the situation for poor people improves.
If you look at it from the productive point of view, which of course doesn’t correspond to our look, even production would improve, if the marginalised sectors are included. For example, it would be interesting to open possibilities of participation and expression of women who are 50% of the population. Half of the global population has been left to one side. The same with young people, who have historically had their possibilities of expression closed. This is bad for everyone. It is the oppression over half the production: women, workers, young people. It is the closing off of human consciousness. If someone says that something is good for everyone, it also means that what is bad for some is also bad for everyone.
Globalisation is characterised by the effects of destructuring. Countries are destructuring, but also the USA. For them it is good that countries disappear, apart from theirs. They don’t want to see that destructuring also reaches them.
Disturbances
These times are characterised by disturbances. It is the time of the disillusioned soul (Ortega y Gasset). The revolution is not fed by things that happen, but rather by profound changes that occur in the consciousness. There is a moment in revolutions in which there is a struggle against someone, against an unjust system; people protest against abuses of this unjust system. After the demands against oppression, come the denouncements against their uses. People protest against the uses of the times, not against the abuses. So it is when social disturbances are produced and the strange things that sociologists don’t know how to explain.
The Media
The TV in its dynamic has diversified, it is also part of the destructuring: before there was only one channel; then various, subsequently Cable TV; and now a great multiplication of alternative websites.
The media has been democratised, but through people pressure. They have been obliged to do so in order to remain with customers. The ratings have marked a turning point. In their polls they have discovered what people want to see and they have adapted to the demand. Who is interested in producing programmes that no one sees? That’s why they had to adapt and this is part of the destructuring. They have not wanted to sidestep the people. The ratings are at the base of this democratisation of the media.
Fall of ideologies:
In front of the fall of ideologies, dogma appears and then come the slogans. Now they take the few loose ideas that remain. Slogans today are supplanting ideologies. Slogans are put together, adding some to others, producing some strange mixtures. They are mixing something that worked in one thing with others. For example, they take “quality of life” and mix it with another slogan that may have worked, until they obtain a marketing product.
Control of the system:
The Human being is living inside a system that is tending to control it and prevent its expression. The consciousness of the human being is trapped in self-censorship, censorship and the control that this system exercises over people. The system impedes people’s expression. It fixes conduct, behaviours, ways of thinking and being. It tries to maintain and fix things from a world that has already passed. People in power are tending to reproduce these schemes and models of conduct in which they were formed and that correspond to a world that has already passed. It tries to control, to exercise control and thereby to oppress human consciousness.
In his moment, Gorbachev made a contribution. He allowed the opening of the Soviet State, facilitating the conditions for these human beings to be able to liberate themselves from this oppressive system.
The contribution of Luther , was in the same direction. He opened the reflection in front of a dogmatic religion. He opened the doors to free interpretation. He tried to liberate the believer of institutionalised religion from the control of the church.
The same things happened in China. “Let a thousand flowers bloom” and then Mao appeared and his followers monopolized them.
On the other hand Rationalism has not has not yet passed the test of History… Its censorship has affected the human process. The inquisition of other times, is not the only thing that has had an affect, but also and with greater seriousness, rationalism.
The profound
PdV has its nocturnal view. The appropriate lights. They are very gentle. We are not talking about lights like the ones in Las Vegas (lights in the desert). That doesn’t arrive. We are interested in reaching and connecting with more interesting spaces. Why do things that are already done? What’s the point? We have to do things that are not done, intangibles, that hit against other intangible, yet existing, worlds. This gentle thing reaches and connects with those other worlds that exist in each person, but that you cannot see.
There is an inner world that moves things. There are worlds that are there although they can’t be seen. There are internal states from where things are inspired. And if not, from where do poetry, painting, and great actions come, if not from these states? They aren’t done by people to whom nothing happens on the inside. They were people who did things with a lot of strength and from there they brought great changes or produced things with such strength that they changed the course of things and of their times.
The historical changes happen when human consciousness connects with the profound and it is from here where evolutionary changes and steps are made, the other things that “history” teaches us are anecdotes. What moves history is this inner motor. It is from the profound that inspirational things happen.
There is something that moves things, something that you can’t see. People describe things, but they don’t notice what moves them. You describe the car, the wheels, the steering wheel, etc but you don’t notice the motor. It is this motor that moves the car.
But, how can I connect with the profound if my mind is restless, my heart troubled and my body tense?
The inspired consciousness
People can connect with other states of consciousness, like the inspired consciousness. It is a way of being in the world. They are structurations of consciousness. More profound states, from which something more interesting for the human being can emerge. States that if they are connected between people, can produce a sort of contagion, although the word contagion is not correct, because it is more associated with illnesses, but it is a phenomenon of transmission that can allow the human consciousness, trapped by this system, to be liberated. It is from the emergence of this inspired consciousness that can appear new evolutionary possibilities for the human being. It is a theme to go deeper in. We already referred to it in Psychology IV.
Translation of signals of the profound
There are moments in which one connects with certain states that they didn’t know they had in them. They are states that move you, many things move you. It is important to attend to the signals of the profound in oneself, how these signals are expressed and translated in the world. How are these signals given by the consciousness translated? They can be translated with kindness but also they can be translated negatively. Hopefully this translation may open towards the positive.
In any case, even when they end up being expressed negatively in the world, life will continue opening the way as it has done throughout history. Life expresses itself and opens the way and the consciousness has advanced, life has grown. We can see the positive and also the negative.
Other expressions of the profound:
In the indigenous culture, Pachamama, Mother Earth or Mother Nature, is very important. And so, as nature allows us to connect with states of inner peace, when we contemplate it and it allows us to connect ourselves with this inner world, with this register of peace with nature, in the indigenous world the same thing also happens. Surely they experience this love for nature when they evoke their Pachamama.
Their shamans for example carry out certain practices; they put themselves in a certain way in order to connect with their inner world. It’s good how they do it, how they connect. Shamanism is the most widespread religion on the earth, although they say it isn’t. They carry out certain ceremonies like the ones they did together with us in Tiahuanaco, prior to the Regional Forum. They carry out their ceremonies and we also did ours and very good. No problem to share with indigenous people ceremonies in our halls.
It is interesting how in the field of cultural anthropology and only in this speciality, they have advanced in their interest in what happens within cultures, and not only externally. It is interesting that they are going into what happens internally in people.
Females:
The Pachamama or Mother Earth is also a feminine entity.
It could be very interesting to open the doors for them to participate in our halls. Females, young women, very interesting their protagonism. They have demonstrated it. They have qualities to take things forward.
To open participation to women is very important. It is the moment of females, not of males. Females go and men cry. Females have the future assured. It is the moment for females. It is the moment for the mothers’ revolution. It is sure that there is everything between females and males. There are also bad copies that try to reproduce the male model, like certain female executives. But of course it’s not all of them. This is understandable, because now is their moment after centuries of oppression.
The vocational
To not kick aside the spur of the vocational in oneself, to not suffocate the vocation in oneself as this is the inner voice that is searching a way forward. To develop the vocation in oneself is to generate conditions to produce inspiration in human consciousness, this is good for everyone. The vocational allows you to channel energy towards the world because you are part of it, let everyone develop their vocation in the social, artistic, cultural fields, etc where ever you like, don’t hold it back. It is important to compare the experience of some with others, the comparison is important.
Don’t kick aside the spur of your vocation; don’t stop listening to your inner voice. Everyone has their own vocation, in different fields. Don’t suffocate your vocation.
Purpose
You must differentiate two types of purpose. The purpose of life, that has to do with your own dynamic that you don’t need to worry about, because it doesn’t depend on you. This purpose goes on by itself and takes care that life advances and the other purpose that is more intentional. The intentional Purpose has to do with what I visualised previously, with what I want to do and decide to do and then act co-presently; once you clarify your purpose, it will continue to operate on you co-presently even though you are no longer thinking about it. After defining it precisely, you release it so that it may act co-presently. It is different to aspiration; the latter does not have the strength that purpose has.
Personal crisis and Message
Collapse of beliefs
When you realise that you are not going anywhere, you search experience.
If your beliefs collapse, they will not be internally reconstructed through reconstructive arguing. Some use another mechanism: “have faith”, but we go with the Message, through Ceremonies. We are trying to create conditions to facilitate things, we are not putting up fences; on top of the fact that people are not well, we cannot put more obstacles.
In front of personal crises, to work with what is proposed in the Message, here is the essential, let the mental direction be reordered and reorganised. To go deeper into the procedures and the practices proposed in the Message and hopefully accompanied by others.
Everyone can reach the sensation of crisis through various ways. Everyone can reach these states through different paths. Everyone is living the crisis in their own time, everyone is in their moment, you can’t do anything from outside.
The message counts on a system of small tools so that people can immerse themselves in their internal experience. We need to learn to interchange what happens to us with others, with our friends. With a friend we can develop a same level of interchange because we have the same pre-predicates. About ones own themes, one talks with friends. It is not a discussion of ideas, nor a dialogue of knowledge. We mean an interchange of experiences, where we are all enriched, one is enriched by the experience of the other, it happens differently to the other, and vice versa. Interchange is based on an affectionate tone, in a reciprocal intention to help to improve things, connected by a mental direction. In the way I put myself internally in front of you, I suppose that you do the same. From this internal posture, is born the interchange with the same pre-predicates. One would have to work in this dimension of the personal. Because the vocational allows you to work in the world, in the social, but to channel your mental direction is something that is achieved with internal work.
How to read the book of the Message
He emphasises its format. Hard cover and new type of edition (he shows us the Argentine edition). It is not a book to read on the move. There are pages with little writing, with a lot of blank space. It is meant to be read page by page, paragraph by paragraph and to meditate. To take your time. Without hurry.
Parks and Halls
Punta de Vacas Park:
The characteristic of Punta de Vacas is that alongside runs the road along which a lot of transport travels that connects Brazil, Argentina, Chile. As it is a point of connection and business interchange between countries, the roads are maintained. They clear the roads quickly if there is snow for example. There are machines that pass by cleaning the road and in two days it’s done. In this sense we are well looked after when we speak of road cleaning.
But this happens outside PdV, within the park, we have to look after it ourselves. The place where the park is built is not easy. There are 240km/h winds. They are strong winds. To build a park in these conditions is very hard. The wind has taken various things, among them a door that it uprooted with bricks and everything. They are difficult conditions that arise in certain times of the year. The “skull has white bones” (in reference to who puts themselves in something has to take responsibility). No good crying about it. The conditions are strong, complicated and we are responding with gentleness, we are putting gentle lights…
People say to you, and why has it been built so far away… And you’d prefer we did it in front of your house? You cross the road and there it is, what’s that about? The challenge is important. Everything that is difficult has value. If you put it in front of your house, what importance does it have?
Adaptation of the halls
In reality they are born from a state of inspiration in those who want to set things in motion. They are adapted to each place and are built in accordance with the conditions of each point. Some will start with the land and then the monolith as they have done in Red Bluff. Others with the facilities that they may already have. The people of each place participate. There are parks that present different degrees of complexity and technology in the construction. They are adapted to each place. In accordance with the conditions of each point. From free interpretation and free organisation, the people see how they can do it and with what materials.
Functioning of the parks:
The parks are conditions from which a reference irradiates. They are not called the same thing in all places. For example in India they are called Ashrams, which means: Cultural Centres.
The human consciousness comes equipped, it has the instrument, the equipment, but in order to be able to take a leap and do it, it needs conditions. We are working on the creation of conditions so that change happens, not the carrying out of those changes.
The parks and the halls aim to create the conditions so that the profound can express itself; they are the catalyst for inner experience. Nothing controlled, many ways of organisation and interpretation, just like the Message works.
They are ambits where it’s a question of creating conditions that will help the human consciousness express itself and for that it is necessary to generate environments, places where the people can compare, interchange, and find out that there are others who are and who feel as they do, so that they can jointly inspire each other, and find solutions together. This is the function that the Halls and the Parks fulfill.
The halls are a nuclear reactor.
Change
Disillusioned consciousness
We are experiencing what Ortega y Gasset called the epoch of the disillusioned consciousness, the epoch in which dogs howl at the moon asking for something, and they don't know exactly what it is. That is exactly the dangerous part because they tend to grab onto anything however hot it may be.
If I don’t have the answer to the question “Where am I going?” it may be that there is someone who will tell me the answer (a strong personality, for example), although it can also happen that ones dependence becomes evident and one decides to break away from this dependence advancing toward the inner world. This should be studied.
The issue is what opening will there be for us. What possibilities of change do we have.
The essential:
In this point he reads and places special emphasis on each paragraph of the Letter sent to David a few days before:
Yes, approximately 10 days ago there were some nice dinners in Manantiales, and at one of them we touched on this theme, which it seems to me important to consider.
Is profound and essential change possible in the human being? Yes, I believe it is, but I distinguish between that undeniable but slow change that began in the first humanoids, and the possibility of change that isn’t thanks to a simple evolutionary mechanic, nor to "natural" accidents, but to a direction, an intention of the human consciousness regarding itself.
The point is that the peripheral changes are making a lot of people think that these are the changes we must aspire to. We have to go beyond Science and Justice to understand this change. In fact, as we have emphasized on several occasions, whoever works for the advance of Science and Justice makes the greatest effort to facilitate the overcoming of pain and suffering, facilitating the conditions for change. But it is clear that even Justice and Science are being twisted in a hurried parabola in which the search for change is being oriented objectively, ignoring what is most important about essential change. This forgetting of self, this ignorance of the overcoming of mental mechanics, leads us to question the possibilities of change...
And here we arrive at the point of this disquieting but healthful evening, in which we were able to say: Essential change is not possible without moving clearly in that direction. And the epoch is closing the horizon of that mental direction.
Whoever has followed our trajectory for several years has observed that our work has been oriented toward “simultaneous change” and in Humanism this took on great strength. However, the effort toward changing our mental conditions has been sometimes weak and sometimes intermittent.
I put the argument in a way that is somewhat harsh: Everything that has been done up to this moment has great meaning, but it will not be enough until the people (even the nicest and kindest) decide to Convert their lives, realizing the need for a profound mental change. It is of this that our work speaks in its last phase; it is of this that the Message speaks.
I believe that in the current situation in which Humanity finds itself (and of course this includes us too), if we do not work to overcome all censure and self-censure, throwing ourselves into the meanings and works of the Message, essential change will not be possible. The direction must be toward the Profound of the consciousness to connect with the meanings that have been slowly pressing forward the evolution of the human being. Now it is urgent and we no longer have a way to make this impulse known.
When we spoke at that dinner of the difficulties that the human mind is facing, disheartenment blew like an icy wind among those present. We were left with the sensation that this way, submerged in our humanity, we are not penetrating into the Profound and if that doesn’t happen, Change is not possible. That was the saddest part of that talk, to which people replied with a certain stoicism: "... “What you say is not very hopeful!”
However, going beyond the anecdote, I believe that we have some inner connection that can be communicated, and this is possible because in each of us is the unfathomable source of the Profound, of whose waters we must drink.
My dear David, I believe that many grasped the gravity of the current moment and your letter is a reflection of what happened and has not yet stopped.
I send you the most affectionate hug,
Silo

