Congress2007 Resolutions

We, the participants in the Congress for Planetary Initiatives 2007, assembled in Salt Lake City, Utah (August 22-26, 2007),  as a matter of dire need, to develop a base of concerns, to formulate a framework for a global action plan to ensure world peace;

A. The Gender panelists, after careful deliberation on the theme of “Gender Issues, and their Implications for World Peace” submit to the assembled Congress the following resolutions:

1. To recognize that gender is an integral part of all social, political, economic, and religious systems, often central to those systems.
2. To recognize that Feminism works to transform structures of domination and illegitimate hierarchies by addressing and changing the underlying ideologies and power of those structures.
3. To acknowledge that Feminism advocates values which preserve the dignity of all human beings.
4. To acknowledge that Feminism envisions a society without war, and without killing, torture, abuse or disempowerment of minority populations.
5. To recognize that structures of domination are interrelated; e.g. media, economics, and patriarchy.
6. To ensure that children be brought up with an awareness of the structures of domination.
7. To recognize and challenge the disempowering gender-roles and images portrayed in media.
8. To ensure that societies are furnished with mechanisms that recognize the value of any work that sustains human life (not just paid work that carries a monetary value).
9. To recognize the existence of a variety of discourses for empowering women, including religious and indigenous cultural values.
10. To acknowledge that there are various feminisms throughout the world and that they are valid and effective.

B. The Arts, Culture, Film and Recreation panelists, after careful deliberation on the theme of “Art and Aesthetics: The Contribution of Creativity to World Peace” submit to the assembled Congress the following resolutions:

Recognizing that,

• Art and media can be a powerful catalyst for personal and social transformation but often does not meet this goal.
• The industry is market driven.
• Consumers participate in the market.

We propose:

1. that parents and educators model and encourage conscious consumption of media via informed media literacy. This includes issues regarding program content AND the harmful physical, emotional and social consequences of inappropriate (age and stage specific) over consumption of commercially produced graphic (screen based) media.
2. that producers, directors and actors take responsibility for the impact their works have on the social, emotional and spiritual development of the people who view (consume) their products.
3. that leaders in the industry serve as role models to expand their commercial success by creating new forms that are both commercially successful (engaging, entertaining) and socially responsible (in-lightening rather than en-darkening.)  And by so doing set a new and higher standard and example for emerging artist.
4. that all new emerging forms of media-propaganda clearly state their sponsors.  

 C. The Kinship, Community and Societal Change panelists, after careful deliberation on the theme of “Family, Tribe, the Affective Life, and World Peace” submit to the assembled Congress the following resolutions:

Recognizing that we are World Peace Activists and that we serve in our communities and in all our dealings;

Accordingly, we propose to:

a.        Create an online community (website) to further our international Activism.

b.      Make available our collective resources to support this community in furthering our individual visions and our overall objective of world peace.

c.       Create an online forum and establish creative leadership to moderate the discussion and to protect the integrity of the initiative.

d.      Articulate, formulate, and disseminate this message to the media.

e.       Enroll financial institutions both local and global to support this vision of world peace advocacy through financial support or private funding.

f.        Register with the United Nations as a consultative NGO.

 D. The Science, Technology, Ideas and Innovation panelists, after careful deliberation on the theme of “Mainstream Science, Alternative Sciences, and their Potential for Peace” submit to the assembled Congress the following resolutions:

Recognizing that:

i.                     what is required is peace on all four planes of social being: material transactions with nature; social interactions between people; social structure; and above all, the stratification of the embodied personality. This last condition involves the integration of the mental, emotional and physical aspects of our personality. As inner peace, this integration is also the condition of working towards peace at all four levels.

ii.                   the industrial revolution has produced untold damage (from which we are still suffering) at all these planes of social being; and we have not adequately assessed the effects of more recent technological innovations—from the television to the computer and other electronic communications devices.

iii.                  The possibility of the beneficial use of good science in the development of alternative peace-conducive technologies is severely constrained by the structure of contemporary society, and in particular the subordination of scientific research and development to corporate, political and military aims.

