Equal Human Dignity

This is the key to the future that we desire and are working toward. Equal dignity, as established in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is the principal objective for the radical change that can no longer be postponed and which can be achieved through a series of educational measures, gender equality, development, freedom of expression… that will enable us to transcend from a culture of force and imposition to a culture of dialogue and conciliation. It is essential to promote democratic principles and practices in all areas of society; to eradicate poverty with massive aid for endogenous development; to work closely with young people to promote among them attitudes of solidarity, tolerance and generosity, rejecting any form of oppression and violence and persistently favoring a just distribution of wealth.

The end of the Cold War never brought the often promised "dividends of peace" or a reinforcement of the United Nations. Much to the contrary, multilateralism was weakened by the appearance of groups of plutocrats (G-7, G-8, G-20) through which the world’s most prosperous nations sought to assume control of the entire planet. Cooperation was replaced by exploitation; aid was replaced by loans; social justice gave way to the laws of the marketplace. The result was a resounding failure: poverty has risen, the environment is being destroyed at an alarming rate; social inequalities have increased and have given rise to breeding grounds for immense waves of desperate emigrants as well as the temptation to resort to violence; trafficking on a supranational scale (in arms, weapons and people!) and tax havens continue to operate with maximum impunity; and I will never tire of mentioning the collective shame of thousands of persons who die each day from hunger while astronomical sums are invested in military spending. The perverse adage “if you want peace, prepare for war” is still widely applied. The “rescue” of financial institutions with hundreds of thousands of millions of dollars, when there was no money to meet the Millennium Objectives, to meet the challenges of hunger and exclusion or to combat AIDS… this is the straw that breaks the camel’s back. The solution lies in a popular reaction among people who, aware of the situation affecting thousands of millions of human beings, decide to take action and commit themselves through modes of distance participation (SMS, Internet), so that the democratic process may be consolidated both locally and internationally (United Nations).

It is necessary to “refine” the resources of “the Peoples” in a progressively growing mobilization to peacefully but firmly achieve a change in course. And a change of culture. The abandonment of force, coercion, dominance and violence, to establish dialogue, conciliation and peaceful conflict resolution.