Clarification about the big scare:
This has nothing to do with announcing a catastrophe. It’s something else. It’s important to mention it so that people don’t believe that the change will come about mechanically. There is something that must be done intentionally, after registering this big scare internally.
The human being is endowed for change
The backpack:
The human being is endowed with what he needs. He has his backpack. His consciousness has everything.
The equipment is in everyone, we all have a backpack that contains the same equipment. We need to learn to use what is in the backpack. Why are you carrying this backpack? You haven’t even seen what's inside it, that’s why you haven’t used it. And you can say: but there are chocolates in there, and I’m not hungry! It’s fine that at this moment you aren’t hungry, but you will be hungry at some point. Better to remember that we all have the same “equipment,” the consciousness is equipped.
We have various interesting mechanisms, one of them being the guide.
The Guide
This is an issue with several layers, you can see it in different ways. The guide may also be a strong personality, these act as references in the face of a collective need, hopefully they will go in a good direction, if not we have a violent fundamentalist or something like that. It doesn’t matter if it has an image or not, but it should have a register, that gives one the sensation that it really exists. The important thing is that it fulfill the inner function, it has to do with the epoch even if it is a cenesthetic representation of something that dwells within you.
The Asking
This is another very interesting mechanism. In some cases you don’t even know whom you are asking, but you ask without even knowing where the requests are going. The asking is a very old mechanism. It has been used since the very beginnings of the human process when the people made use of it. Internally it has meaning and a certain direction, therefore it must be treated delicately. It is a mechanism that is part of the backpack. The interesting thing is that once the asking has been made, it keeps on acting in co-presence. “Hopefully…”, “Oh Allah, please…”, "Oh God, please…”. There is something very interesting that happens when you do an asking, you recognize when someone is sincerely asking something for you, for example: “I ask for things to go well for you."
The Ceremonies:
In the ceremonies many mechanisms are in motion that are within reach of the people. The ceremonies and the asking are in society and have been there since ancient times, they are mechanisms that the people understand. A mechanism is set in motion because we know its function. They are mental zones that are a little out of time, time doesn’t happen there. That is why we are touching on those structures, but they have to be genuine; if it doesn’t work, or doesn’t ring true, better not to force it.
Our thing – what it is…
The traditional in religions doesn’t go toward the profound, it’s an “as if.”
What we do keeps opening up as a way of being in the world, it’s like a mental structure. The structure of the wretched, unfortunate consciousness is no more – now it’s the structure of the inspired consciousness that seeks to open its way in the world of the worn-out, the gray, behind the signal lights that keep changing from red to green, and from green to red, day after day; behind the loss of meaning. The inspired consciousness is very much linked to meaning. What we are experiencing right now is not what will take us to other worlds. From “I have my feet on the ground,” the inspired consciousness isn't possible, there's no commotion. When one is in inspired consciousness, one is moved, is stirred.
Today we want to escape from the non-meaning, from the nothingness. We are in another historic and psychological instance. We are not going the way of explaining things, this doesn’t work with explanations. Not because the explanatory reflex is not important, but because in this realm it is not necessary. In fact there are areas in which the explanatory reflex is important, but in the realm in which one registers non-meaning and one wants to advance towards meaning, that is not the way. What we do doesn’t go through the explanatory route, don’t do it that way, it won’t work.
At the present moment there is no method. It’s not like in other epochs when a method gave direction to whoever believed in it, independently of whether you were in agreement or not with that vision. Dialectical materialism, with its thesis, antithesis and synthesis, at least gave direction to those who believed in it. And what does a method have to do with a revolution? It gives direction.
Today on the contrary, the logic is the logic of destructuration, of incoherence. With that people are experiencing and registering that progressive disintegration. That is how its reveries and aspirations, such as that of unity, can be understood. The search for integration among the peoples comes from there, it is a translation of that need for internal integration, for feeling internal cohesion, internal unity, in the face of their growing register of psychological disintegration.
The people don’t organize what is happening to them, they have a salad in their head. The current logic is the logic of slogans. Everything is reduced to slogans that are repeated in books, on TV, etc. but you can’t deal with everything with slogans. The social climate is full of slogans. The ideologies were full of slogans, but today those things are no longer said; they are no longer said for considerations of convenience and social coexistence.
Ours is a different logic, it's a logic that takes into account not only what is seen but also what is not seen, the co-presences. It’s a way of doing things that will influence the direction of what is going to be happening. The way of organizing determines the way of being in the world.
The inner religion doesn’t need any of those things, it generates a great void as Hegel said: “God expresses himself as a void.” It’s almost the way it's proposed in Buddhism, although Buddhism arose as an interesting proposal and then everything ended up as a religion.
The religions have made a show of reaching the interiority of the human being, but have not achieved it.
The gods are very far away, the route of the gods is not the way, it's very complicated to arrive at the gods. The gods don’t listen to us. The human being has had moments in which he has been able to find his own answers and his own solutions.
He ends up in a drama through the suffering that oppression produces. Through the pain that the conditions of life bring about. Through injustice, through what some do to others, through everything done by those who provoke suffering. Those who do things to overcome the conditions of suffering in human beings do their part, create conditions. They aren’t going to resolve things for the people, but they are creating conditions. Good for those who work for that.
Epilogue
It's 10 at night. All this time we have been moving from one place in Mendoza to another with our wonderful host: his office, the café, the city, San Martin Park, his house in Chacras de Coria, and back to his office. We end the visit with the re-sending of the letter to David that he kindly sends us over the Internet. On the road after saying goodbye, we reflect: the virtual message has already gone… where will it be now?... In some place where it can’t be seen, but it exists…
The next day we take the bus from Mendoza to Punta de Vacas Park. We decide to stay there a few hours, before continuing on to Santiago and then Quito. As we ride along we try to reconstruct part of that inspiring conversation. While we are conversing, I feel someone looking at us with her eyes lit up, listening to us very attentively. In a moment of silence, the girl in the seat across from us comments:
- I’ve been listening to your conversation… I’m very interested in what you're saying about the non-meaning and the profound...
We begin talking and in a few minutes we already feel "the contagion." She tells us she is on a search. She is going to Uspallata to Emilio’s community. She’s from Buenos Aires, she's about to finish her last year in Political Science, and she tells us of her anxiety: “there is no meaning.”
We invite her to come with us for a few hours to Punta de Vacas Park. She agrees and stays with us the whole time. She listens attentively to the story of the hermitage. Then we invite her to the hall to do the Ceremony of the Service. She puts herself in the appropriate attitude. Then she does the asking and finally we give each other a heartfelt hug.
We finish by eating something at the Plaza of the Stelas… and finally we get ready to say goodbye. We ask her one final question: What did you like most about this experience?... and she answers: the ceremony! Then we exchange information and addresses and she reminds us: For sure we’ll see each other in 2010!