In this impasse, we would like to adopt the following resolutions:

a.             To develop the sciences of inner, human and social being, alongside peace studies. (Inner science or understanding would, for example, investigate the use of our remarkable capacity for reflexivity or self-observation.) In developing the science of human social being, we need

b.             To pay attention to lay knowledge as a resource and to perspectives that predate the advent of modernity, for example a principle of balance between work and leisure, or the cultivation of appropriate scale in human life.

c.             To attend to the way in which certain ethical principles, such as reciprocity or universal solidarity are the unrecognized foundation of social practices in all sectors of social life.

d.             To explore the possibilities of the unconditional sharing of all science and technology.

E. The Ecology, Nature and other Species panelists, after careful deliberation on the theme of “Nature, Ecology, and Environment: Implications for World Peace” submit to the assembled Congress the following resolutions:

Recognizing that in earlier times we wondered how long the excluded and oppressed peoples of our planet would have to struggle to achieve basic human dignity;

Recognizing that we did not realize at the time that along with social injustice the scepter of human extinction would stare us in the face;

Acknowledging that the ecological crisis is accelerating at an alarming rate and that each of us can do small and big things to reverse the situation;

Affirming that we shall overcome in the end;

We propose the following,

a. At the personal level

-         that we make the right choices rather than succumb to the seduction of the consumer market,

-         that we be careful in the use of water, turn of the lights, take a bus or a train instead of a plane, as far as possible,

-         that we begin to see the earth as sacred, as a mother to be honored and not as a commodity to be plundered and wasted,

-         that we sense the energy and the nurturance that the earth gifts us,

-         that we eat less meat and more vegetables, fruits and cereal, since the production of meat inflicts a heavy toll on the environment,

-         that we produce and consume locally as far as possible, not least of all because we can avoid transportation over long distances, which is a major cause of global warming,

b. That since corporations are a major source of environmental pollution, citizens must increasingly monitor corporate behavior and evaluate their ecological footprints, obliging them to compete with each other in promoting ecological best practices. Simultaneously we should strive to change human consumer behavior by working together with corporations to popularize the image of being green,

c. That civil society groups and organizations must pressure national governments to participate in the formulation and implementation of environmental policy and legislation. Only a transparent and participatory process can prevent special interest groups from subverting the implementation of meaningful environmental laws,

d. That we push our elected representatives to move swiftly to develop alternate energy sources, be they wind, sun, hydrogen fuel cells or sustainable bio-fuels etc.,

e. That since in most countries agriculture is the largest consumer of water, we develop methods of low-water agriculture, such as the Madagascar method o f paddy cultivation and the drip and sprinkler methods of irrigation and that these must be subsidized with government funds so that they can be widely used,

f. That we should organize civil society debates on all aspects related to global warming and lobby both nationally and internationally to move towards more substantive efforts to go to the roots on climate change,

g. That we should support the socially responsible companies by increasing the consumer awareness of ecological benefits of being and staying green and using more plant based products in lieu of pesticides or chemically enriched products.

h. That we should strive to understand the implications and impact of WAR (and what is behind war) on environment and that we should publicize this widely.

i. That we should promote and ensure protection for the ever increasing numbers of environmental refugees and recognize the need for a new U.N. international convention on the states of refugees that includes the terms environmental refugee, and ensures the safe and adequate care, and protection for the world’s internally displaced environmental refugees and international environmental refugees.

F. The Economy and Material Life panelists, after careful deliberation on the theme of “Human Needs, Provisioning, Ethics, and World Peace” submit to the assembled Congress the following resolutions:

Recognizing that the current global economic structure has failed to deliver peace due to its exploitative nature, its undemocratic institutions of global governance, its devaluation of non-market economic activities, its excessive focus on economic growth, its aggression against nature, its tendency to reinforce and feed upon social segmentations along gender, racial, religious, caste, and ethnic lines, its tendency to homogenize cultural variety, and to create islands of plenty amidst seas of misery leading to conflict and violence, 

Recognizing that the consumerist western lifestyle is not ecologically sustainable for all peoples of the earth,

Acknowledging that working towards world peace requires a system of social provisioning that can satisfy material human needs, enhance human capabilities, secure a decent quality of life, and expand choice options, without violence against people and without violence against nature.

