Author Archives: The Peaceful Planet

Belo Monte dam marks a troubling new era in Brazil’s attitude to its rainforest

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Belo Monte is just one of a dozen giant dam projects Brazil plans to build in the Amazon region in the coming decades and opens up the world’s largest tropical rainforest to oil and mining exploration

The Kayapó chief stands, and a hush comes over the circle. All the other caciques wait expectantly for Raoni Metuktire to speak.

Instead, he starts to dance, whooping and shouting, a dance for the enemy. Afterwards, he speaks. ‘I will go there, to Belo Monte, and warn my family,’ he says, the disc in his lower lip punctuating his words. ‘What happened with Tucuruí will not happen again.’

His nephew Megaron Txukurramãe translating, Raoni exhorts the chiefs gathered at the 50th anniversary of Brazil’s Xingu Indigenous Park: ‘I want you to feel strong, you are great! I want to see you fighting!’

Raoni and Megaron are intimately familiar with the Belo Monte dam. They’ve been fighting it for decades. Belo Monte’s first incarnation was called Kararaô, a name that was quickly changed after indigenous people pointed out that the word, in Tupi, means ‘war.’

In 1989, a major protest was held in the town of Altamira. Even Sting showed up at the event. In a memorable speech, a Kayapó woman said: ‘Electricity won’t give us food. We need the rivers to flow freely. Don’t talk to us about relieving our ‘poverty’ – we are the richest people in Brazil. We are Indians.’ (See ‘Adios Amazonia?’ in the Ecologist, Vol 19 No 2, March/April 1989)

That protest put the brakes on Belo Monte for two decades. But now, the project is on the fast track once again.

The picture has changed significantly since 1989. Then, the funding was mostly international: loans from the World Bank and international companies like Lloyds of London, Midlands, and Citibank. This made the project more susceptible to international public pressure.

This time around, the dam is being funded by Brazilian government and business. The consortium that’s building the dam, Norte Energia, is mainly funded by the Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES), reportedly with a push from President Dilma Rousseff, formerly Minister of Energy.

Belo Monte’s price tag is a substantial R$30 billion, but its actual cost is even higher. The enormous dam – it will be the third largest in the world – will both flood more than 500 square km, including parts of Altamira, and dry up more than 100 km of the Xingu River.

The particular section of the river most affected, called the Big Bend, happens to be home to indigenous and riberine communities such as the Juruna, Arara, and Kayapó. The project would cause the disappearance of entire species of birds, reptiles, and fish, and displace tens of thousands of people.

And Belo Monte is just one of dozens of giant dam projects Brazil intends to build in the Amazon region in the coming decades.

First dams then mining

The obvious argument in favor of hydroelectric projects is that Brazil needs more energy to power its astonishing ascent. But critics say that energy could be recouped in other ways. ‘Brazil could be hugely more efficient in its transmission and consumption of energy,’ says Brent Millikan, Amazon Program Director of International Rivers.

Where, then, will the 11,200 megawatts generated by Belo Monte go?

‘Belo Monte is a pretext for mining and oil exploration in the Volta Grande,’ says Sheyla Juruna, a leader from the Juruna tribe. One journalist tells me she has the governor of Pará on record saying just that.

Tucuruí, the older dam project of which Raoni spoke, was built in the 1980s on the Tocantins river to convert bauxite into aluminum. It caused major flooding along its 125-km reservoir and caused loss of forest, displacement of indigenous peoples and riverside residents, eliminated fisheries, created breeding grounds for mosquitos, and caused mercury methylation with potentially grave public health consequences for fish consumers in urban centers like the city of Belém, says researcher Philip M. Fearnside of the National Institute for Research in the Amazon.

‘Tucuruí mainly benefits multinational aluminum companies,’ he says, adding, ‘The need for fully informed public discussion of the ambitious hydroelectric plans that have been made for Amazonia is urgent. Unfortunately, many of the lessons of Tucuruí have not yet been learned.’

Murders and the Forest Code

The town with the fortune or misfortune to be closest to Belo Monte is Altamira (pop. 105,000 and growing every day). Altamira is situated in the state of Pará, the Wild North of Brazil. Lately, the region has experienced paroxysms of violence inextricably linked to environmental debates.

On May 26, Brazil’s Senate approved changes to the Forest Code that rolled back forest protections in place since 1965. The rural bloc of cattle ranchers and farmers, a stronghold in Pará, wields much power in Congress.