Pakistan: the disaster continues..

2007-12-29T11:49:00.001+11:00

Humanist Movement condemns the killing of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan.

This act of violence is in unfortunate continuity of the violence that Pakistan is witness to over the last 60 years, ever since its formation.

The people of Pakistan are Peace-loving just like any human being across the globe.

We support the urge for Peace of the Pakistanis and are with them in this moment of serious crisis. We urge them not to give-in to violent situation and take up Non-violence as their response to these violent acts. We urge them to take personally responsibility of their nation and its people and working through Non-violence, bring a strong, peaceful and permanent change for their nation and its peace-loving people.

The Humanists, across the globe will support them in their struggle for Peace and Happiness for all Pakistanis.

Peace, Force & Joy!
Humanist Movement,
Sudhir Gandotra.

You don't need violence to shake the world
Treat Others As You Would Have Them Treat You

Humanist Movement www.humanistmovement.org
Humanist Party www.humanistparty.org

Bangladesh & the nineteenth century

2007-12-02T19:47:00.000+11:00

The Humanist Movement is currently involved in active relief for the people of Bangladesh after the recent devastating typhoon. The ‘lifting’ of this article from the Sydney Morning Herald is intended to bring attention to the lack of basic Human conditions normally found in Bangladesh..

Whether it's from the heavens above or sanitation below, water is a constant source of danger to the people of Bangladesh, writes Larry Elliott.
Charles Dickens would have felt at home in the streets of Dhaka. The barefoot children waiting for their mothers and sisters to come home from the textile mills, the chimneys of the brick factories vaguely visible in the smog. And the stench.
Like Victorian London, the shanty towns of Bangladesh's capital reek of excrement dropped from makeshift hanging toilets perched precariously on bamboo stilts a couple of metres above the mire. Bangladesh is the object of the world's pity as it deals with the cyclone that killed more than 3000 people. Yet when the television appeals are over, when attention has switched to another country stricken by flood, famine or earthquake, the stench of raw sewage will remain. And it will still be the second-biggest killer of children after respiratory illnesses. Two hundred perish every hour as a result of living conditions that would cause an outcry if they occurred in the West, and should cause an outcry for being allowed to happen anywhere.
With its flushing toilets and mains drainage, it's hard to recall that London was once akin to Dhaka when it came to sanitation. The Great Wen, the fast-growing metropolis that was the hub of the British empire in the mid-19th century, could not cope with urbanisation. Cesspits overflowed into the homes of the poor and the Thames ran sluggish with raw sewage.
In 1858, a particularly hot summer, MPs got a whiff of the problem as the Great Stench, as it was called, wafted through the mother of parliaments. In less than three weeks, the government had commissioned Sir Joseph Bazalgette to develop a new sewerage system that prevented toilet waste from going into the river or accumulating near homes.
The results were instant. People stopped dying of cholera and typhoid and when there was an even larger investment in sanitation in the 1890s it produced the biggest drop in infant mortality ever seen in Britain.
That was then. Last week, the United Nations launched its Year of Sanitation to mark the fact that 2.6billion people - almost half the world's population - still live in insanitary conditions considered repugnant and intolerable by the Victorians.
Yet, perhaps because we in the West take clean water and sanitation for granted, providing septic tanks and U-bends have never quite had the emotional appeal of starving babies, HIV/AIDS patients and children desperate to go to school.
Sanitation is such a low priority that when the UN drew up its list of millennium development goals to be achieved by 2015, ensuring that the children of slum-dwellers in Dhaka could go to the toilet without endangering their lives did not feature among them.
After pressure from charities such as WaterAid, the UN later agreed to set a target for halving the number of people without access to clean water and sanitation but on current trends, the target will not be achieved until more than half a century later. Rich countries have promised to double assistance by 2010 but have yet to deliver - spending on water and sanitation has fallen.
WaterAid says much of the extra spending on education will be wasted if children with diarrhoea are too sick to go to school or if girls take one week off in a month because there are no facilities for them to menstruate with modesty.
Every dollar spent on sanitation leads to $9 of returns in health - a stupendous return on investment. Britain is one of the few countries to make a priority of water and sanitation and has supported the military-backed Government in Bangladesh in its attempt to provide 100percent access to sanitation, not by 2015 but by 2010.
It's a real challenge, not out in the rural areas, but in Dhaka, where the pressures of being one of the world's fastest-growing cities push the slums further and further out each year.
Abul Barkat, economics professor at the University of Dhaka, says what is happening in the city is not so much urbanisation as slumisation. He is sceptical about official figures showing that sanitation coverage has increased from 33percent in 2003 to 84percent today.
Paul Edwards, who works for the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund(UNICEF) in Bangladesh, agrees and notes that not all the toilets would qualify as providing decent sanitation since many lack a seal between the pit and the external environment. "But I'm fairly confident that there has been a shift in attitudes. People want to own their own toilets," he said.
The Bangladeshi Government's first attempt at increasing coverage for sanitation was a failure - it committed scarce resources from its budget, bought the sanitary hardware, delivered it across the country and then saw nothing happen.
Things only started to change once power was devolved to a lower level and communities were made aware of the benefits of sanitation, and every family, no matter how poor, was obliged to make a contribution, perhaps through free labour, to the installation of their own toilet.
Rich families subsidised poor ones and children were mobilised to put pressure on anybody who decided that the new-fangled latrines were no match for defecating in the open. In a village close to Jamalpur, a five-hour drive from Dhaka, there is now 100percent sanitation coverage.
Women, in particular, say having their own toilets has given them privacy, safety and better health for their children. Laily Begum, a mother of three, says: "The children used to suffer badly with diarrhoea. Now there is no diarrhoea, no sickness. In the past, many of us were frightened to go out when it was dark for fear of being attacked."
In the cities, the scale of the task is much more daunting. Dhaka has only one reticulated sewage treatment plant covering a quarter of the city's estimated 12million population. Chittagong, with the same size population as Chicago, doesn't have one at all.
The constant danger is of the water supply being contaminated by human waste, particularly since the country is vulnerable to weather patterns associated with climate change.
Jan Moller Hansen of the Danish embassy, says: "Dhaka is expanding faster than the ability of the city to cope. But it's not a lack of technical expertise, it's a question of policies, institutions and financial resources."
In Britain, action was sped up by demands from the private sector, but Mohammed Sabur, WaterAid's director in Bangladesh, says: "In Britain, the factory owners wanted healthy workers. Here, if 100 workers are sick, there are 200 to take their place. The only company likely to exert pressure for better sanitation is Unilever, so they can sell more soap."
That vacuum needs to be filled - by Western governments and by aid organisations - not just for Bangladesh but for all the even poorer countries in sub-Saharan Africa where sanitation is not a government priority. The alternative is to hold our noses and pretend it isn't happening.
Unsanitary statistics
2.6 billion The number of people worldwide who live in insanitary conditions.
200 The number of children killed every hour from water-borne diseases.
12 million The number of people in Dhaka served by one reticulated sewage plant.
84 percent Official figures of sanitation coverage in Bangladesh today.