Recognizing that working towards such a system entails the rejection of Eurocentric habits of thought, and the celebration of the diversity and richness of non-western economic traditions, 

Acknowledging that such a system only employs technology in the service of the above stated aims, rather than celebrating it for its own sake or employing it only for the sake of economic growth,

We propose an economic system that entails:

• Securing national sovereignty to allow for the implementation of autonomous trade, fiscal, and monetary policies that are commensurate with the objectives of social justice, poverty alleviation, and provisioning of health and education,
• Securing cultural sovereignty to protect the diversity of local economies,
• Ensuring genuine grassroots participation at all levels of decision making from local to national and global governance agencies,
• Encouraging communal and non-exploitative production processes that utilize non-labor displacing and non-ecologically degrading technologies,
• Ensuring that market processes are governed by a legal framework bounded by culturally specific ethical norms, rather than a dogmatic belief in free markets,
• Valuing non-market economic activities, such as elderly care, child rearing, and unpaid household work, in the same way as we value market activities,
• Abolishing all forms of gender, racial, religious, caste, and ethnic discrimination associated with economic activity,

In order for this to be more than a wish list, we must continue our ceaseless struggles towards these ends, nothing less will achieve our cherished objective of world peace.

G. The Tradition, Nativism, and Indigenous Ways panelists, after careful deliberation on the theme of “Tradition, Modernity, and Nativism: Indigenous Practices and Peace” submit to the assembled Congress the following resolutions:

Titling these resolves "On Becoming Fully Human";

Recognizing the following conceptual scheme:

North   Red                  Earth                Heart                            Feelings            Harmony

                                                                                                      +                     =

East      Yellow             Air                   Mind                            Thoughts          Balance

                                                                                                      +                     =

South   Black               Water               Physical Existence         Actions Freedom

                                                                                                                  +                     =

West    White               Fire                  Spiritual Existence         Purpose            Inner Peace

=         

A sense of interconnectedness, being part of something greater than ourselves, a “universal consciousness”

=

Increased capacity for individual and collective change

=

Increased capacity for peace, both as a process and as an outcome

Adopting the metaphor that Aspen trees have unique, interconnected root systems that help each tree contribute to the health and vibrancy of the grove. We view being fully human in the same way. Individuals, connected by a shared purpose, are what make humanity thrive;

Recognizing that in the instrumental, “Golden Dual”, the message suggested two diverse entities resolving differences and coming together harmoniously and that this is what we need to do as a species;

Acknowledging that irrespective of race, color, or gender, the only way we can come together harmoniously is through increasing our understanding- and love for one another;

We adopt the following working propositions:

a. That we educate our children concerning the truths (lessons) learned from the history of human experience,

b. That we value diversity,

c. That we inculcate within our children a spiritual base that serves to inspire a greater capacity- and desire for harmony, balance, freedom, and inner peace,

d. We embrace and perpetuate our interconnectedness by sharing and serving our brothers and sisters.

H. The Race, Ethnicity and Language panelists, after careful deliberation on the theme of “Racism, Bigotry and Prejudice: Intolerance and World Peace” submit to the assembled Congress the following resolution:

Recognizing that:

Whereas,    the progress of peace is impeded by racial, ethnic, caste, religious, linguistic and other types of intolerance; and,

Whereas,   bigotry is directed against non-religious believers,

Whereas,    discrimination is often based on notions of hierarchy, purity and pollution, and/or myths; and,

Whereas,    intolerance results in the denial of history, culture, language, and self determination of particular groups; and,

Whereas,    dominant groups (race or caste) appropriate a disproportionate share of power, authority, wealth, resources and prestige; and,

Whereas,    groups who are discriminated against are often victims of violence, inhuman and degrading treatment, extreme poverty, are treated as if they were invisible, disproportionately targeted, blamed for social ills, subjected to improper security legislation and custodial abuses, as well as other unjust treatment; and,

Whereas,    governments often explicitly or tacitly support private actors who perpetuate discrimination; and,

Whereas,    discrimination is cumulative domination, and has social, political and economic dimensions; and,

Whereas,    definitions of race and ethnicity vary by history and geography; and,

Whereas,    understanding the colonial history is necessary to understand racism in context.