Less than 24 hours later, forest activist José Claudio Ribeiro da Silva and his wife, Maria Elena do Espírito Santo, were murdered in Marabá, Pará, their ears cut off as a mark of execution. This began a chain of killings that has continued unabated and unpunished:

On May 27, land rights activist Adelino Ramos was killed in Rondonia. The next day, Eremilton dos Santos, a possible witness to Da Silva’s death, was murdered in Pará.

On June 1, the day IBAMA approved Belo Monte’s construction, Joao Vieira dos Santos (alias Marcos Gomes da Silva), another Pará forest activist, was killed. A week later, Obede Loyola Souza was shot dead — yet again, in Pará. And on July 24, rural farmer Francisco Oliveira Soares was murdered in what police ruled was a conflict over land rights. Guess in which state?

Unsurprisingly, the majority of Pará business class, with real signs in their eyes, is in favor of the dam. ‘Belo Monte is 30 years late,’ Jose Maria Mendonça, vice-president of the Federation of Pará Industries, told a local daily. ‘While the world is questioning nuclear energy, Brazil has this opportunity to generate clean energy and contribute more and better jobs, starting with the mineral industry. Pará society can’t let these compensatory measures slip through their fingers.’

Without question, the dam is bringing money into the region. But this influx comes with its own problems. Celso Rodrigues, a taxi driver who’s lived in Altamira 17 years, says that with the frenzy of activity around the dam, crime has risen substantially. It’s no longer safe for him to pick up passengers in the street – he only operates by phone. ‘The dam brings lots of outsiders to town, but the problems aren’t just caused by them – it’s even family,’ he told me. ‘But development brings these things, right?’

According to the coordinator of local NGO Movimento Xingu Vivo Pará Sempre (Xingu Alive Forever Movement), Antonia Melo, the town has suffered with the growth of urban occupations and homeless populations. ‘With the installation license of Belo Monte, the situation is bordering on a public calamity,’ she says.

At the peak of the construction activity, forecast for 2013, Norte Energia’s own figures estimate that between workers and family members, the total number of people attracted to the region will be 96,000, doubling Altamira’s population.

Bribes and charm

At the Xingu festival, Raoni was far from the only speaker to denounce Belo Monte. But there is another difference between the fighting Kayapó of 1989 and the tribes’ attitude today: When I asked Megaron what his people planned to do to stop Belo Monte, he demurred, noting, ‘They are getting R$30,000 a month [from Norte Energia].’

And, says Sheyla Juruna: ‘Better health, education, employment – everybody wants that. We Juruna aren’t against development. But it divides people. Many don’t want to speak out against Belo Monte, for fear of not receiving benefits.’

Besides payoffs, Norte Energia is operating a charm offensive, distributing videos, sending press releases to environmental NGOs, and putting on concerts.

Brega means ‘cheesy.’ It also refers to the most popular style of music in Pará. Calypso, a local band, are the reigning kings of brega. So Norte Energia brought them to Altamira for a pro-Belo Monte concert, the biggest event the town had seen in quite awhile, possibly ever.

That night, waiting for the music to start, bored teenagers hung around in the rain. The speeches seemed interminable. The mayor of Uruará shouted, ‘Whoever is against Belo Monte is against the region, against Amazonia, against sustainable development!’

Even the headliner got in on the rhetoric. ‘In the capital they have air conditioning and internet,’ recited Calypso’s buxom blond singer, Joelma. ‘Belo Monte will get you these things. Belo Monte is the solution.’ Her head hung down as if she were reading a text, or ashamed.

‘You hear?’ repeated the representative from Uruará. ‘Joelma is in favor of Belo Monte!’

Legal challenges

Inside Brazil, there is much resistance to the dam, if not in the highest echelons of government. Objections have been raised on scientific, legal, and economic grounds.

Eleven civil actions lawsuits against the Belo Monte Dam, filed by the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office, are still pending in Brazilian courts. In May, 20 Brazilian scientific associations sent a letter to President Rousseff, requesting the suspension of the process of licensing the dam.

‘The Brazilian government is trying to frame itself as concered with balancing environmental sustainability with economic growth. We want to shine a spotlight on these inconsistencies,’ says Christian Poirier, Brazil campaigner for the NGO Amazon Watch. ‘It’s a waste of money – companies have pulled out because they can’t afford the spiralling cost. The expense falls on the Brazilian taxpayer to subsidize this boondoggle in the Amazon.’

