AUTHOR AND PROJECT DIRECTOR: Dr. Robert Muller
CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR AND PROJECT
COORDINATOR:
Barbara
Gaughen-Muller
COVER DESIGN:
Jennifer
Kubel
DESIGN AND LAYOUT:
Wanda
Dove and Carolyn Hawkins
Copyright © August, 1997
Portions
of this may be copied for nonprofit purposes, provided that credit is
given to the author. Please notify Gaughen Global PR of any articles
or publications referring to these 500 ideas.
This book may be purchased by sending a check for $21.95 ($16.95 per
copy plus $5.00 shipping and handling) to the address below.
Make checks payable to Gaughen Global PR.
Quantity discounts are available.
Dr. Robert Muller is available for presentations regarding the 2000 Ideas, and may be contacted at:
MEDIA
21 *Global Public Relations
Barbara Gaughen-Muller
7456 Evergreen Drive, Santa Barbara, CA 93117 USA
Fax: 805 968-5747
E-mail: Barbara@rain.org
Ideas are stronger than the sword. - Napoleon
Novel ideas are first ridiculed then they are violently opposed finally they are accepted as common sense. - Schopenhauer
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Mead
Have a dream, have an ideal and work relentlessly for it. - Paul Hoffman
An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come. - Victor Hugo
Ideas are more powerful than is generally understood. Indeed, the world is ruled by little else. The power of vested interests is vastly exaggerated compared with the encroachment of ideas. - John Meynard Keynes
All progress arises from a dream. When man ceases to dream he abandons himself to sheer luck which will mean his doom. - René Lejeune
People who do not believe in miracles are not realists. - David Ben Gurion
Never underestimate the power of ideas. - Anonymous
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. - Eleanor Roosevelt
A mind that is stretched to a new idea never returns to its original dimension. - Oliver Holmes
A people without a vision will perish (the Bible). Today this applies to the entire humanity. National visions are no longer sufficient and have become largely detrimental to the right evolution and progress of our planet and of humanity. We need new ideas, new visions, new ideals, new miracles, essentially global ones. - Robert Muller
No dream is too big. A World Conference on ideas for the 21st century and third millennium should be held between now and the year 2000. - Barbara Gaughen
I will continue to pressure the world with ideas and proposals until its leaders will change course for the good of all peoples and of the Earth. -Robert Muller
Educator, author, global public relations, and public speaker, Barbara Gaughen has devoted her life to great human causes and a better world through global public relations for world organizations, world leaders, business, education and government. Her Public Relations firm is now in it's 12th year. Prior to this Ms. Gaughen was a Director of the California State Department Career Education Dissemination project, demonstration teacher, and educational consultant.
Equipped with a B.A. from San Diego State University and Masters work in Leadership and Organizational Behavior from the University of California, Santa Barbara and San Diego State University, she has taught post graduate classes for the University of California and has co-authored six books on educational theory and practice. She ran for Country Superintendent of Schools and has been appointed to education and youth committees in Washington, DC.
Her radio show INSPIRING CONVERSATIONS is broadcast world wide. She is the cofounder of Media 21 with Dr. Robert Muller, a PR counsel firm dedicated to preparing the media and organizations for the 21st century. Barbara Gaughen created National Book Blitz month to honor the world's authors and is president of the Book Publicists. Her book, Book Blitz is in it's second printing.
Ms.
Gaughen created World Spirituality Day on the opening day of the UN
General Assembly. She is a Creative Member of the Club of Budapest
and serves on the Boards of several international organizations. Her
public relations firm has won numerous awards including being named
Best PR Firm for five consecutive years. She is currently running her
Global PR firm from Santa Barbara, CA and Costa Rica. Her dream is
global peace and happiness.
Excerpts from Dr. Muller's book, 2000 Ideas And Dreams For A
Better World, will be reissued periodically.
Additional pamphlets of excerpts are available with Dr. Muller's Ideas on vital, current subjects like Ethics, Education, Disarmament, Non-violence, etc.
