Foundational Rational for Global Governance

Those that know me realize I am a Conservative Reaganite. I make this proclamation up front so the reader understands the position I am coming from before trying to tackle this article from a Liberal point of view. In this article I am trying to convey all the reasons Liberals have for the global agenda so we Conservatives can see why it gains so much support and then focus our efforts on alternatives, or debunking some of the fundamental principles. For example, there is enough proof that man-made climate change is all hogwash, but where are the arguments against "depletion of natural resources as population grows"...or, "negative impacts on biodiversity as a result of human sprawl"....

If we simply remain dismissive of the issues because we wish to "keep things the same as they have always been", then the best we can hope for is to appear ignorant--intellectually rooted by dogmatism. If we are to be honest with ourselves then logic would dictate that spiraling consumption patterns, modernization of mining, fishing, agriculture, etc., coupled with greater industrialization; just might have some impact on either ecological balance, the environment, and/or the biosphere.

The principles of the Constitution are immutable in my opinion, but conversely it is fair to say that the world is not the same place that our Founding Fathers inhabited. This certainly does not give justification to changing the governing laws of the land, but it does present us with the challenge of broadening our perspective to be inclusive of the global consequences of our actions.

This article is basically a call for action. I do not have the answers to address all the issues that they raise. We have successfully debunked the myth of man-made climate change, but this will not stop the Progressive agenda because there are many more issues that they bring to light. Irrespective of the fact that these issues are being used to foist a political agenda of corruption, power, and control; our resistance to such controls fail to effectively stop the political machine. Resistance only breeds counter-resistance, so such arguments are always met with retorts along the lines of ..."oh yeah, well look what Bush did...etc." Additionally, the political machine marches on largely due to the fact that the 'noble' aims of the Progressive movement give rise to the axiom 'the ends justify the means'. Since many of these ideals are truly a 'life or death' situation in their minds, then even that flawed rationale has some merit. After all, if one of your beloved was threatened with great harm, would you not do anything to protect him/her?

My underlying motivation for writing this article is two-fold: First, so we can engage in effective communication or compel our leaders to address these challenges head-on, and secondly, to bring to light the critical moral dilemma we are going to be faced with in regards to our children. The former is self-explanatory, but the latter requires some elucidation.

We are all aware how the educational system is being used to foist this new-age awareness upon our children. At the end of this article are links to the Earth Charter and a couple of it's supporting groups. The fact of the matter is that resistance to these new educational paradigms are not working so long as the Dept. of Education is endorsing these programs. The peer pressure upon our children is going to be great, and the way things are going, the fundamental transformation of America is going to be wholly, or at a minimum, partially successful. For our children to succeed economically and psychologically are we to raise them to stand outside this movement that is the wave of the future? Are we supposed to isolate them so as to preserve our ideals? How do we balance the economies of the past with the dynamics of the future in such a way to insure our children's future success while maintaining core values and principles?

The news is resplendent with the state of our economy and the rate of unemployment. However, what the news fails to point out is how other sectors are thriving, indeed, actually booming! Government employment is certainly on the rise, but more importantly, various NGOs (non-government organizations) are being infused with billions of dollars as they align themselves to this Administration to help foist their agenda. Many companies are benefitting from these 'public-private partnerships' (PPPs). An excellent example of this is how the Stimulus package included $80 billion to build broad-band communications in rural areas. This means that some company will be given our taxpayer dollars to provide cable services...and then that company then reaps the benefit of the profits it brings! This is the new way of conducting business in this country, and only those companies/individuals that 'play ball' with the Administration are allowed to participate. So how do we prepare our children for this 'new tomorrow' so that they can lead happy and successful lives?

So, it is for the sake of our future generation that I suggest we begin to seriously consider the oppositions point of references, and then address those issues with some REAL hard data to debunk them, or provide some thoughtful alternative methods to resolve them.

