Global "Philadelphia Convention"

The World Federalist and former head of the International School of London Ian Hackett, author of "The Spring of Civilization" (1973), wants to petition the future government of the United Kingdom. The petition is published in English and can be signed:

A global "Philadelphia Convention"

"Use our position at the UN to propose a Convention of representatives of all UN members to draw up a Constitution for Whole Earth Federation to provide a 21st Century replacement for the UN with the potential to bring us World Peace and Sustainability through World Law."

The petition's rationale is broadly in line with what Ian Hackett wrote in "The Spring of Civilization" in 1973. It is also largely identical with the reason why the Mondialists call for a democratic World Union. Everything is absolutely right.

However, the comparison with the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 as a historical example for the emergence of a future World Federation seems unsuitable to me. At that time, a small number of more or less democratically legitimized personalities adopted a constitution for the states on the North American east coast. The indigenous people and the Africans deported as slaves from their homeland were not taken into account. The conquest and settlement of the West was accompanied by genocide and organized crime. In 1861-65 a bloody civil war took place. The USA is unfortunately still not a shining example for a better world. A democratic and solidarity-based World Union must be done differently. This is no longer the task of political rulers alone, but a Affair of Mankind. In any case, we have no desire for a world civil war.

Then it remains to be seen who will govern Great Britain after 12 December 2019 and whether this government is even approachable for Ian Hackett's petition. Perhaps the Irish Sea needs to be renamed the "Gulf of Brexico". Of course it would be different and the country would stay in the European Union. I would like to mention that in my recent mail campaign to British Brexit opponents the page "Europe is not enough" was especially well received by the Liberal Democrats. That would be an interesting approach.

FRIDAYS FOR FUTURE – QUO VADIS ?

Three months ago a climate activist from Canada opened a petition at Change.org to all heads of state, the UN Secretary General, the President of the UN General Assembly and the citizens of the world:
Join Youth Climate Ambassadors in Demand for Climate Democracy

The petition calls for democratic co-determination of the world's citizens in coping with the climate crisis, the establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly and global jurisdiction to combat environmental crime. To this end, the "San Francisco Promise" is to be kept and the United Nations Charter is to be reviewed and reformed. The petition was initiated by a seminar of the Center for United Nations Constitutional Research (CUNCR). To date, it has only received 55 approvals.

The text of the petition differs from what the mass of climate activists of Fridays for Future worldwide demand: That the governments of the nation-states should take more care of climate protection and take appropriate measures against the climate crisis. The problem is that the current 195 sovereign states of the world are standing in each other's way in the fight against climate change. The responsible politicians are prisoners of their systems. National sovereignty is the greatest obstacle.

It is therefore unlikely that in the foreseeable future there will be any political activity on the part of governments that will lead to hopes of effective measures. No major demonstrations or civil disobedience actions will change this. The global institutions that would have to be addressed for this purpose do not yet exist. The UN is powerless. Protest alone will do little to bring this about. There must be a much more constructive element.

Fridays for Future calls again for a global climate strike on 29 November, "loud, angry and uncomfortable". The tone is getting sharper. The resentment and impatience are understandable, but the responsible politicians will not be influenced by it. It looks more likely that Fridays before Future will lose acceptance among the population and thus also among schoolchildren. The 29 November will show it. If complications arise from nonsensical actions, that will play into the hands of authoritarian forces that promise people to restore law and order. I would especially like to recommend this article:

We need a World Parliament to deal with the climate crisis

I had recently added all the Fridays for Future and related group pages available on Facebook - there were about 250 - individually and made them attentive to the problem. I also called for a first step to support the Campaign for a World Parliament. There were isolated positive reactions, unfortunately too few to hope that the energy of the movement could be transformed into global social institutions. I will try again in the next days with this blog post.

Global Week of Action – Review

The Global Week of Action for a World Parliament was first held in 2013 to support the UNPA Campaign. Since then, it has been held annually around 24 October, United Nations Day. So far, however, its global dimension has been limited. This has been the case again this year, from 19 to 27 October. There were occasional events and meetings in Germany, USA, Thailand, Israel, Italy and Sweden.

Around United Nations Day on 24th October 2019, the annual global week of a action was celebrated in support of the establishment of a democratic world parliament. Under the slogan of “World Parliament Now!”, the idea of the action week is to highlight the urgent need for more democratic, legitimate and effective institutions for global decision-making.

The global climate movement shows that what we lack is not engagement or good ideas for a more sustainable future. What we lack is global institutions that can transform this energy into global climate policy.

From article by Democracy without Borders

The Swedish section of Demogracy without Borders held a rally in front of the Parliament building in Stockholm, referring to the worldwide Climate Movement initiated there by Greta Thunberg's school strike. It was made clear that the relatively modest movement for the globalization of democracy has something to offer that the much larger Climate Movement urgently needs:

a perspective on how to create democratic global institutions that will actually be able to meet the demands of the climate movement and ensure the survival of humanity in the future. National governments alone are overwhelmed. It is a Affair of Mankind.

By the way, the opening of this blog is my personal contribution to the Global Action Week.

20th International Conference of Chief Justices

The City Montessori School (CMS) in Lucknow / India has been working for the unity of the world and world peace for 60 years. It is worth remembering their Peace March on Hiroshima Day. This month, CMS is hosting the 20^th International Conference of Chief Justices of the World (ICCJW-2019), with over 280 judges, leading lawyers and committed politicians from 73 countries. Judges from the International Criminal Court have also confirmed their participation. It is the largest event I know of at the moment, where it is intended to plead openly and straightforwardly for the political unification of mankind.

Right at the start, at the press conference on 6 November, Dr Jagdish Gandhi, founder and director of CMS, will renew his appeal to Indian Prime Minister Shri Nasrendra Modi to convene a summit of heads of state to unite the world's sovereign nations to secure the future of 2.5 billion children of the world and unborn generations and to establish a World Parliament similar to the European Parliament.

After a welcoming programme in New Delhi and the laying of a wreath at Mahatma Gandhi's grave, which will also be attended by leading representatives of the Indian government and regional dignitaries, the 20^th International Conference of Chief Justices will open in Lucknow on 9 November. A "World Unity March" with CMS students will be held before the opening ceremony. The subsequent conference will include a comprehensive catalogue of topics divided into six groups. These include climate change, nuclear disarmament, United Nations reform, children's and women's rights, the creation of a World Parliament and interfaith dialogue. Click here for more information and the Conference Programme.

I would like to thank Mr. Shri Shishir Srivastava, Head of International Relations at CMS, for the detailed information I have summarized here. We can look forward to the results of the conference.

Affairs of Mankind first

Tomorrow, 2 November, a meeting of activists from the Together First Campaign will take place in London, where anyone interested can take part. It was possible to submit proposals even if you are not attending the event.

The Together First Campaign, as a counterpoint to Donald Trump's "America First" and similar slogans by nationalist politicians, was initiated by the British Association for the United Nations. I informed the organizers of my proposal two weeks ago:

Dear friends

Unfortunately I can't be at the Together First Summit on 2 November. My English is not enough to take part in such a debate. I am therefore sending you my proposal, which I consider to be very important:

The problem is the absolute sovereignty of the nation states, including the member states of the United Nations. In order to eliminate the problem, something would have to be formulated and established that ranks higher than national sovereignty. I call this

Affairs of Mankind

The UN should become responsible for the Affairs of Mankind. Affairs of Mankind would thus become the sovereignty of the United Nations.

With best regards

Richard Maxheim, the Mondialist

Then I'm curious about the outcome of the meeting.