Wherefore, be it RESOLVED:

a. To rely on “social movements” to develop new discourses on racial justice;

b. To recognize and understand the contributions of all groups toward the development of their societies;

c. To develop education systems with adequate resources to acknowledge educational differences, meet the needs of all groups, and teach the culture of respect and tolerance;

d. To facilitate interaction between the youth of different racial, caste and indigenous groups;

e. To increase access to opportunities, education and resources and decrease economic inequalities;

f. To teach respect for universal human rights principles of nondiscrimination and equality;

g. To promote language flexibility;

h. To eliminate hate speech and racist propaganda.

i. To encourage and facilitate a vision of a society in which every human being is treated with dignity; respect; and provided with equal means for growth and development, and enjoy inherent human rights.

I. The Religion and Faith panelists, after careful deliberation on the theme of “Religion and Faith: The Placement of The Sublime  in World Peace” and the Spirituality and Transcendent Ethics panelists after careful deliberation on the theme of “Transcendent Ethics, Metaphysics, and Other-Worldly Pursuits: Empathy, Imagination and World Peace” submit to the assembled Congress the following resolutions:

Recognizing that there is inherent goodness in all of our best selves that transcends our differences of religion, and culture and that it is an ethic of empathy and compassion, of treating others as one would like to be treated; of service to humanity and trying to be one’s best self, and that this common ethic of good is one of the most powerful forces for building peace;

Recognizing  that knowledge of truth by itself is not enough, that it must be practiced day in and day out to achieve it;

Therefore, we commit and call upon all:

a. To be true to their best selves; to set aside prejudices, to not follow or lend support to those who practice violence and hatred in the name of religion [or otherwise] and to practice SERVICE TO HUMANITY as a fundamental value,

b. To respect each other’s faith and moral values and preservation of natural environment as the foundation for a harmonious and peaceful coexistence to ensure our peace and prosperity,

c. To honor our diversity for our common good as one human family,

d. To encourage others in a positive manner to practice the good values that we hold so precious to realize our individual spirituality while serving humanity.

J. The Modernism and Eurocentrism panelists, after careful deliberation on the theme of “Ideas, Epistemics, and Hegemony: Cultural Prospects for Peace” submit to the assembled Congress the following resolution:

To develop educational materials to teach the next generation about the contributions of many civilizations in shaping the modern world in positive ways; this would undermine the prevailing view that the West has been the sole engine of all positive things in modern society. This would reduce the chauvinism prevalent among many Westerners who see it as the Manifest Destiny to dominate other cultures, which inevitably leads to conflicts. A pivotal shift in this new approach to education would result from repositioning the teaching of history of science and technology and modernity, by acknowledging the contributions of non-Western civilizations (most notably the Chinese, Indians, Persians and Arabs) in shaping what became falsely known as “Western science”. Such a multi-civilizational view of the origins of modern science, technology and modernity would achieve the following:

1.      Promote dialog, not clash, to demonstrate how the dialog of civilizations has functioned fruitfully in the past, and, therefore, such a dialog should be made to work today as an alternative to the clash of civilizations. Thus, the history of science and technology can become an antidote to the clash of civilizations,

2.      Decouple modernism from Westernization. Chinese, Indians, Arabs and others would no longer feel pressured to abandon their native civilizations and to adopt Westernization carte blanche in order to utilize science and technology and to modernize. Each non-Western civilization would experiment with its own integration of modern ideas into its native traditions. Western Modernity would become only one kind of modernity,

3.      Promote sustainable modernism. While Western modernity has proven to be largely unsustainable, these other civilizational approaches could lead to better forms of modernity.