Enclosed at the close of this article is a hodge-podge of links that provide some historical precedence and current issues that are fueling this progressive movement towards a more proactive global governance. All of these issues have one unifying theme, and that is they are all being looked at through a screen of "sustainability". Also when going through these links it is important to note that all these entities are addressing the same exact themes, only utilizing different approaches. The predominate themes are:

Combating Poverty: This warrants lots of research and discussion because this area of concern is multi-dimensional. For example, developed countries have historically gone into underdeveloped third-world countries and offered the local tribal chief some Snicker Bars in exchange for their cobalt, magnesium, and other resources without proper remuneration or usage rights. Now where you and I might think this is just "smart negotiating", others tend to think this is exploitative. Also of concern is "how" these countries might go about mining for these minerals--ravaging the host country ecology and rendering 1,000's of acres of land unusable for these cultures to either thrive economically, maintain personal health, and a host of other issues that lives in the wake of serious exploitation.
Changing Consumption Patterns: "Although consumption patterns are very high in certain parts of the world, the basic consumer needs of a large section of humanity are not being met. This results in excessive demands and unsustainable lifestyles among the richer segments, which place immense stress on the environment. The poorer segments, meanwhile, are unable to meet food, health care, shelter and educational needs. Changing consumption patterns will require a multipronged strategy focusing on demand, meeting the basic needs of the poor, and reducing wastage and the use of finite resources in the production process. Growing recognition of the importance of addressing consumption has also not yet been matched by an understanding of its implications. Some economists are questioning traditional concepts of economic growth and underlining the importance of pursuing economic objectives that take account of the full value of natural resource capital. More needs to be known about the role of consumption in relation to economic growth and population dynamics in order to formulate coherent international and national policies." This aspect of consumption patterns is economical in nature, but additionally there remains the question of environmental impact and resource depletion.
Demographics, Consumption, and Sustainability: "The growth of world population and production combined with unsustainable consumption patterns places increasingly severe stress on the life-supporting capacities of our planet. These interactive processes affect the use of land, water, air, energy and other resources. Rapidly growing cities, unless well-managed, face major environmental problems. The increase in both the number and size of cities calls for greater attention to issues of local government and municipal management. The human dimensions are key elements to consider in this intricate set of relationships and they should be adequately taken into consideration in comprehensive policies for sustainable development."
Conservation of Biodiversity: "Our planet's essential goods and services depend on the variety and variability of genes, species, populations and ecosystems. Biological resources feed and clothe us and provide housing, medicines and spiritual nourishment. The natural ecosystems of forests, savannahs, pastures and rangelands, deserts, tundras, rivers, lakes and seas contain most of the Earth's biodiversity. Farmers' fields and gardens are also of great importance as repositories, while gene banks, botanical gardens, zoos and other germplasm repositories make a small but significant contribution. The current decline in biodiversity is largely the result of human activity and represents a serious threat to human development". Inclusive of this broad topic are issues of desertification, deforestation, water and air pollution, etc etc.

This call to action is made to my fellow conservatives to start understanding the oppositions concerns and work on researching viable alternatives. As the preponderance of links to follow suggests, they are extremely unified in their beliefs and very well versed in the subject matters they bring up. All we seem to be offering is our resistance to this bill or that bill, without understanding the contextual framework giving rise to these legislations and demonstrating that there is either no need, or acknowledging the need but offering more "American-principled" alternatives. I urge you to follow the links above contained within the 4 bullet points, read their message...and then present intelligent alternatives. The debunking of the man-made climate change myth, although not 100% successful in stopping the machine, sure the heck was successful in slowing it down! Similarly, by going straight to the source of their other major issues and then addressing them, I am certain this will help promote our ultimate victory.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ References for Research ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The UN and Civil Society: These CSOs are those organizations that have consultative status within the United Nations and are responsible for either outlining policy or helping to implement policies. This is where much of our tax dollars go, funding those organizations that help to perpetuate current political agenda.

The United Nations is both a participant in and a witness to an increasingly global civil society. More and more, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other civil society organizations (CSOs) are UN system partners and valuable UN links to civil society. CSOs play a key role at major United Nations Conferences and are indispensable partners for UN efforts at the country level. NGOs are consulted on UN policy and programme matters. The UN organizes and hosts, on a regular basis, briefings, meetings and conferences for NGO representatives who are accredited to UN offices, programmes and agencies. Database of CSOs

United Nations Development Program (UNDP)

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are the most broadly supported, comprehensive and specific development goals the world has ever agreed upon. These eight time-bound goals provide concrete, numerical benchmarks for tackling extreme poverty in its many dimensions. They include goals and targets on income poverty, hunger, maternal and child mortality, disease, inadequate shelter, gender inequality, environmental degradation and the Global Partnership for Development.

