Track
Constructive exploration among minds that recognize the civilizing Crisis
Moderator
Elohim Jiménez-López, Honorary President, BCSSS
Objectives
Most living beings seem to organize effectively their genetic possibilities for surviving pretty soon after being born. Apparently every living entity is not interested in knowing how long would be the lapse of time for its individual adventure; neither where the related information come from. Only humans may eventually identify this event as an adventure.
To survive means “to enjoy living”, learning to perceive better what are the circumstances generated by the evolutionary forces in Gaia. The “enjoyment” eventually occurs in a certain space. Every living entity belongs to a particular species characterized by the way the surrounding reality is perceived; which is a particular space in Gaia where each one searches to survive, its knowledge about the (surrounding) reality being limited to the space where it is located.
But among the human beings there are many – though they are a small percentage of the whole – who explore and invade various areas and provoke the emergence here and there of not few (sociological, economic, disruptions, cultural, political, geological, biological,…) disruptions.
Why? Simply because these humans are highly civilized fellows, a fact related to: “Nothing demonstrates the improbability of the origin of high intelligence better than the millions of phyletic lineages that failed to achieve it.” (Ernst Mayr, Bioastronomy News, Vol. 7, No. 4, 1995) In fact, Mayr calculated that even though there have evolved perhaps as many as 50 billion species on Earth, “only one of these achieved the kind of intelligence needed to establish a civilization.”
Some millennia ago diverse particular thoughts led some minds to create “human settlements” as areas that became “reserves” exclusively designed for the enjoyment of privileged (fortunate) humans, those who have constituted civilized environments. Many millions of humans – the less fortunate ones have been obliged to accept that they belong to second and lower classes – not entitled to be civilized fellows; obliged to accept to be alive trying hard to survive as subjugated or enslaved individuals.
Not few minds believe that all the humankind’s members must fight against the imposition perversely arranged by empowered decision makers, the wealthy elites; that its consequences must be repaired; that they must encourage themselves to humanize the sociological, economic, cultural and political that prevail in the “civilized ambiances” already created.
The main difficulty against the humanization of the dehumanized humans has been created and is maintained by empowered decision makers who have been until today fascinated with the belief that they may become wealthy ladies and gentlemen using the features that they assigned and improve gradually to the civilizing processes already created by the elites aiming to subjugate millions of people; civilizing (?) assumptions that make easier to make lucrative business, while continue ignoring the need to examine the economic, social and cultural circumstances that are obstructing the solutions for unemployment, poverty misery, hunger,… a basic civilizing concern that must be necessarily complemented with educational means that must offer the possibilities to every human to “develop her/his personality with dignity.”
Nowadays, the first steps towards the humanized ambiences oblige to create systemic aids for:
- reducing the danger of being suddenly waged by one or several wars (worldwide, international, regional and locals) supported by the military industry, which is producing many kinds of weapons. US President Eisenhower’s Farewell Address warned of the dangers of the unwarranted influence of the military-industrial complex. This influence has grown over the past half century not only in the United States. It manifests itself in the rise of military budgets, the nuclear arms race, our permanent war footing, the failure to achieve meaningful disarmament, and the illegal wars several states have initiated.
- reducing the causes that disrupt the Human way of life, by the expected climate change. The climate change that is provoking the dynamics of the civilizing that prevails threatens “The right to life and to exist” ; “The right to regenerate its bio-capacity and to continue its vital cycles and processes free from human disruptions” ; “The right to be free from contamination, pollution and toxic or radioactive waste” ; “The right to not have its genetic structure modified or disrupted in a manner that threatens it integrity or vital and healthy functioning”. Awareness has risen that “There cannot be unlimited development in a finite planet” ; “The model of development we want is not that of the so-called developed countries, which is unsustainable in a planet with limited natural resources” ; “So that developing countries might satisfy the needs of their populations without affecting planet Earth, it is essential that developed countries lower their levels of consumption and waste” ; “To achieve development in harmony with nature, we must also seek harmony among human beings through an equitable distribution of wealth”.
- creating a way towards the total elimination of the Genetically Modified (GM) seeds, employed today as weapons of mass destruction. It is definitely unacceptable to destroy seed diversity and accept the so-called “Green Revolution” that continues the agenda of population reduction in resource rich countries that has been set by the National Security Study Memo – elaborated by Kissinger – and had targeted 13 countries (Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Turkey, Thailand, and The Philippines). Five agro-biz corporations control global grain trade, and five control global trade in seeds. Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer, DuPont, and Dow Chemicals control genetically engineered seeds. While these powerful oligopolies were being knocked into place, anti-trust laws were diluted to exempt these firms.
- creating social and economic conditions for impeding the Slavery that prevails for promoting the cheapest production of everything needed for reinforcing “BUY and CONSUME” announced by neoliberal policy imposed by the Commercialized Civilizing.
- redesigning the goals of civilizational development in order (i) to produce only what is needed for the survival of humans and (ii) to structure degrowth policies needed for impeding to continue the human abuse of the planet Earth. Current goals of what is called the system make it ethically not sustainable.
Target groups
In the workshop proposed, these five subjects will be collectively discussed supported by systemic thoughts (papers presented in advance) conceived by minds interested in signaling ways for creating a humanized civilizing recognizing first of all the right to exist of all the living beings that inhabit the planet and also the rights of Mother Earth.
Important Dates
Submission deadline: 27 February 2015
Notification of acceptance: 20 March 2015