Excerpts on other subjects can be requested from Gaughen Global Public Relations, phone: (805) 968-8567 and (805) 568-0909 or email: Barbara@rain.org. They are available on computer disc and in printed form. An Index of 93 pages of all topics and subjects covered in the first 1000 Ideas of the 2000 is available for $24.95 plus $5.00 postage on disc or in printed form. 2000 Ideas and Dreams, the first and second volumes of 500 Ideas are available at the UN Bookshop, phone: (800) 553-3210.
Dr. Robert Muller is available for presentations regarding these Ideas and may be contacted at:
MEDIA
21 v Global Public Relations
Barbara Gaughen-Muller
7456 Evergreen Drive, Santa Barbara, CA 93117 USA
phone:
(805) 968-8567 and (805) 568-0909
Fax: 805 968-5747
E-mail: Barbara@rain.org
I am very grateful to Barbara Gaughen who gave me the idea and inspiration to write 2000 ideas as a countup to the momentous year 2000.
We must once and for all get out of the chaos of our past and current violent history, and make human life what it was always meant to be by God, namely a true miracle, perhaps unique in the universe, and our planet a paradise.
Let us therefore all come forth with innumerable ideas, dreams, visions, prayers, beliefs, hopes, expectations and actions for a peaceful, happy and magnificent world. Let us fill the last years of this century and millennium with our ideas and dreams.
Here are the first 500 of my own ideas and dreams, after half of a century of world service in the first universal organization of this planet, my beloved United Nations.
When I distributed Barbara Gaughen's flyer for the first time to a group of Elderhostels visiting the University for Peace on its sacred mountain in Costa Rica, a lady teacher from the US said that she would photocopy it and distribute it to all the children of her school. Please do the same. It is not too late. I thank God for having allowed me to meet Barbara Gaughen, to listen to her, to fall in love with her and to become with her a couple, a new whole human being.
May God bless us all and work through all people for the advent of the best millennium ever and a most magnificent, peaceful and happy planet.
You are the artisans, the savers, the caretakers of the Earth and of the human family in the 21st century and next millennium. Please have a vision of what world and what just, peaceful, happy, fulfilled human society you want. A senior world servant offers you in these pages his dreams and ideas which await fulfillment. Please select one or several or many and implement them.
When you succeed, please visit my tomb on sacred Mr. Rasur in demilitarized Costa Rica above the University for Peace and report it to me. Sit on my bench of dreams, overlooking one of the most beautiful sceneries on Earth, and formulate new dreams for a better, well preserved, and beautiful Earth and happier humanity. I will help you during your lives as a spirit from heaven.
Robert Muller
Former UN Assistant Secretary General
Chancellor of the UN University for Peace in Costa Rica
OUTLOOK U.S.NEWS
CALENDAR It's
coming. On July 11, there will be 2,000 more days until the
year 2000. The next millennium, according to trend watchers,
will find the United States more diverse and more
technological. Although 41 percent of Americans believe the
nation is in decline, some, like futurist Marvin Cetron,
foresee an American renaissance in the coming
years. DATABASE U.S.
population in 1800: 5.3 million; in 1900: 76.2 million;
projected for 2000: 276.2 million; world population now: 5.6
billion; in 2000: 6.2 billion. As
a portion of total U.S. population, the change from 1990 to
2000 for whites: -4%; blacks: .4%, Hispanics: 2.3%; people
ages 45 to 64: 3%. Predicted
job growth for home health care workers from 1992 to 2005:
138%; computer scientists: 112%; lawyers 31%; farmers: -21%
bartenders: -8% chances that an American will be working in
the hospitality industry by 2000: 1 in 10 Portion
of doctorate degrees conferred on women in 1979: 28%; in
1994: 39%; in 2000: 45%; share of Fortune 500 companies'
senior management positions occupied by women: less than 7%;
projected share by 2000: 20% Portion
of American households in 1994 with cable TV: 60%; in 2000:
87%; with computers in 1994: 30%; in 2000: 70% Americans
who think the world will be in better shape in 2000: 26%;
about the same: 27%; worse: 42% Base
data: U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Dept. Of Labor, U.S. Dept. Of
Education, World Future Society, Rooer Center U.S.