The Humanist Movement & Bolivia - the Latin American Humanist forum

2007-11-29T19:47:00.000+11:00

II Latin American Humanist Forum
Latin America United without Wars and Without Violence

Over the course of the 23rd, 24th and 25th of November 2007, in La Paz, Bolivia, humanist individuals and organisations met with representatives of governments, parliamentarians, political parties and diverse Latin American social movements. We value the joint work and the contribution of all those in the development of this Forum.
Prior to its inauguration, we were received in the sacred land of Tiahuanaco, a place where we celebrated an ancient ceremony in honour of Pachamama and the Father Sun. Then together we celebrated the Office, a ceremony of Silo’s Message. The local authorities honoured those humanists present and the spokespeople as distinguished guests in that place.
The Forum was inaugurated by the President of the Republic of Bolivia, Evo Morales Ayma and was broadcast live through the national television of the host country.
The work was divided into 18 tables that dealt with the following themes: Art and Integration; Women and Integration of the Peoples; Latin American Student Movement; Conflicts, Disarmament and World without Wars; Native Peoples; Immigrants and Latin American Integration; Strategic Energy: Human Rights, Disability and Development; Generation of Nonviolent Ambits; Health; Education; Human City, Alternative Economics; the Media; Spirituality and Religiosity; Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. The conclusions of this work will be included as an annexe.
Besides this, we held three panels about: “Nonviolent resolution of historical conflicts between nations”; “There will only be progress if it is by all and for all”; “Visions for a Latin America United, without wars and without violence”. The book The end of Prehistory, whose author is the Spokesperson for Humanism in Latin America, Tomás Hirsch, was also presented.
In parallel, a meeting of New Generations was held, together with meetings of the Centre of Cultures, the Community for Human Development and Humanist Parties of the region.
The Forum explicitly manifested its support to the people and government of Bolivia for the important processes of transformation that are being carried out, in order to achieve greater democracy and social justice in this country. Upon ending the Forum, with great joy we received the news of the approval of the new Constitution by the Constituent Assembly, which found the way to leap over all the difficulties met along the way.

Declaration of La Paz
The Bolivian process is an example for the entire continent and for the world. Universalist Humanism recognises a genuine coincidence with the principles of non-discrimination and nonviolence that drives the Bolivian Government, in the moment of carrying forward its revolutionary project. Bolivia is showing a path of liberation and humanisation for our peoples. The Latin American Humanist Forum commits to continue disseminating this courageous attempt to the whole world.
We are making our own, the proposal of President Evo Morales to include the renunciation of war as a constitutional article in all countries of the region. This gesture added to the attempt to recover the dignity of the Bolivian people through a methodology of active nonviolence, merits the Nobel Peace Prize.
Political-Social projects are emerging in Latin America that gives priority to the well being of its peoples above the dictatorship of macroeconomic demands. In this way, the recovery of natural and energy resources and the basic services of water, light and communications go exactly in this direction. The withdrawal from ICSID by the Bolivian Government is a measure that contributes to advance towards an improvement in the living conditions for its people and a decision that should be implemented in other Latin American countries.
The resolution of historical conflicts and progressive and proportional disarmament between countries of the region are fundamental themes for Latin American integration. Wars are not an initiative of the people but rather of economic interests that exploit them. The aspiration of Bolivia to have a sovereign sea route is one of the emblematic conflicts of the region and this Forum will continue collaborating decisively so that this country achieves this historical objective.
Regarding the environmental question, the Forum considers that it is necessary to construct regional legislation that puts a stop to the plundering actions of savage capitalism. Natural and energy resources are the raw material for the survival of peoples and assure their future; therefore they cannot be abandoned to the immediate ambition of profit. In the same direction, we will study the possibility to organise an international forum about global warming and the direct responsibility of speculative capital in this alarming global phenomenon.
The creation of constituent assemblies in Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela, to replace obsolete and antidemocratic Constitutions is a path to be followed by the other countries of the region. The Forum subscribes to the attempt by these countries to build a democratically agreed new institutional order, achieving through this legislative process, a social agreement of the majority and without exclusions.
Friends: this Forum has signified a great advance in dialogue, complementation and joint action between the peoples of our region. We invite all individuals, social, political and cultural organisations together with governments that would like to work to reinforce Latin American integration, under the sign of peace, sovereignty and freedom for all the inhabitants of our region, to the III Latin American Humanist Forum to be held next year in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

For all, Peace, Force and Joy

New Humanism in the US - new levels of influence in the English speaking world..

2007-11-21T20:15:00.000+11:00

North American New Humanist Forum:
thinking beyond borders
Final Declaration
In New York City on the 16th, 17th and 18th of November 2007, social, political and cultural organizations from Mexico, Canada and the United States met together with representatives from Africa, Europe and Latin America to launch the North American New Humanist Forum.
We began this process a year ago without a clear understanding of whether the region existed as more than a geographic and economic entity. We wondered if it would be possible to create a regional consciousness guided by the value of the human being.
On this journey, through profound dialogue and with an intentional search, we have seen:
· that our three countries share a long, common history and the daily lives of its people are already deeply interrelated.
· that we do not want to be defined by the actions of our governments, corporations or military but rather by the needs and aspirations of the people.
· that there is a growing recognition of the need to take control of this regional integration and change its direction.
In these days we have accumulated a great body of work in many spheres of human concern, which is a starting point for a North American process that will continue from here on.
From this work we can highlight the following proposals:
1. This region being the largest producer and supplier of weapons in the world, we demand the complete dismantling of the nuclear arsenal as an urgent need for the survival of humanity. As a first step we require that our countries adhere to the treaties that they have already signed.
2. Let’s bring down the physical and psychological walls that separate us. We want open borders for people, not just for goods and money. We demand an end to the “demonization” of those who are different and to the culture of fear which is used to manipulate and distract from a resolution of the region’s true problems.
3. We recognize the dark moments in our history. in particular the genocide of the indigenous people and the slavery of Africans. We must acknowledge the crimes committed, take responsibility and make amends for the suffering caused in order to achieve true reconciliation and move towards a common future as one family.
4. We must correct the current imbalance between labor and capital, where the expansion of capital is given priority regardless of its impact on the workforce that produces it. We value decentralized models which respect labor rights and we condemn free trade agreements such as NAFTA, Plan Puebla Panama, Plan Mexico and the SPP which reinforce this imbalance between labor and capital, widening the gap between rich and poor.
5. People have the right and opportunity to participate in the decision-making processes that affect them. Therefore we demand the expansion of voting rights to all residents regardless of citizenship and the enactment of laws of political responsibility. We cannot continue to allow governments to come to power through fraud!
Today, a new region is starting to take shape in our minds and in our hearts. We aspire to a North American Human Nation as a step on the way to the Universal Human Nation. For this work we count on the richness of our diversity and the spirit of the new generations that have captured the sensibility of these new times.
The union of our peoples from Mexico, Canada and the United States is not just the opening of the borders, but the common fight against discrimination and all forms of violence. This is the meaning of our construction; the overcoming of pain and suffering on earth.