‘In response to the escalating assault on the Amazon and its peoples being perpetrated by the Brazilian government, Amazon Watch will continue to work with its partners on the ground to shine a spotlight on these environmental crimes in order to shame Brazil on the international stage,’ he added.

After the approval of the license to build Belo Monte on June 1, protests were held all over Brazil. From the chic Avenida Paulista in Sao Paulo to Salvador, Bahia, and Washington D.C., many Brazilians far from the front lines are against the dam.

Internationally, the dam has been criticised by everyone from Amnesty International to James Cameron, director of Avatar, who has visited Altamira several times.

In April, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights recommended to Brazil that it take urgent action to guarantee the rights of indigenous peoples before going ahead with dam construction, as required by the Brazilian Constitution as well as the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Convention 169 of the International Labor Organisation.

Brazil responded by withdrawing its commissioner, a step that could jeopardise its chances at a coveted permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council.

One typical response to international attention is that it’s just foreign meddling, trying to keep Brazil from rising to first-world status. And the United States, for example, has already done the same thing, so who are they to talk? I overhear a conversation on a plane leaving Altamira: ‘In the U.S. they’ve already gotten rid of their forests. They want to be the guard of the world. We need to be armed.’

Evictions and Occupations

Altamira has many low-lying neighborhoods made up of palafitas, houses built on stilts over creeks. Parts of the city below 100 meters of elevation will be flooded. These areas already flood during the rainy season, so they don’t stand a chance against Belo Monte. Norte Energia, in its public statements, has played up the ‘precarious circumstances’ of the families that live in these neighborhoods. Even those that won’t be ‘relocated’ are being forced out by skyrocketing rents due to the massive influx of people to the city: In all, more than 6,000 families will be affected, according to Xingu Vivo.

Families with nowhere else to go have resorted to occupying vacant land in Altamira. This has led to violent clashes with police. On June 22, about 150 families were violently evicted from land they had occupied. Without a warrant, civil and military police used rubber bullets and tear gas to evict the occupiers. Forty people, including three minors, were arrested. The previous day, about 120 families were removed and three people were arrested. Witnesses said the military police used pepper spray.

‘Educating’ the indigenous population

As for the indigenous who will be affected, the attitude toward them in Pará is at times openly racist. Said the Calypso chanteuse, with the development resulting from Belo Monte, ‘We’ll show that Pará is not just Indian’ – echoing a quote from Norte Energia director of construction Luiz Fernando Rufato in O Globo: ‘It’s inevitable that the Indians, eventually, will have to change their way of life. Are they going to live their whole lives hunting with bows and arrows and living in villages?’

Even the Brazil’s government agency that ostensibly protects indigenous peoples, FUNAI, has its hands tied, two employees told me separately. ‘There’s the official line, and then there’s what we really think,’ said one. FUNAI is traveling around Brazil to ‘educate’ Indians on the benefits Belo Monte will bring them, in an uncomfortable throwback to the days when they were given the ignoble task of ‘pacifying’ indigenous tribes ahead of the Transamazonica Highway.

According to Norte Energia’s schedule, the drainage of Altamira will happen in June 2014. Belo Monte will begin commercial operations at the first turbine, at Pimental Site, on February 28, 2015. The last turbine is set to be installed at Belo Monte Site on January 31, 2019.

Despite the compensation measures, it seems Belo Monte will not go forward without meeting fierce resistance.

‘Our culture is not for sale. My mother, older people, who are connected to their land – how they can build their lives elsewhere?’ Sheyla, the tribal leader, asks.

‘My fight continues, not just for me, but also for my sons,’ she says, adding, ‘I’m not afraid to die.’

Original Article by Karen Hoffmann, The Ecologist

A Message From ‘Pandora’
This is the full version of “A Message from Pandora“, a special feature produced by James Cameron about the battle to stop the Belo Monte Dam on the Xingu, one of the great tributaries of the Amazon River.

Further Reading:
Amazon Watch
International Day Of Action To Defend The Amazon
Brazilians Protest Giant Amazon Dam

Peaceful Creativity + Peaceful Diet + Peaceful Economy + Peaceful Interaction + Peaceful Living
The Peaceful Planet
It’s Time For Change

The Snakes & Ladders Economy: We Must Re-Invent The Rules

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World debt is at an unprecedented high of over $40 trillion, and the USA’s national debt alone is fast approaching $15 trillion (currently over $46,000 per citizen!) – how can world debt EVER be repaid?  Is there a solution?