Adopted by world leaders in the year 2000 and set to be achieved by 2015, the MDGs are both global and local, tailored by each country to suit specific development needs. They provide a framework for the entire international community to work together towards a common end – making sure that human development reaches everyone, everywhere. If these goals are achieved, world poverty will be cut by half, tens of millions of lives will be saved, and billions more people will have the opportunity to benefit from the global economy.

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is an international development agency that promotes the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity. UNFPA supports countries in using population data for policies and programmes to reduce poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect. List of Supporting Organizations

National Security Study Memorandum

Implications of Worldwide Population Growth For U.S. Security and Overseas Interests (aka The Kissinger Report)

The report advocates the promotion of education and contraception and other population control measures. It also raises the question of whether the U.S. should consider preferential allocation of surplus food supplies to states that are deemed constructive in use of population control measures. The report advises, "In these sensitive relations, however, it is important in style as well as substance to avoid the appearance of coercion." Brief to Congress Against Population Control

Global Environment Facility

The Global Environment Facility was established in October 1991 as a $1 billion pilot program in the World Bank to assist in the protection of the global environment and to promote environmental sustainable development. The GEF would provide new and additional grants and concessional funding to cover the "incremental" or additional costs associated with transforming a project with national benefits into one with global environmental benefits. GEF Civil Society Organizations

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Ecosystem Management: Scientific evidence shows that ecosystems are under unprecedented pressure, threatening prospects for sustainable development. While the challenges are daunting, they also provide opportunities for local communities, business and government to innovate for the benefit of communities, economies and the global environment. However, in order to secure the environmental conditions for prosperity, stability and equity, timely responses that are proportionate to the scale of the environmental challenges will be required. In creating such responses, governments, the international community, the private sector, civil society and the general public all have an important role to play. As the environmental programme of the United Nations, UNEP is working to articulate, facilitate and support appropriate responses.

Climate Change: Climate change has long-since ceased to be a scientific curiosity, and is no longerjust one of many environmental and regulatory concerns. As the United Nations Secretary General has said, it is the major, overriding environmental issue of our time, and the single greatest challenge facing environmental regulators. It is a growing crisis with economic, health and safety, food production, security, and other dimensions. Climate Change Factsheet (July, 2010)

World Conservation Monitoring Centre: The Centre has a mandate from the UNEP Governing Council to provide a range of biodiversity-related services to UNEP, the biodiversity-related conventions and their constituent party-states and other bodies in the non-governmental and private sectors

United Nations System-Wide Earthwatch: The Global Biodiversity Assessment measures the effects of human activities on biodiversity. They have increased so greatly that the rate of species extinctions is rising to hundreds or thousands of times the background level. These losses are driven by increasing demands on species and their habitats, and by the failure of current market systems to value biodiversity adequately. The Assessment calls for urgent action to reverse these trends.

Earthwatch and Agenda 21: Apart from the separate issues reviewed here, one significant broad result of the Rio process and Agenda 21 has been the growing recognition that all the different aspects of sustainable development described in its forty chapters are interrelated, and only integrated approaches will make it possible to approach sustainability. New evidence since Rio shows that these interrelationships also apply to the major environmental problems, such as those for which international conventions have been adopted. There are significant interactions between climate change, ozone depletion, desertification and biodiversity loss, for instance, requiring greater attention to synergistic effects between these problems, and integrated approaches to research, assessment and management.

UNEP and Agenda 21: Both UNESCO and the UNEP hold conferences regarding Agenda 21. The UNEP is hosting the 2012 Conference on Sustainable Development: At the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, the international community adopted Agenda 21, an unprecedented global plan of action for sustainable development. Ten years later, the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation was adopted highlighting concrete steps for better implementing Agenda 21. However, the progress has been slow in achieving internationally agreed goals, and challenges remain in achieving the goals of the three pillars of sustainable development, particularly in the context of the current global crises. The Conference will bring together a range of participants, including heads of State and Government, national delegates and leaders from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), businesses and other major groups to focus the world's attention and direct action toward addressing difficult challenges our planet is facing, including reducing poverty, conserving our natural resources, overcoming financial and economic crisis.

The Marrakech Process: The Marrakech Process is a global process to support the elaboration of a 10-Year Framework of Programmes (10YFP) on sustainable consumption and production, as called for by the WSSD Johannesburg Plan of Action. UNEP and UN DESA are the lead agencies of this global process, with an active participation of national governments, development agencies, and civil society.