NEWS & WORLD REPORT, JULY 11, 1994 What
is your vision for the world in the year 2000? ________________________________________ Please
share three ideas to make the world a better
place. 1.
________________________________________ 2.
________________________________________ 3.
________________________________________ Please
feel free to fax these ideas and others throughout the year
to: Barbara
Gaughen Phone:
805-968-8567 FAX:
805-968-5747 7456
Evergreen Santa
Barbara, CA 93117 e-mail:
Barbara
@rain.org Name__________________ Phone__________________ FAX___________________
1. I would address myself every morning, over UN Radio and TV, to all the peoples of the world in a program "Good Morning World", giving them good news, hope and advice on how they can contribute to a better world;
2. I would request the UN General Assembly to decide the world-wide preparation and celebration of the Year 2000 and our entry into a better 21st century and third millennium. I would widely disseminate my Dream 2000 available in several languages, and make all my books written over the years, which contain my ideas and proposals for a peaceful and better world, available to all heads of states and heads of Missions to the United Nations.
3. I would publish as a UN document and distribute widely my 2000 ideas to the year 2000.
4. I would address all Parliaments of the world in person or via television, since the Charter of the United Nations starts with the words: We, the Peoples. I would address first of all the Congress of the country which is the birthplace, inspiration and main contributor to the United Nations, the United States.
5. I would urge the United States or the UN to convene a meeting of the world's best minds in Philadelphia to perform a new miracle in that city by proposing to the world a second generation United Nations or the first World Constitution in human history, adding a supranational layer to the United Nations
6. I would arrange for the installation between my office and bedroom on the 38th floor of the United Nations of an instantaneous voice and visual communications system, day and night, with all heads of states of the planet, in order to consult immediately on any impending crisis or conflict, to prevent troubles and conflicts and to solve all existing ones.
7. I would request the early installation on the empty 39th floor of the UN of a World Peace Room, at least as sophisticated and well equipped as the War Room of NATO, to monitor world events and take earliest action on potential outbreaks of conflicts and violence.
8. I have always admired the provisions of the UN Charter which created the Military Staff Committee of the Security Council, consisting of the heads of armies of the five Permanent Members of the Council. Its tasks were: 1. to propose a bold, common world security system; 2. thereafter, to proceed to the disarmament of the planet. This was admirable, pure logic, the grand way to lead to colossal savings on this planet but it was cut short of implementation by the cold war. Now that the cold war is over, I would recommend that the Military Staff Committee be pressed to accomplish the tasks meant for it. On an ad hoc basis a head of army from Africa, Asia and Latin America should be added to it.
9. I would recommend that the Security Council should meet frequently away from UN headquarters in areas of trouble and conflict, closer to the people.
10. Regarding the world population explosion, I would recommend:
11. I would arrange for the yearly publication of a UN state of the world report and ask that the same be done by all 32 UN specialized agencies and world programs in their respective fields. Thus, governments, the media and the public would receive comprehensive year after year diagnoses of the world condition.
12. I would make sure the UN language be simplified and made more understandable to the vast public of the world.
13. I would revive my UN Marshall Plan for aid to the poor countries in the form of a world revolving fund giving low-interest or no interest loans, reimbursable over long periods of time. The UN Development Program which arose from that plan remains insufficient to fulfill the immense tasks to be accomplished for the millions of poor of this world.
14. I would upgrade my World Peace Plan 2010 written in 1991*. Some of its ideas and dreams were fulfilled, others were not. Many more are needed. What the great German author Goethe said applies fully to the community of nations.
15. I would solicit dreams, ideas and actions from all peoples. It will be the new, modern world democracy.
Note:
*
See Conclusion to the Fifth One Hundred Ideas
UN Secretary General U Thant, a former school headmaster from Burma, and my spiritual master, often said to me when I was his assistant: "Robert, there will be no peace on Earth, if there is not a new education." He was right. I will therefore reproduce here as introduction, in his memory, my acceptance speech of the UNESCO 1989 Peace Education Prize.