Pakistan..

2007-11-04T15:45:00.000+11:00

http://www.humanist-international.org
The Humanist International denounces the emergency state decree imposed by Mr. Musharaf in Pakistan.

The Humanist International views with great concern the situation that is currently unfolding in Pakistan. The state of emergency imposes a clampdown on freedom of communication, expression, assembly ; the judges of the supreme court are being changed, all this of course puts fear among the people and compromises the current campaign for election in January.

You say you want democracy, but how can we trust in you, Mr. Musharaf? Since 1999, during 8 years, tell us what have you done so far to reestablish democracy in Pakistan? What have you done constructive for democracy? And tell us how long should Pakistani wait to reach it?

You say to the other democracies of the world that you need more time for transition, but why should your people wait more? Do you consider them dull? Do you believe that Pakistanis are not intellectually mature enough for democracy? Is that the proper way to consider your people, your country’s history and future ?
You say you want to win against terrorism. But you are still fighting an endless war in Waziristan with some few radical Islamist militants that your secret agencies and the USA have trained and armed.
If you want real democracy you have to respect the law and judgements of supreme court without controlling or influencing judges.
We want you to understand that you can’t hold back history and evolution - that, when you force something toward an end you produce the contrary. Do not listen to the voices so interested for their own power and business. Do not listen to the ones who are creating chaos and destabilizing all the regions of the world for their own reasons of super-control.
Education toward active non-violence is the only coherent way to achieve social change: change that is required to eliminate violence in all its forms from human society. Pakistan needs concrete acts:
- The ban of small weapons retained by civilians and paramilitary
- The guarantee of the respect of all creeds and religions
- No nuclear proliferation
- More funds to education and health programmes
We recommend that you listen to the old and wise voices of Pakistan. The voices that preach love, peace and tolerance, across the continent, from the profound in their hearts; without fears and without violence.
Work for your people, for your personal enlightenment and for the unity of your peoples. Then with these priorities the path of your actions going toward democracy will be clear and we can place trust in that good will. But today you have just deceived us all, the Pakistanis and the humanists of the world.

Signed:
Sudhir Gandotra
Spokesperson of Humanist International - Asia

Pakistan- a State of emergency..

2007-11-04T14:53:00.000+11:00

In response to the declaration of a state of emergency in Pakistan, The Humanist Party has prepared the following form for all concerned people to submit to their local embassy/consulate...

The Humanist International condemns the latest outrageous situation in Pakistan
The latest announcement of the imposition of the state of emergency and suspension of the constitution in Pakistan removes the veil from the eyes of the world; where Pakistan was previously seen as a supposedly “benign” dictatorship necessary to fight a so-called “war on terror”, it can now be seen for what is always was: a dictatorship whose aim has always been to look after the interests of the President and the military.
This announcement has only one possible outcome; increasing fear in the people of Pakistan, increasing violence in the country and increasing tensions in the region as a whole; a region where Pakistan is one of two nuclear powers that are still in conflict over disputed territory.
The imposition of dehumanising living conditions on the Pakistani population must be ended immediately. To this end the Humanist International demands the following actions:
· The immediate removal of the state of emergency
· The convoking of all interested parties in the country to come together and plan a way out of the current disastrous situation
· As soon as possible, to announce a timetable leading to the holding of free, fair and multi-party elections, allowing all Pakistanis to take part and not impeding anyone from returning from exile to take part
· To revoke all draconian laws implemented in recent years and implement the rule of law that puts the value of human life in its rightful place at the heart of democracy
It is high time that the military withdraw from politics and take the role that is expected of them which is to defend the country from outside attack.
We call on all Pakistanis who hope for a better future to support democracy and insist on a non-violent transition from dictatorship to participative and real democracy. In the words of Gandhi, one of the great souls of non-violence; “there is no way to peace; peace is the way”

Signed:

Great People..

2007-10-02T16:52:00.000+10:00

Humanize Asia
People of Asia - and active non-violence.

Complied in Hong Kong for 2 Oct 2007 Day of Non-Violence

Most striking and recent non-violent resistance organizations and people
active in providing non-violent alternates in Asia, that is, that have
made efforts to change things for the better in Asia using the active
non-violence approach.

Asia - Mario Rodríguez Cobos or Silo Born in Mendoza, Argentina, on
January 6th,1938. Does not profess any religion, nor is he affiliated to
any political party. He lives with his family in a small town near
Mendoza. Silo’s historic harangue, “The Healing of Suffering”, was given
on May 4, 1969. His ideas began to circulate more than three decades ago
in different parts of the world.

In the 1970s Silo was in Japan and the Philippines. In November 1981 an
Asian Tour took place, with 10,000 people gathered at Chowpatti Beach,
Bombay.

Active non-violence has been a fundamental tenet of Silo’s guidance.
Groups and organisations have formed throughout Asia under various
banners, all stemming from his activities in co-operation with members
of the Universalist New Humanist Movement.

Bangladesh - Khan Jahan local ruler and celebrated sufi saint. Khan
Jahan (popularly known as Khan Jahan Ali) was entitled Ulugh Khan and
Khan-i-Azam and flourished at Khalifatabad (Bagerhat) in the first half
of the fifteenth century AD when the later Iliyas Shahi Sultan
Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah was ruling at Gaur.

Khan Jahan, a noble under the Tughlaqs, seems to have come to Bengal
just after the sack of Delhi (1398) by Timur. He acquired the forest
area of the Sundarbans as jagir (fief) from the sultan of Delhi and
subsequently from the sultan of Bengal. He cleared up the dense forest
in the Sundarban area to set up human settlements, and soon got the
Masjidkur and adjacent areas on the eastern bank of the Kobadak suitable
for habitation through the untiring efforts of his deputies Burhan Khan
and Fateh Khan.

Local tradition ascribes to Khan Jahan the first Muslim colonisation of
a part of greater Jessore and Khulna districts. The titles Ulugh Khan
and Khan-i-Azam of Khan Jahan, as inscribed on his tomb, suggest that he
was not an independent freelancer but that he owed fealty most probably
to the Sultan of Gaur. He ruled over the pargana of Khalifatabad
stretching up to Naldi to the north of Narail.

Khan Jahan was a great builder. He founded some townships, built
mosques, madrasahs and sarais, roads, highways and bridges, excavated a
large number of dighis in the districts of greater Jessore and Khulna.
Besides his fortified metropolis of Khalifatabad (modern Bagerhat) he
built three townships, Maruli Kasba, Paigram Kasba and Bara Bazar. He is
said to have built a highway from Bagerhat to Chittagong, a twenty-mile
long road from Samantasena to Badhkhali, and a road running from
Shuvabara to Daulatpur in Khulna. The most notable of his architectural
monuments are Shatgumbad Mosque © 1450) at Bagerhat, Masjidkur Mosque ©
1450) at the village Masjidkur, his own tomb (1459) near Bagerhat and a
single-domed mosque attached to his tomb. Of the large number of dighis
and ponds excavated by him the most notable are the Khanjali Dighi
(1450) near his tomb and Ghoradighi (measuring 1500´x750´) to the west
of Shatgumbad Mosque. Khan Jahan introduced a new architectural style in
his buildings, which is named after him. The Khan Jahan style is seen in
a group of buildings in the greater districts of Khulna, Jessore and
Barisal. Khan Jahan who might have been an officer of the Gaur sultan
betrays in his buildings an affection for the Tughlaq architecture of
Delhi. This amply suggests his acquaintance with the Tughlaq style of
architecture and perhaps his earlier involvement in Tughlaq
administration.

Khan Jahan died on 25 October 1459 (27 Zilhajj 863 AH) and was buried in
the tomb built by himself. He is revered by people and numerous people
visit his tomb. An annual fair is held on the dargah premises in the
bright half of the lunar month in the Bengali month of Chaitra. [Muazzam
Hussain Khan]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Source: Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh - Muhammad Yunus
Born June 28, 1940 in Chittagong, then British India. Today a resident
of Bangladesh - religious belief Islam - is a Bangladeshi banker and
economist. A former professor of economics, he is famous for his
successful application of the concept of microcredit, the extension of
small loans to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank
loans. Yunus is also the founder of Grameen Bank. In 2006, Yunus and the
bank were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, "for their efforts to
create economic and social development from below." He is the author of
Banker to the Poor and a founding board member of Grameen Foundation.

Aung San Suu Kyi: Burma/Myanmar - born 19 June 1945 in Yangon (Rangoon),
is a nonviolent pro-democracy activist and leader of the National League
for Democracy in Myanmar (Burma), and a noted prisoner of conscience. A
Buddhist, Suu Kyi won the Rafto Prize and the Sakharov Prize for Freedom
of Thought in 1990 and in 1991 was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her
peaceful and non-violent struggle under a military dictatorship.