Transitioning to more sustainable patterns of consumption and production is at the heart of sustainable development, and international co-operation is essential to effect that transition. Recognizing this, governments at the Johannesburg Summit in 2002 called for the development of a 10-year framework of programmes in support of regional and national initiatives to accelerate the shift towards sustainable patterns of consumption and production that will promote social and economic development within the carrying capacity of ecosystems. The draft input to the 10YFP from the Marrakech Process is now available for public comment.

UN Economic and Social Council (UNESCO)

Division for Sustainable Development: The Division for Sustainable Development (DSD) provides leadership and is an authoritative source of expertise within the United Nations system on sustainable development. It promotes sustainable development as the substantive secretariat to the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) and through technical cooperation and capacity building at international, regional and national levels. The context for the Division's work is the implementation of Agenda 21, the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation and the Barbados Programme of Action for Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States.

UN Habitat

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme, UN-HABITAT, is the United Nations agency for human settlements. It is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all. The main documents outlining the mandate of the organization are the Vancouver Declaration on Human Settlements, Habitat Agenda, Istanbul Declaration on Human Settlements, the Declaration on Cities and Other Human Settlements in the New Millennium, and Resolution 56/206

UN-HABITAT's Sustainable Cities Programme and a project known as Localising Agenda 21, help cities get the most out of their vital role in social and economic development by promoting better environmental policies and programmes, aimed at reducing pollution, and improving urban environmental management.

Global Marshall Plan-Global Marshall Plan Initiative

Al Gore states: "The model of the Marshall Plan can be of great help. For example, a Global Marshall Plan must focus on strategic goals and emphasize actions and programs that are likely to remove the bottlenecks presently inhibiting the healthy functioning of the global economy. The new global economy must be an inclusive system that does not leave entire regions behind. The new plan will require the wealthy nations to allocate money for transferring environmentally helpful technologies to the Third World and to help impoverished nations achieve a stable population and a new pattern of sustainable economic progress. To work, however, any such effort will also require wealthy nations to make a transition themselves that will be in some ways more wrenching than that of the Third World."

In order to further the idea of a GMP and to coordinate the various initiatives, NGOs, scientists, activists and groups in the field of development cooperation and global social justice the Global Marshall Plan Initiative was founded by members of the Club of Rome, the Club of Budapest, the ATTAC and other organizations in Frankfurt, Germany in 2003. The two main objectives are to find new ways and sources of financing in development cooperation, predominantly pursuing the Millennium Development Goals of the UN and the worldwide propagation of the eco-social market economy, which is considered to be one of today's key strategies of initiative.

The Earth Charter

The Earth Charter is a declaration of fundamental ethical principles for building a just, sustainable and peaceful global society in the 21st century. It seeks to inspire in all people a new sense of global interdependence and shared responsibility for the well-being of the whole human family, the greater community of life, and future generations. It is a vision of hope and a call to action.

The Earth Charter is centrally concerned with the transition to sustainable ways of living and sustainable human development. Ecological integrity is one major theme. However, the Earth Charter recognizes that the goals of ecological protection, the eradication of poverty, equitable economic development, respect for human rights, democracy, and peace are interdependent and indivisible. It provides, therefore, a new, inclusive, integrated ethical framework to guide the transition to a sustainable future.

The Earth Scouts: Earth Scouts is a new national program developed by Earth Charter U.S. that inspires the above qualities in boys and girls from 3 to 17 years of age and engages them in actions. Earth Scouts themes are derived from the Earth Charter: A Declaration of Interdependence. The Earth Charter calls for a caring, sustainable and peaceful world. It was written by thousands of people from 78 countries over a period of 10 years and launched at The Hague Peace Palace in 2000.

Earth Scout Merit Badges: Participatory Democracy Badge, Human Rights Badge, Peace & Nonviolence Badge, Respect for Nature Badge, Economic Justice Badge, Earth Scouts Logos Patch

The Alliance for Climate Protection: This is a psychologically clever website of an NGO owned by AL Gore. This website cleverly uses peer group principles of identification. A sense of 'belonging' and 'participation' are very important during childhood formative years, and this website is powerfully designed to capitalize on these psychodynamic principles.

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