..."As a young boy, from my window high up in the house of my parents in Sarreguemines, Alsace-Lorraine, I could see the border between France and Germany. It was a line not to be trespassed. Beyond it lived hereditary enemies, the Germans, whom we were taught to hate. And yet they spoke the same language and had the same names as we. But when I lifted my eyes to the sky, I saw the sun, clouds, birds, a moon and stars who ignored totally that border. And I dreamt that someday I would be allowed to work for its suppression.
We still had to suffer a lot from that border: two evacuations which made us twice refugees; World War II; Nazi occupation; my father's imprisonment and my own; the French underground; to be a twenty year old fighter for de Gaulle in the mountains of Auvergne.* Today when I look at the photograph of my schoolmates in 1939, I sadly see that almost all of them died in French or German uniforms.
My dream was fulfilled: I became a servant of the United Nations and worked there all my adult life. Other friends from Alsace-Lorraine took issue with that border and worked for the creation of a European Union which is today a flourishing reality. When I received my latest passport, I had a beautiful surprise: it had the title European Union and under it the sub-title France. I hope that the papers of my descendants will bear someday the title World Union and under it the name of their country. And if God grants me life, I hope to return to my hometown to see the last remnants to that border dismantled.**
All the rest of my life has been a succession of dreams, often fulfilled: not to see another world war; to see the United Nations survive and become universal; to see the end of colonialism; to see all nations work together on innumerable issues in 32 UN specialized agencies and world programs; to witness the birth of international schools, of world universities and of the University for Peace; to see a world core curriculum I designed for peace education and human fulfillment adopted in a first few schools around the world. And since dreams engender further dreams, here are those for peace education which are particularly dear to me:
Notes
* I describe the miseries and all the horrors I saw in a book What War Taught Me About Peace (Doubleday (1984)
** This dream came true in 1994. I saw the empty police and customs building which had created so much misery and suffering in my family and in Alsace-Lorraine. What a miracle: the border was gone. Like the sun, clouds, birds, the moon and stars I could cross the imaginary line unimpeded for the first time. Robert Schuman, my friend and elder, the father of the European Union, was dead. He never saw his dream fulfilled. I went to his tomb to report it to him.
Today I dream:
1. that all schools of this Earth will teach about the United Nations, which is the young people's greatest hope and will be their instrument of global action when they are grown up;
2. that all governments which have not yet done so, will ratify the University for Peace, this magnificent dream being implemented in demilitarized Costa Rica;
3. that all schools and universities of this Earth will teach peace and non-violence and will become schools and universities of peace;
4. that Unesco recommend to the United Nations to proclaim an International Year for Global and Peace Education;
5. that children in all schools of the world will celebrate the international days proclaimed by the United Nations, for instance the International Day of Peace held on the third Tuesday of September, when the yearly General Assembly opens, World Environment Day (5 June), United Nations Day (24 October), Human Rights Day (10 December), and several others reflecting the great aims of the United Nations. As a result, youth will participate from childhood in the making of a peaceful and better world;
6. that many philanthropists will follow the example of Mr. Sasakawa and will help global and peace education at the world level and continental, national and local levels;
7. that the media who have a major role as educators will follow the example of Ted Turner and will inform, teach, illustrate and make audiences participate in the building of a better world. In particular, it is imperative that they inform the public of the world information, achievements and constructive work of the United Nations;
8. that the film industry will produce noble inspiring films devoted to the great visionaries, prophets and artisans of peace, past and present. I dream of great films similar to that on Gandhi, devoted to the lives of Dag Hammarskjöld and U Thant; and Robert Schuman.