Her father, Aung San, negotiated Burma's independence from the United
Kingdom in 1947, and was assassinated by his rivals in the same year.
Suu Kyi was educated in English Catholic schools for much of her
childhood in Burma.

She continued her education at St Hugh's College, Oxford, and at the
School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. She also
worked for the government of the Union of Myanmar. In 1972, Aung San Suu
Kyi married Dr. Michael Aris, a scholar of Tibetan culture, living
abroad in Bhutan. Two sons.

Political beginnings
In 1988 the long-time leader of the socialist ruling party, General Ne
Win, stepped down, leading to mass demonstrations for democratization on
August 8, 1988 (8-8-88, a day seen as favorable), which were violently
suppressed. A new military junta took power.

Heavily influenced by Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence, Aung
San Suu Kyi entered politics to work for democratization, helped found
the National League for Democracy on 27 September 1988, and was put
under house arrest on 20 July 1989. She was offered freedom if she would
leave the country, but she refused.

One of her most famous speeches is the "Freedom From Fear" speech, which
begins:

" It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts
those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who
are subject to it.

In 1990, the military junta called a general election, which the
National League for Democracy won decisively. Under normal
circumstances, she would have assumed the office of Prime Minister.
Instead, the results were nullified, and the military refused to hand
over power.

The country name: Criticism concentrates on the fact that the military
regime, not democratically elected, had no legitimacy to change the name
of the country. However, it should be remembered that the military
regime did not change the official name of the country in Burmese, but
merely changed the name of the country in English. Opposition leader 1.
Aung San Suu Kyi at first opposed the new name "Myanmar", pointing out
at the hypocritical justification of inclusiveness put forward by the
military regime. Opposition parties, although they oppose the English
name "Myanmar", do not oppose the official Burmese name Myanma, and no
opposition party is proposing to use the colloquial name Bama as the
official name of the country.

Cambodia - Yos Hut Khemacaro. Seeks peace building initiatives which
are grounded in the local Khmer culture and sees Buddhism as the sole
institution which cuts across the deep political divisions separating
Cambodians today. The tendency to see it as a passive religion has often
led its great potential to be overlooked by outsiders. Khmer Buddhism's
timeless message of non-violence and compassion offers an important
platform for promoting constructive social and political change in
Cambodia today.

Buddhism has always been much more than a religion in Cambodia: it is a
social doctrine encompassing all aspects of life. Most Cambodians
consider themselves Buddhists. The village-based monastic system which
developed over many centuries in Cambodia effectively linked
enlightenment with community involvement. Under the direction of monks,
wats (temple-monasteries) became not only religious centres but also
sources of popular education and social services. Buddhism, as a
consequence, became the main medium through which the Khmer language and
culture was transmitted, explaining why it remains intricately woven
into the current social fabric despite Cambodia's tumultuous past.

The Dhammayietra ('pilgrimage of truth') peace marches are the most
visible expression of Khmer Buddhism's condemnation of violence. The
'army of peace', as it came to be known, made its first historic journey
in 1992. A large party of refugees and monks from Cambodia and other
countries were led by the Venerable Maha Ghosananda on a four-week march
from the Thai border into Cambodia. By the time the army of peace
reached Phnom Penh, it was 1,000-strong and had attracted the world's
attention to Cambodia's problems.

This massive peace demonstration has become an annual event in Cambodia
and traverses some of the country's most insecure regions.

China - The Tiananmen Square Protest 1989 was for democracy in China

China - Rebiya Kadeer - born 1947 - because of her support for western
China's Uyghur ethnic group and is one of China's most prominent
advocates of women's rights. She has shown great courage in opposing the
Chinese authorities' repressive policies. She has said, ''I will
continue to speak out against China's persecution of not only the Uyghur
people, but also Tibetans, Mongolians, and the Chinese people themselves
until all of them can enjoy their rights and freedoms.''

Kadeer, who lived in China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region -
Xinjiang is also known as East Turkistan - was jailed for eight years in
1999 on charges of endangering national security by giving state secrets
to foreigners. She was released early on ''medical parole'' in 2005 and
moved to the United States. Kadeer maintains she is a woman of peace,
but that is rejected by the Chinese authorities.
.
India - Gandhi - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. October 2, 1869 – January
30, 1948. a major political and spiritual leader of India and the Indian
independence movement. He was the pioneer of Satyagraha - the resistance
to tyranny through mass civil disobedience, firmly founded upon ahimsa
(non-harming) or total non-violence — which was one of the strongest
driving philosophies of the Indian independence movement and inspired
movements for civil rights and freedom across the world.

In India, he is officially accorded the honour of Father of the Nation
and October 2nd, his birthday, is commemorated each year as Gandhi
Jayanti, a national holiday. On 15 June 2007, the United Nations General
Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution declaring October 2 to be the
"International Day of Non-Violence."

India - Christian priest, Jesuit, Cedric Prakash, who has lived in
Ahmedabad for many years and who has seen the carnage left by rioting
before, including the 1968 Mumbai riots, those of 1969 throughout
Gujarat, and the Delhi anti-Sikh riots of 1984.

Until recently Prakash was the Director of Saint Xavier’s Social Service
Society, a small non-governmental relief organization working in some of
Ahmedabad’s many slums where he spearheaded a number of initiatives
aimed at promoting interfaith harmony. One of the most inspiring has
been the setting up of informal ‘peace committees’ whose primary job is
to counter inflammatory propaganda spread mostly by Hindu extremists and
designed to encourage violence against Muslims. As soon as a rumour
begins to circulate, the peace committees spring into action, holding a
community meeting in the slums to determine how the rumour started, by
whom and why. In this way the community meetings act as a safety valve,
allowing the local people to come together, ask questions and learn the
truth. With rumours travelling at lightning speed through the twisted
alleys of the city’s slums, the ‘myth busting’ work of the peace
committees is a potent antidote to the fears and mistrust that often
lead to violence. Now Prakash has set up his own organization, Prashant,
which means ‘all-pervasive peace.’

India - Asghar Ali Engineer - of the Dawoodi Bohra - was born in Bohra
priestly family (amil's family) on 10th March, 1939 in Salumbar,
Rajasthan (near Udaipur) where Sheikh Qurban Husain, his father, was an
amil at that time. Asghar Ali was given training in Qur'anic tafsir
(commentary), Tawil (hidden meaning of Qur'an) fiqh (jurisprudence) and
hadith (Prophet's sayings). He learnt the Arabic language from his
father and further developed it himself. He has studied all the major
works of Fatimi Da'wah by Sayedna Hatim, Sayedna Qadi Nu'man, Sayedna
Muayyad Shirazi, Sayedna Hamiduddin Kirmani, Sayedna Hatim al-Razi,
Sayedna Jafar Mansur al-Yaman and several others.

Mr. Engineer also acquired secular education besides religious one. He
graduated in civil engineering from Indore (M.P.) with distinction and
served for 20 years as an engineer in Bombay Municipal Corporation and
then took voluntary retirement to plunge himself into the Bohra reform
movement. He began to play a leading role in the reform movement
from1972 when the revolt took place in Udiapur. He wrote several
articles on the reform movement in the Seventies in the leading
newspapers of India such as The Times of India, Indian Express,
Statesman, Telegraph, The Hindu and others. He was unanimously elected
as General Secretary of The Central Board of Dawoodi Bohra Community in
its first conference in Udiapur in 1977 and has continued in the post
ever since. He devotes a great deal of his time for the reform movement
and has internationalised the reform movement through his writings and
speeches.

Mr. Engineer has also done a great deal of work on communalism and
communal violence in India since the first major riot in India in
Jabalpur in 1961. His work in this field is considered pioneering and in
recognition of his work Calcutta University conferred an honorary degree
of D.Lit. on him in February, 1983.

Dr. Engineer, as he is known since then, is also recognised as a
distinguished scholar of Islam and is invited for international
conferences on Islam by various governments and universities. Dr.
Engineer has lectured in several universities in USA., Canada, UK,
Indonesia, Malaysia, Germany, France, Thailand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka,
Yemen, Mexico, Lebanon, Switzerland, Egypt, Tokyo, Uzbekistan, Moscow,
Leningrad etc. He has also lectured in all the universities throughout
India.

Dr. Engineer has received several awards on his work on inter-religious
understanding. He believes in showing equal respect to all religions and
he considers faith in religion as most vital for a meaningful life.
However, he does not believe in blindly accepting dogmas inherited from
the past. He believes in re-thinking issues and re-interpreting Islam in
keeping with the changed times. He is of the opinion that it is our
individual obligation to acquire Islamic learning and reflect deeply
rather than following any one blindly. See his Rethinking Issues in
Islam.

On India's Republic Day Dr. Engineer was given the National Communal
Harmony Award for 1997 by the Government of India in recognition of his
work for promoting communal harmony throughout the country. The award
carries a citation and Rs. one lakh in cash.

Asghar Ali Engineer - as scholar and activist - and Swami Agnivesh,
social activist, were jointly selected for the 2004 Right Livelihood
Honorary Award in recognition of their "unceasing work for social
justice and communal harmony."