K. The Peace, War and Militarism panelists, after careful deliberation on the theme of “War, Violence, Disarmament, and the Pacification of Human Existence” submit to the assembled Congress the following resolutions:

Whereas, recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world;

Whereas, disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind; and

Whereas, the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief, freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspirations of the common people;

Whereas it is essential if a person is not compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law;

Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations;

Therefore, Congress 2007 calls for:

1. China to allow the Dalai Lama to return to Tibet; to allow the Tibetan people to practice their religion without censorship or fear; to allow those displaced Tibetans now living in Bhutan, India and Nepal to return to Tibet without fear of repression, and to restore all rights and privileges in their ancestral homeland,
2. Israel to recognize the right of the Palestinian people to have their own state in the areas occupied by Israel in 1967, and recognizing the right of Israel to live in peace with secure borders in the areas prior to 1967,
3. Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be completely relinquished to the Palestinians and all Israeli residents to be relocated in Israeli land,
4. Palestine and Israel to denounce the use of terrorism in any form and take every measure possible to prevent their own people from engaging in terrorist acts and take measures to prevent any future terrorism themselves,
5. Equitable compensation to be made by Israel to Palestinians who owned properties in Israel that were forfeited in 1948 when the refugees fled,
6. Palestinian refugees from other countries- Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and other countries to have the right to return to Palestinian territories provided they accept the terms of being a law-abiding citizen of the Palestinian state,
7. The United States of America and its allies to cease the production, sale, and military use of depleted uranium weapons immediately,
8. Bringing world attention to the atrocities that have been inflicted on the Chechen people,
9. Supporting efforts to free Chechen prisoners of war held by the Russian Army,
10. Supporting efforts to locate those Chechens who are among the “disappeared”,
11. Supporting efforts to help the people of Chechnya rebuild their infrastructure and to reconstitute their identity as a people.
12. Recommending that any war-like confrontation and disruption of human life anywhere in the world should be resolved through negotiations between the leaders of the parties confronting one another so that people can carry on their lives peacefully,
13. Recognizing that the aggression against Iraq and its continued occupation is unlawful under international law and constitutes a grave and serious dereliction of obligations of states who are party to this continued illegality against Iraq,
14. Condemning the depravation of the civil rights of the people of Iraq, the creation of a proxy government, and the destruction on a massive scale of its historical heritage and the killing of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians,
15. Recognizing that such state action is tantamount to state terrorism as defined by the World Court in the case of Nicaragua, and therefore entitles those who are victims of this horrendous misfortune to appropriate remedial actions under the law,
16. Condemning any form of state terrorism or retaliatory terrorism.

L. The Health, Human Well-Being and Child Welfare panelists, after careful deliberation on the theme of “Well-Being and Conviviality: Human Welfare and World Peace” submit to the assembled Congress the following resolutions:

We call for actions to:

1. Return to the fundamental core values of family; nurture; audio visual communication and play,
2. Take care of Children who are victims of war, conflict, and natural disaster,
3. Create community-supported experiential learning environments for parents and people who care for children,
4. Ensure processes that facilitate children so children can remain as children not for the exploitation of child labor,
5. Recognize that We Reap What We Sow – If we bring love into our homes, our children will grow knowing love, acceptance, and peace.  Those seeds of love and peace we plant in our children will later grow into trees of love and peace showering fruits upon the entire world,
6. Protect the right of every child to food and healthcare,
7. Protect the right of every child to an unbiased education,
8. Protect the right of every child to grow up in a peaceful world,
9. Promote the idea that we can only be just and fair to one another if we can take the time to listen, and make the effort to place ourselves in the position of others,
10. Realization and appreciate that there is much work ahead of us if we are to truly grasp the principles and practices of dialogue.

Congress2007 Meeting

August 26, 2007

[Adopted by the recorded majority vote and by acclamation]