With global debt spiralling out of control (at current rates the US national debt will be fast approaching $23 trillion in 2015!), it’s imperative that we re-invent the current global monetary system’s ‘game’ of Snakes & Ladders.  A strange analogy?  Not really – “the historic version (of Snakes & Ladders) had root in morality lessons, where a player’s progression up the board represented a life journey complicated by virtues (ladders) and vices (snakes)”.  In fact, it’s a perfect fit for the financial powers that be to really screw around with us and our money!  The only problem is that the rules of the ‘game’ were ‘bent’ from the beginning to benefit mostly the bourgeoisie financial institutions & corporatocracies and certainly not for the benefit of the proletariat of the world.

In a ‘fair’ game of Snakes & Ladders, there are equal numbers of snakes to ladders but, in the current monetary system’s game, and also depending on where on the planet you were unfortunate enough to be born, most of the ladders in our game of financial ‘opportunity’ have been reduced – or even completely removed!  Added to this, the financial ‘Gamemasters’ have even ‘loaded’ the dice against us!  So, even if some ladders remain in the game, giving you a slim chance of climbing up the financial scale, with every throw of the dice only the number ‘ONE‘ will ever show face-up!  The upshot of this is that at some stage of the game you will ALWAYS hit a Snake, sending you slithering down into the financial mire once again – and with no apparent hope of financial progression whatsoever.

How ‘fortunate’ most of us can consider ourselves, who are born in the developed world, to have more than one ladder allowed in our game by the ‘Gamemasters’ and the dice loaded against us may show not only a ONE but also a TWO – because one of the worst ‘crimes’ of this global Snakes & Ladders economy is that about 25,000 PEOPLE DIE EVERY SINGLE DAY of hunger, or hunger-related causes.  These unfortunate people are trapped in severe poverty and they simply lack the money to buy enough food to nourish themselves (source: www.poverty.com).  Most of these unfortunate poverty-stricken people (but certainly not exclusively) are born in Third World countries and would appear to have NO ladders AND just a loaded ‘ONE’ dice to throw throughout their short lives in this shameful game.

Take another quick look at the USA national debt clock at the top of this page.  It certainly is one LARGE sum of money by anyone’s standards!  How on earth is that amount of debt EVER going to be repaid? And what baffles us is, why didn’t the alarm bells start to ring out that this current corrupt monetary system was just NOT working when the US national debt hit just a ‘measly’ ONE trillion dollars?

So, just what is the solution?  We believe the solution is our Peaceful Economy.  From the outset, our Peaceful Economy manifesto has advocated that we MUST cancel ALL world debt – international, national, and personal.  LET’S JUST START ALL OVER AGAIN, BECAUSE WE REALLY CAN.  

The earth is just under 5 billion years old and man has inhabited the earth for about the last 50,000 years only.  The current economic game can probably be traced back to the Industrial Revolution, which is only just over 150 years ago – a mere blink in the eye of earth’s existence. So think about it – this current monetary system is NOT an evolutionary phenomenon, and it’s NOT a God-given commandment or anything to be revered that cannot be changed.  It’s just a man-made, repeat ‘MAN-MADE’ corrupt system – to benefit the minority on the planet.  And anything made by man can be broken down by man – and fixed again by man. We now need to re-invent the rules of this Snakes & Ladders monetary game to benefit EVERY man, woman and child on the planet.  Without exception.

We all only exist on Planet Earth for just a nano-second in time – so let’s give every one of us the best chance that we can possibly have of living a happy and healthy life, debt-free and with money in our pockets to feed every one of us. 25,000 people dying of hunger every day is just one shameful statistic of the current monetery system’s failings which must end.

If we all WANT the change then we can all HAVE the change.