Reading from the citation, Baron Jakob von Uexkull, Founder-Chairman,
Right Livelihood Award Foundation, said the award was given "for their
strong commitment and cooperation over many years to promote the values
of coexistence, tolerance and understanding in India and between the
countries of South Asia."

India - Vinoba Bhave, a follower of Gandhi. September 11, 1895 -
November 15, 1982. Considered as a National Teacher of India and the
spiritual successor of Mahatma Gandhi. He was associated with Mahatma
Gandhi in the Indian independence movement. In 1932 he was sent to jail
by the British colonial government because of his fight against British
rule. There he gave a series of talks on the Gita, in his native
language Marathi, to his fellow prisoners.

In 1940 he was chosen by Gandhi to be the first Individual Satyagrahi
(an Individual standing up for Truth instead of a collective action)
against the British rule. Bhave also participated in the Quit India
Movement.

Vinoba observed the life of the average Indian living in a village and
tried to find solutions for the problems he faced with a firm spiritual
foundation. This formed the core of his Cervidae (awakening of all
potentials) movement. Another example of this is the Bhadon (land gift)
movement. He walked all across India asking people with land to consider
him as one of their sons and so give him a portion of their land which
he then distributed to landless poor. Non-violence and compassion being
a hallmark of his philosophy, he also campaigned against the
slaughtering of cows.

Indonesia - Baku Bae - The Baku Bae movement in Indonesia brought
Christian and Muslim communities together by adopting bold conflict
resolution and
reconciliation methods. The initiators see these as a way of rebuilding
social capital and restoring trust through dialogue and community focus.

In 2000, as fighting between Muslims and Christians in Maluku,
Indonesia, spiralled out of control, peace activist Ichsan Malik began
knocking on militants’ doors. Neither side showed desire for
reconciliation.

Malik was confident his bottom-up approach would work, that the key was
to strengthen desire for peace at the grassroots (people actually
involved in, and affected by, the conflict) before getting the
authorities involved. That is the core idea of Baku Bae
(“Reconciliation”), a movement formed in 2000 that became one of the
most visible civil-society responses to the mass violence that broke out
in Maluku a year earlier. A five stage approach is used.

Japan - Makoto Oda, writer and peace activist who died July 2007 at the
age of 75. At the memorial service in Tokyo, Shuichi Kato, an
influential social critic, addressed Oda's picture on the altar, saying,
"You were and you still are a great campaigner who promoted the
anti-Vietnam War movement, fought for the establishment of a law to
support the victims of the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake and engaged in
the recent pro-Constitution struggle."

Myanmar - Aung San Suu Kyi (Burmese: born 19 June 1945 in Yangon
(Rangoon), is a nonviolent pro-democracy activist and leader of the
National League for Democracy in Myanmar (Burma), and a noted prisoner
of conscience. A Buddhist, in 1991 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
for her peaceful and non-violent struggle under a military dictatorship.

Myanmar - National League for Democracy. They are the only party in the
country to engage in the political struggle by solely nonviolent means.
In 2000, they stated publicly that their foreign policy will include
introducing to parliament at the soonest possible time the accession of
Burma to the Mine Ban Treaty as a mater of national urgency.

Myanmar - Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan, carries a belief and hope for a
non-violent world. He is the South-east Asia coordinator of Nonviolence
International and Landmine Monitor researcher for the International
Campaign to Ban Landmines, the NGO which won the Nobel Prize for Peace
in 1997.

Nepal - Krishna Pahadi, a former chair of Amnesty International Nepal
and founder of the Human Rights and Peace Society; Dr Devendra Raj
Panday, former president of the anti-corruption organization
Transparency International-Nepal; Dr Mathura Prasad Shrestha, president
of Physicians for Social Responsibility-Nepal; and Shyam Shrestha,
editor of the political journal Mulyankan, are all leaders of the
Citizens' Movement for Democracy and Peace (CMDP). The CMDP has played a
key role in organizing pro-democracy demonstrations over the past year.

New Zealand- Parihaka
Parihaka is a small community in Taranaki region, New Zealand, nestling
half way between Mount Taranaki and the Tasman Sea.

It has less than 100 inhabitants today, but in the 1870s was reputed to
be the largest Maori village in New Zealand when it was the centre of an
important civil rights incident. It was there that the Maori Prophets,
Te Whiti o Rongomai and Tohu became involved in passive resistance to
the confiscation of Maori land by the New Zealand Government. Open
warfare had proved unavailing so Te Whiti developed a doctrine of
passive resistance such as the removal of survey pegs and the ploughing
up of access roads. This put the government in a quandary. It could not
use the justice system to stop the Maori obstruction because seizure of
the land had itself been illegal.

Several Taranaki tribes were affected by the Parihaka incident. Between
2001 and 2006, the New Zealand government provided redress and a formal
apology to four of those tribes, Ngati Ruanui, Ngati Tama, Ngaa Rauru
Kiitahi and Ngati Mutunga, for a range of historical issues including
Parihaka. Tens of millions of New Zealand dollars were provided as
redress to the tribes in recognition of their losses at Parihaka and the
confiscations.

Pakistan - Khudai Khidmatgar - an organization which name literally
translates as the servants of God. It represented a non-violent freedom
struggle against the British Empire by the Pashtuns (also known as
Pathans, Pakhtuns or Afghans) of the North West Frontier Province. The
movement was led by Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, known locally as Bacha Khan
or Badshah Khan c. 1890 – 1988 The Peaceful Pathan - Leader of the
non-violent independence movement in British India's Northwest Frontier,
known as the Frontier Gandhi. Alternate name: Badshah Khan.

Philippines - José Rizal. Born June 19, 1861 and died December 30, 1896.
National hero. Place of birth: Calamba, Laguna, Philippines. Place of
death: Bagumbayan (now Rizal Park), Manila, Philippines. Major
organizations: La Solidaridad and La Liga Filipina

José Rizal was a Filipino polymath, nationalist and the most prominent
advocate for reforms in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era.
He is considered a national hero and the anniversary of Rizal's death is
commemorated as a Philippine holiday called Rizal Day. Rizal's 1896
military trial and execution made him a martyr of the Philippine
Revolution.

Rizal was a polyglot conversant in at least ten languages and a prolific
poet, essayist, diarist, correspondent, and novelist whose most famous
works were his two novels, Noli me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. These
are social commentaries on the Philippines that formed the nucleus of
literature that inspired dissent among peaceful reformists and spurred
the militancy of armed revolutionaries against 333 years of Spanish
rule.

As a political figure, Rizal was the founder of La Liga Filipina, a
civic organization that subsequently gave birth to the Katipunan led by
Bonifacio and Aguinaldo. He was a proponent of institutional reforms by
peaceful means rather than by violent revolution. The general consensus
among Rizal scholars, however, attributed his martyred death as the
catalyst that precipitated the Philippine Revolution.

Here is Rizal speaking through his fictional character Father
Florentino: “...our liberty will (not) be secured at the sword's
point...we must secure it by making ourselves worthy of it. And when a
people reaches that height God will provide a weapon, the idols will be
shattered, tyranny will crumble like a house of cards and liberty will
shine out like the first dawn.”

Rizal's advocacy of institutional reforms by peaceful means rather than
by violent revolution makes him Asia's first modern non-violent
proponent of political reforms. Forerunner of Gandhi and contemporary of
India’s Tagore and China’s Sun Yat Sen, all four created a new climate
of thought throughout Asia, leading to the attrition of colonialism and
the emergence of new Asiatic nations by the end of World War II. Rizal's
appearance on the scene came at a time when European colonial power had
been growing and spreading, mostly motivated by trade, some for the
purpose of bringing Western forms of government and education to peoples
regarded as backward. Coinciding with the appearance of those other
leaders, Rizal from an early age had been enunciating in poems, tracts
and plays, ideas all his own of modern nationhood as a practical
possibility in Asia. In the Noli he stated that if European civilization
had nothing better to offer, colonialism in Asia was doomed. Such was
recognized by Gandhi who regarded him as a forerunner in the cause of
freedom. Jawaharlal Nehru, in his prison letters to his daughter Indira,
acknowledged Rizal's significant contributions in the Asian freedom
movement. These leaders regarded these contributions as keystones and
acknowledged Rizal's role in the movement’s foundation layer.

See: Austin Coates, Rizal: Philippine Nationalist and Martyr (London:
Oxford University Press, 1968) ISBN 019581519X
(Above compiled using the Rizal wikipedia entry.)

Philippines - 1986 - People Power Revolution. Many people have long
debated on how millions of people were able to topple a two-decade long
authoritarian rule with almost no bloodshed. The event was quite
unprecedented in Philippine history. It was probably the first time
millions of civilians came to the aid of the military, which had long
been an instrument of repression and terror.