If you’re not familiar with our Peaceful Economy principles, here we present once again The Peaceful Planet’s ‘rules’ for a completely new (and fair for all!) game of economic Snakes & Ladders:

  1. The creation of all money will be the prerogative of all the individual governments of the world with just one national bank per country (e.g. “The Bank of Britain”, “The Bank of USA” etc.)
  2. It will be illegal for any other financial institution to create money. No more money creation by the banks as interest-bearing debt.
  3. All private banks will be nationalised. All branches of private banks will become branches of the new National bank – this will keep most bank employees gainfully employed.
  4. Currency is not required to have a store of value against a commodity (e.g. gold, gilt bonds etc). It is to be accepted that all currency is actually worth its own store of value and that the currency is, itself, the commodity. (e.g. a £1 coin is actually worth £1 and a £5 note etc is actually worth £5!).  To have a store of value against any other commodity (gold etc.) is socially constructed in the current monetary system.
  5. No devaluation.  This is socially constructed in the current monetary system
  6. No inflation.  This is socially constructed in the current monetary system.
  7. All taxation abolished.  (e.g. income tax, health insurance, motor tax, council tax, etc).  Strictly monitored and regulated, the government “creates” money as and when it is required to fund the services that our taxes pay for ( e.g. councils, council services, council housing, the Health Service, transport, elderly care, child care, deprived areas etc.)
  8. All taxpayers to be refunded their tax payments for a term to be decided (12 months?).  A welcome cash bonus for every tax-payer and will keep most tax employees gainfully employed.
  9. All government registered charities to be funded by the government.  Strictly controlled and regulated, the government creates money to fund these absolutely vital services (for example, it’s a scandal that the likes of Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital in London has to “beg” the UK public for funding through national TV advertising.)
  10. All world debt to be cancelled (international, national, personal).  All nations will be able to create money to enable them to become self-funding and self-sufficient to service the needs of their own populace.  An end to famine and poverty.
  11. All loan companies (mortgage, banks, credit cards etc.) to be repaid their outstanding debt by the government – minus all interest charges.
  12. All future loans will be provided by the government.
  13. All government loans will be interest-free.
  14. All utility services (gas, electricity, water) to be nationalised.
  15. All utility services to be free.
  16. Inflated profiteering to be outlawed.  A government department will be set up to monitor and regulate the difference between the “cost of goods or services” and its “selling price”. The maximum markup on cost price will be 100%.
  17. Free education for all.
  18. Each adult citizen will receive a Citizens Living Allowance (CLA) of, for example, £100 per week to spend on whatever they wish. The CLA payment would be a welcome supplementary income to each person’s individual weekly working wage or, for those people who prefer not to work and feel that they can live sustainably on just the CLA income alone, they will be freely allowed to do so. With the introduction of the Citizens Living Allowance, all unemployment benefit payments will be abolished. (We would like to thank Positive Money for the Citizens Living Allowance idea.)

Interesting Links:
Global Debt Clock
US National Debt Clock
Jubilee Debt Campaign
UK Debt Bombshell

Peaceful Creativity + Peaceful Diet + Peaceful Economy + Peaceful Interaction + Peaceful Living
The Peaceful Planet
It’s Time Change

Sir Ken Robinson Talks About Passion

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Ken Robinson believes that everyone is born with extraordinary capability. So what happens to all that talent as we bump through life, getting by, but never realizing our true potential? For most of us the problem isn’t that we aim too high and fail – it’s just the opposite – we aim too low and succeed.

We need to find that magic spot where our natural talent meets our personal passion. This means we need to know ourselves better. Whilst we content ourselves with doing what we’re competent at, but don’t truly love, we’ll never excel. And, according to Ken, finding purpose in our work is essentially to knowing who we really are.

Get ready to unleash your inner fervor as Ken takes to the pulpit to inspire you to follow your passion!

Ken Robinson on Passion from The School of Life on Vimeo.

Sir Ken Robinson is a leader in the development of creativity, innovation and human resources, working with governments and the world’s leading cultural organizations. Born in Liverpool, he was Director of The Arts Project (1985-89), and is Emeritus Professor of Education at the University of Warwick. He was knighted in 2003 for his contribution to education and the arts. Recent publications include Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative (2001) and The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything (2009).

This School Of Life secular sermon took place at Conway Hall, London on Sunday 13 March 2011.

Peaceful Creativity + Peaceful Diet + Peaceful Economy + Peaceful Interaction + Peaceful Living
The Peaceful Planet
It’s Time For Change

Gary Yourofsky: Veganism & Animal Rights Lecture

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Watch Gary Yourofsky present his entire lecture to students at Georgia Tech, USA, in the Summer of 2010.

Gary Yourofsky, probably the finest veganism & animal rights educator on the planet, has lectured to more than 60,000 students in 170 middle schools, high schools and universities across the USA.

This passionate lecture by Yourofsky is the most compelling argument for the advocacy of global, and total, human compassion for our non-human friends. Be inspired by this amazing speaker!


Gary Yourofsky’s website: www.adaptt.org

Peaceful Creativity + Peaceful Diet + Peaceful Economy + Peaceful Interaction + Peaceful Living
The Peaceful Planet
It’s Time For Change

United Nations 8 Millennium Goals: Way off target

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It’s been ten years since the United Nations Millennium Goals to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger were proposed. So how are we doing?

The United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals were up for their ten year review at this week’s UN summit in New York. First drawn-up at the Millennium Summit in 2000, the goals include eight international development promises that all 192 United Nations member states have agreed to. Up front is the goal that every state should work to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger in the world, by 2015. However, the review session has reminded us that, two-thirds of the way through our allotted time, we are not on track.

“Most of the goals are increasingly unlikely to be met by their 2015 deadline,” frowned the Financial Times. The FT argued that this was because the goals were always unrealistic (“Achieving universal primary education and halving the proportion of hungry people in 1990 was a daunting, if not impossible, task.”) But also, the donors have become increasingly slack on fulfilling their promises: “While France and Britain have significantly increased the value of their aid … Germany and Italy have allowed it to fall precipitously. The latter should honour their pledges.” The FT also suggested that “Rich countries should press on with trade liberalisation, principally by reopening the Doha round.” Trade is much better for development than aid, said the FT.

It is difficult to disagree with the idealized goals in themselves, especially, as the Economist pointed out, since they “have become a kind of secular scripture for NGOs”. However, the Economist found that the fault lay with the fact that “the metrics used to determine success or failure are of questionable use”. Benny Avni writing in the New York Post also argued that it was the means rather than the intended ends which were at fault and noted: “The only reduction in poverty since 2000 came thanks to the increasingly free economies of nations like India and China.”

The New York Times, however, laid the blame for failure clearly at the feet of “rich nations” rather than their unrealistic ideals. “The global recession set many countries back. But rich nations — including the United States — have not contributed the money needed”. The Times found it “disappointing” that President Barack Obama made no hard commitment in his UN speech to increase development aid, arguing that he should lead by example: “The legalistic claims by some of his aides that the United States never really signed on to hard aid targets sends precisely the wrong message. If Washington isn’t willing to fully ante up, there is little hope others will.”

However The Times, was joined by Business Week in praising Obama’s argument that it was in the economic interest of the US to help developing countries. “In our global economy,” he said, “progress in even the poorest countries can advance the prosperity and security of people far beyond their borders, including my fellow Americans.” Obama continued to remind us that helping others was “rooted in America’s enduring commitment to the dignity and potential of every human being,” as well as beneficial to the US economy and national security.

Obama also spoke optimistically about the goals achieved so far such as advancing education, reducing cases of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, and improved access to drinking water. This was a far cry from former Prime Minister to the UK Gordon Brown’s speech to the summit which, according to the Guardian, called on us to “face the shameful truth that corrosive indifference by rich nations was in danger of leaving millions in poverty in Africa for another 100 years.”

The review summit has produced an extra $8bn in pledges, from governments and the private sector. An amount which the Guardian sullenly noted was “still not enough to meet the goals.” However, Bill Gates injected some carefully-chosen words of encouragement into his UN speech: “Disappointing is not dispiriting.” He said, “It is not surprising we do not get perfect grades so I disagree with those that only focus only on the disappointment and try to spread around blame. People are not motivated by blame – people are motivated by success and we have had many successes.” Chin up!

Original Article

A Peaceful Diet and a Peaceful Economy would eradicate poverty and world hunger.

Peaceful Creativity + Peaceful Diet + Peaceful Economy + Peaceful Interaction + Peaceful Living
The Peaceful Planet
It’s Time For Change

The World Monetary System: It Really Is Time For Change

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As the UK announces severe government spending cuts, we enforce our Peaceful Economy proposal that the world needs a new monetary system – now.

George Osborne, the UK’s incumbent Chancellor of the Exchequer, yesterday announced sweeping cuts to the UK’s welfare, higher education, social housing, policing, and local government that will axe £81bn from government spending and draw the country back “from the brink of bankruptcy”.