Thailand - Sulak Sivaraksa: This global activist is Thailand's most
prominent social critic and activist, and one of the major contemporary
exponents of socially engaged Buddhism. For the last 30 years he has
combined provocative intellectual work with continual grassroots
organizing in Thailand. Founder of rural development projects as well as
many NGOs dedicated to exploring, in Thailand and internationally,
alternative models of sustainable, traditionally-rooted and ethically-
and spiritually-based development, Sulak also runs an organisation
called 'Spirit in Education Movement'.

Periodically, Sulak has been persecuted by various dictatorships that
have mostly ruled Thailand since 1932. In 1976, following a coup and the
deaths of hundreds of students, he was forced to stay in exile for two
years. In 1984, he was arrested by the government for lese-majeste
(defamation of the monarchy), but after an international campaign on his
behalf, he was released. In September 1991, he was again charged with
lese-majeste and also with defamation of the Army Commander, General
Suchinda Kraprayoon, for a speech given in Bangkok on 'The Regression of
Democracy in Siam'; Sulak went immediately into exile. In December 1992,
he returned to face trial. In the meantime, Sulak was nominated for the
Nobel Peace Prize in both 1993 and 1994, thereafter he won the 'Right
Livelihood Award' in 1995.

Sulak is a lawyer, teacher, scholar, publisher and a founder of many
organisations and an author of more than sixty publications.

Tibet - Dalai Lama or Tenzin Gyatso (born 6 July 1935) is the fourteenth
and current Dalai Lama. As such, he is often referred to in Western
media simply as the Dalai Lama, without any qualifiers.

The fifth of sixteen children of a farming family in the Tibetan
province of Amdo, he was proclaimed the tulku (rebirth) of the
thirteenth Dalai Lama at the age of two. On 17 November 1950, at the age
of fifteen, he was enthroned as Tibet's Head of State and most important
political ruler, while Tibet faced occupation by the forces of the
People's Republic of China.

After the collapse of the Tibetan resistance movement in 1959, Tenzin
Gyatso fled to India, where he was active in establishing the Central
Tibetan Administration (the Tibetan government in exile) and in seeking
to preserve Tibetan culture and education among the thousands of
refugees who accompanied him.
A charismatic figure and noted public speaker, Tenzin Gyatso is the
first Dalai Lama to travel to the West. There, he has helped to spread
Buddhism and to promote the concepts of universal responsibility,
secular ethics, and religious harmony. In 1989, he was awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize.

Tony Henderson.

Oz 2007

2007-08-15T20:03:00.000+10:00

This is year 2007, and our conventional neo-liberal politicians continue to fail to address their lack of respect for the Australian Aboriginal populace. Why?
The legislation over the 'Aboriginal communities problems' was a kneejerk reaction by our Federal govt to media exposure of a report on social standards in remote Aboriginal communities.
Its a hugely complex issue that needs much careful examination - we even have some Aboriginal community leaders saying it is a required move (the legal changes). I think the majority of Oz see it (the legislation) as a necessary evil - we're a bit of the 'nanny state' in mentality. Those of critical thought regarding human rights are well & truly in the minority. The immediate critical response was to state the obvious - It wont work 'from the top down' - the communities in question need consultation & this is, of course, true.
We have yet to see the impact of the legislation. Anecdotally, people are deserting the relevant communities when informed of an impending 'visit' and either returning later or moving elsewhere permanently. Like a lot of Oz law, its only as effective as its enforcement, and our relatively small population over this large continent often negates this. I believe that our conventional legal system is well equipped to resolve the more severe criminal problems (hard drug supply, alcohol supply to minors etc) – it is merely under equipped to deal with the cultural differences.
A plan requires implementation to gain the respect for non-violent, non self-destructive life in communities seriously affected by social breakdown. And to provide the ‘seeds’ for meaningful life to take hold for those denied as much, no matter what the racial background.
The Humanist Movement, through the Centre of Cultures, would like to see local forums organised for the highlighting of local issues, by local people. Without communal recognition, and consensus regarding problems there can be no concise action. The catalyst for this is in the communal discussion.
With Peace,
& Cheers!
Scott

Anzac Day

2007-04-25T20:14:00.000+10:00

Today is ANZAC day, a day when we are to remember those who gave their lives in the defence of this country during war. Across Australia, many a dawn service was held in the memory of the fallen, thousands have marched in the cities and even more will engage in a ceremonial game of ‘two up’. It is a national public holiday.
For those with ancestors and relatives lost, it is a day of direct significance. Many people see their lost relatives & friends as ‘martyrs’ – lives given in the defence of the national values held so dearly. Many others not so directly involved also see the day from this perspective. The moniker ‘Lest We Forget’ is held high and mightily.
And this is where my confusion commences. ‘Lest We Forget’ is a great statement, but what are we to remember besides the individuals lost?
Certainly we should be remembering that it is a misdistribution of resources across the globe that causes the situations that lead to violent outcomes.
Certainly we should remember that it is the decision of the encumbered government regarding a nations participation in War.
Certainly we should remember that poverty, and all the deprivations that go with it are the causes of Fascism & Totalitarianism. WW2 would have never happened & Hitler would never have risen to power if the German populace was ‘comfortably well off’ post WW1. The whole human race is responsible for every violent act, every skirmish & every war.
Certainly we should remember that few governments seem to have learned the cost of war, in Human terms. ‘War’, has increasingly become a situation of ‘no winners’. Vietnam was unresolved & now the war in Iraq is in a similar situation. Our young men & women are simply ‘cannon fodder’ for our rulers.
Certainly we should take this day, and all it means, and project it into the future. Are we to continue using this most extreme form of violence in a world that has outgrown it?
Certainly we should understand that we are not ‘predisposed’, genetically or otherwise to the use of violence, and that it is certain that the world will find a future free of violence, one day.
Certainly we should work together to resolve the imbalance of resources. Certainly we should realise that we are all human, and we have but one planet to call home. We should look after both.
Certainly we should remove those people in positions of power & influence who fail to denounce violence, through ‘non-violent’ means. We do elect our governments, more or less. We do have some choice.
Vale to those who have lost their lives at the hands of other people through the futile violence of war.

Lest We Forget..

Living Peace Sign

2007-03-13T06:57:00.000+11:00

MARCH 17, 2003, the day George Bush gave Saddam Hussein 48 hrs to capitulate. The invasion of Iraq had begun..
The fact is that this 'declaration of war', is a disaster. It has been a proven failure, as is all war. Any solution that involves the intentional killing of people and the dismantling of society is a failure. It is a crude, stupid, violent, trashing of humanity.
The HUMANIST MOVEMENT has acknowledged the anniversary of this poorest of decisions, over the past three years, by the assembling of the LIVING PEACE SYMBOL. Thousands of people have gathered in formation in locations across the globe for a truly valid reason - the promotion of Non-Violence & Peace.
This Saturday, March 17, we will be assembling Sydney's first 'Living Peace symbol'.
In true Aussie style, we'll be 'going to the beach' and gathering at -
MANLY BEACH, SOUTHERN END, OCEAN SIDE, opposite Victoria Parade. It would, of course, be great to see you there - the more people, the bigger the symbol!
The time will be 12 midday. Wear something bright/colourful, for photographic effect.
With Peace..

Manly Beach is the place!!

2007-03-11T20:03:00.000+11:00

Amigos/Friends
We will meet at 12:00 midday, to assemble pretty soon after and disperse by 12:30 at the latest.
Southern End of Manly Beach, opposite Victoria Pde.
Wear bright coloured T-shirts, hats, etc.
No posters or signs. Just the people!

Worldwide Human Peace Signs' Day 2007

2007-03-01T07:59:00.000+11:00

Wow... it's spreading. I can't wait for the day when the whole world is covered with little orange dots, or better, a time when there's no need for them.

Nuclear disarmament now! Before a bomb is used - afterwards it will be too late....

2007-02-20T20:39:00.000+11:00

Humanists around the world are organising living peace symbols on Saturday the 17th March, 2007, to put pressure on world leaders to disarm all nuclear weapons arsenals. In Australia we will hold events in Sydney and Hobart. For more information see the links below or leave a comment and we'll get back to you...

A WORLD OF PEACE
a planet without nuclear weapons

Across the world scientists, artists, soldiers, women and men, young and old alike are saying: war is a disaster! At the beginning of the third millennium, on a planet where nowhere is isolated any more and where it is possible to know in real time what is happening in far away continents, one question resounds in the hearts of all people of the Earth: what future is there?

The events of recent years show the same tendency: nuclear re-armament, the control of the planet’s resources at all costs, the use of violence to resolve international, regional and local conflicts. Governments change colour but not policies, wars occur at a sustained rhythm, the profits of the arms industry increase and the declarations of the politicians are increasingly empty and further away from reality.

Violence envelops the planet like a blanket and touches everyone, becoming part of daily life and poisoning people's hearts. The declarations of the USA and France sustaining the possibility to use nuclear weapons in a first strike against terrorism, leaves everyone dismayed.

People across the planet are demanding: let’s give peace a chance!

http://www.centreofcultures.org.au/ - www.peacebound.org