The most austere UK government cuts since the 1970′s, after Britain was bailed out by the International Monetary Fund, include a £7 billion hit on the welfare budget which Mr Osborne said had involved “hard choices”, but he insisted they were “fair”. According to Carl Emmerson, acting director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the public spending reductions could “reduce the quantity and quality of some public services” and he warned they would hit the poor hardest with vital services including home help, community care and support for the elderly being hit by the cuts.

George Osborne defended his strict austerity budget and said the alternative to the sweeping cuts would be “economic ruin” but we believe our alternative monetary reform system, a Peaceful Economy, would see complete global “economic regeneration” – and no spending cuts would ever be required again throughout the world.

The Peaceful Economy is fundamentally based on the concept of taking away all money creation from the banks and giving it back as the prerogative of all the governments of the world. The banks currently create 97% of all money through interest-bearing debt called “fractional reserve banking” and the governments create just 3% – a monetary system which only benefits the banks and the corporatocracies through shameless and obscene profiteering at the expense of the proletariat of the world.

As well as empowering all governments with 100% money creation, we also aim to abolish all taxation (creating a “taxless economy”) and, very strictly monitored by both international, and national, treasury departments such as the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), the nations of the world would be able to create money as and when is required to service the needs of their populace, thus ending global poverty and famine. And, with no more income tax, health tax, or motor tax etc. to pay and, with the governments funding all public services (education, health, transport, elderly care, child care, etc), every working person would have more money in their pocket to live a wealthier lifestyle.

In order to grasp the radical concept of our Peaceful Economy, you need to completely discard and throw away the “rule book” and forget everything you’ve ever learnt, or have been told, about the current monetary system (e.g. store of value, commodity, inflation, hyperinflation, devaluation, etc, etc.) – EVERYTHING, because it’s all totally “man-made” BS!

Every single rule, idea, and concept, of the current monetary system was made up by “man” and did not occur by some natural evolutionary phenomonon – or any act of a God. So, thinking outside the box, if “man” could “create” such a morally corrupt economic system, then surely “man” can also “re-create” an honest and fair-for-all monetary reform system?

If we are ever going to be able stop the 30,000+ children dying of starvation EVERY single day, and redress the global balance of wealth (1% of adults alone owned 40% of global assets in 2000) then we must all agree to a very radical reform to the current global monetary system.

The current system is not immutable and yes, Mr Osborne (and the rest of the world!), there IS an alternative – and that alternative is the Peaceful Economy.

It really is time for change and it’s in our hands to bring about that change. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” (Margaret Mead) – so let’s all make a committment to try and persuade at least one friend to help us bring about the change to a Peaceful Economy and The Peaceful Planet.

Further reading:
Peaceful Economy proposals
The Proposed Bank of England Reform Act (not as radical as a Peaceful Economy but they do propose government created money)

Peaceful Creativity + Peaceful Diet + Peaceful Economy + Peaceful Interaction + Peaceful Living
The Peaceful Planet
It’s Time Change

Why is Africa (and the world) still hungry?

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The 2010 Global Hunger Index (GHI) (published 11th Oct 2010) shows that eight out of the nine countries where hunger is increasing are from Sub-Saharan Africa.

Produced by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide, the annual index is calculated for 122 developing and transition countries.

This year’s study shows that twenty-nine of them, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, have levels of hunger described as “extremely alarming” or “alarming”.

The study shows that the Democratic Republic of Congo had the biggest increase in hunger levels which rose there by 65%, while Ethiopia, Ghana and Mozambique have all shown an improvement over the last ten years.

Some countries achieved significant absolute progress in improving their GHI. Between the 1990 GHI and the 2010 GHI, Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mozambique, Nicaragua, and Vietnam saw the largest improvements. Original Article

The 2010 Global Hunger Index report reveals that the first 1,000 days of a child’s life – from conception to age two – is critical to tackling global hunger.

According to the report, malnutrition among children under two years of age is one of the biggest challenges to reducing global hunger. It can cause lifelong harm to health, productivity and earning potential. (source: Concern Worldwide)

With the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goal to “eradicate extreme poverty and hunger” by 2015, woefully behind schedule and with upwards of 35,000 people – over 30,000 of which are children – dying every single day of the year through starvation, (source: www.starvation.net) we at The Peaceful Planet believe we have the solution to cure the global issues of extreme poverty and hunger with the combination of our Peaceful Economy and Peaceful Diet.

The Peaceful Planet principles may be seen as “radical” – but in the year 2010, isn’t it grossly obscene that tens of thousands of people are still dying needlessly every single day.

A radical change in thinking is needed right NOW to replace the current (corrupt) global monetary system and to the totally inefficient, and cruel, animal-based diet we are consuming, which is damaging to not only the health of humans and non-humans but also to planet Earth itself.

Help us to spread the message that there IS a permanent solution to world hunger and poverty by telling your family and friends about us and by posting about us on Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace etc.

2010 Global Hunger Index Map

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It’s Time For Change

Gary Francione’s Thoughts on Veganism and 2011

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It is the obligation of all who embrace veganism to educate others in creative ways about the fundamental moral truth of not exploiting the vulnerable.

We must all become teachers of nonviolence in our homes, social circles, schools, workplaces, and communities. We start teaching by our own example.

Ethical veganism is nonviolence in action; it is dynamic harmlessness. It requires that we reassess and reject the insidious ideologies of domination that we have been raised to accept as “normal.” A world that moves toward ethical veganism will be a world that moves toward greater peace and justice as a general matter.

If we stop treating animals like animals, we will stop treating other humans like animals.

Let us resolve to stand up against all forms of discrimination (racism, sexism, homophobia, classism, speciesism) and just say no.

Let us resolve to make the world a more peaceful place in 2011 and let us each do our part in that effort. I will continue throughout 2011 to do Commentaries focusing on the various forms of positive, creative, nonviolent, grassroots vegan advocacy that are emerging and developing in many countries and in all sorts of communities. We should all learn from these advocates!

If you are not vegan, go vegan. It’s easy; it’s better for your health and for the planet. But, most important, it’s the morally right thing to do. You will never do anything else in your life as easy and satisfying.

The World is Vegan! If you want it.

Gary L. Francione
©2011 Gary L. Francione

Original Article

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George Clooney’s Hi-Tech Plan To Stop War

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George Clooney has said that his hi-tech attempt to prevent a resumption of civil war in Sudan is “the best use of his celebrity”.

The actor’s pressure group Not On Our Watch is funding a project which uses commercial satellites to monitor any signs of impending conflict.

There is concern that a referendum on Sunday could reopen a decades-old civil war, if the oil-rich south of Sudan votes to split from the north.

The mainly Arab government in Khartoum, which has been accused of genocidal activity in the Darfur region, may resort to arms in the disputed border region.

Clooney says he wants President Omar al Bashir to know that if he uses force against innocent civilians, the world is watching.

“A lot of bad things happen when the lights are turned off, in particular in Sudan, and so we are just trying to turn the floodlight on,” he told Sky News.

“Our big argument is this: we are always late and we always come in and say ‘We didn’t know’, and ‘Had I known I would have done something about Rwanda or Cambodia’.

“But rather than triage this after it has happened, it’s infinitely cheaper and infinitely more effective to do it beforehand.”

In association with the anti-genocide group, Enough Project, the website will allow experts to analyse and record imagery of any signs of aggression or movement of refugees.

It could be used as evidence to indict members of the Khartoum government and toughen the United Nations mandate, allowing peacekeepers to protect citizens from attack.

Clooney says it makes sense to harness the technology.

“You can Google Earth my house any time, and zoom right down onto it. I want people who do really evil acts to enjoy the same level of celebrity that I do.

“They want to be famous, you’re famous now – if it works, it’s worth doing everywhere because it’s infinitely cheaper than taking all these people to refugee camps and paying to keep them alive.”

Sudanese officials called the project “baffling”, saying it “reeks of an ulterior motive”.
But the actor remains defiant.

“To be disliked by a government which has been charged by the international criminal court of crimes against humanity and genocide, is not necessarily a scarlet letter,” he said.

“I don’t feel terribly bad about the government of Sudan being upset. I think they’re concerned by this and I think that’s a good thing. They should be concerned.”

The actor says if the project is successful it could become a model for other global hotspots, using the threat of 21st-century technology to prevent bloodshed previously hidden from view.

“Listen, I don’t know if it will work, I really don’t, but we are going to try,” he said.

Original Article

Peaceful Creativity + Peaceful Diet + Peaceful Economy + Peaceful Interaction + Peaceful Living
The Peaceful Planet
It’s Time For Change