9. I dream of a substantial progress of peace toys and applaud the recent agreement between the Government of Sweden and toy manufacturers of that country no longer to produce and to sell toys of war and violence;
10. I dream of growing numbers of international schools and international universities in the specialized fields of the United Nations agencies and world programs, following the example of the World Maritime University in Malmö, Sweden, of the United Nations University in Tokyo, and of the University for Peace in Costa Rica;
11. I pray that the United Nations University will create branches in New York, Geneva and Vienna to allow students to better know the work of the United nations and of its Specialized Agencies at the three main seats of the United nations;
12. I dream that all universities in the world will require that students should take a course on international organizations laboring in their fields;
13. I dream that Unesco will study and recommend by the year 2000 a world core curriculum for adoption by all nations;
14. I hope that all books, manuals and history teachings will include a chapter on the United Nations, which is rarely the case today;
15. I hope that all social and political sciences will follow the example of the exact sciences and become global. We need most urgently a global anthropology, a global sociology, a global psychology and a global political and administrative science (planetics and gaiamanagement);
16. I dream that all religious education will teach peace and non-violence, proclaiming as the first cosmic and divine law on Earth: Thou shalt not kill, not even in the name of a nation or a religion;
17. I dream that each country shall create a Ministry of Peace and an academy or institute for peace, with local branches, in order to guide and co-ordinate the efforts of citizens, schools, and local institutions and associations working for peace, non-violence, and a better world. The University for Peace could from time to time organize international conferences of such new peace departments.
I pay homage to my co-laureate, Mrs. Elise Boulding for her action which has led to the creation of the prestigious Institute for Peace by the Government of the United States of America. May all countries follow that example;
18. I dream of the creation of a World Peace Service which would allow young people from all countries to work together for peace and humanitarian causes instead of military service;
19. I dream of the birth of a true world literature whose best-sellers would be works of peace and non-violence;
20. I hope that the University for Peace will establish a global peace strategy which would reach from outer-space to the atom, encompassing all aspects of our planetary home, the atmosphere, the seas and oceans, the polar caps, the continents, nations, regions, cities and villages; and from the whole human family to the individual, encompassing races, peoples, cultures, religions, generations, professions, institutions, firms, the family and all groups and associations created by the human race to attain a greater level of happiness and fulfillment;
21. I pray that all human beings of this Earth become instruments of peace, thus fulfilling the cosmic function deeply engraved in each of us and for which we were born and allowed to live temporarily on this beautiful planet in the vast universe and eternal stream of time. The peace of the world is the sum-total of the peace of all individuals.
22. I hope that the United Nations General Assembly will proclaim a worldwide celebration of the Year 2000, to which Unesco would contribute its vision and projects in the fields of education, science and culture for the next millennium;
23. I dream that the United Nations flag and United Nations hymn composed by Pablo Casals will spread world wide and that 24 October, anniversary of the birth of the United Nations, will be celebrated in all countries as is recommended by the General Assembly;
24. Finally, I pray that the United States will take again their seat at Unesco and resume their visionary and dynamic role at the United Nations and in all Specialized Agencies of the United Nations, so indispensable at this crucial stage of history when world problems multiply unceasingly. We should remember these last lines of a text which Franklin Roosevelt wrote in his own hand on the day of his death for a speech he was to deliver at the opening of the San Francisco Conference convened to give birth to the United Nations from the ashes and blood of the sixty million dead of World War II:
This work, my friends, is peace: more than an end of this war &emdash; an end to the beginning of all wars. I ask you to keep up your faith. The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with a strong and active faith.
1996: May I reinforce this prayer that the US Congress pursue the American dream to be the cradle and foundation of a new world order, and consider a bold, visionary strengthening of US-born United Nations, instead of letting their minds be poisoned by the thought of letting the UN die by withholding US financial contributions. The non-joining by the US of the League of Nations was an invitation to Hitler and Mussolini to become dictators and provoked World War II. May America not repeat that mistake, I beg you. See what Europe has achieved by creating the seeds of World Union. Do even better since you are the land of dreams. Love and concern of the American people for the world and humanity find their highest expression in the United Nations. I pray God to enlighten all Americans to that basic truth. Please listen to the prayer of one who has suffered much during World War II and was miraculously blessed with survival. I would be happy to address the US Congress and all Parliaments in the world to plead for the strengthening of the United Nations and for a peaceful, better world.
December, 1996
There exists now the possibility for tax exempt donations, bequests and legacies by US citizens to the University for Peace via the tax exempt non-profit Robert Muller School in Arlington, Texas. Your check should be made out to the Robert Muller School, with indication in the lower left side corner of it (space usually provided for notes or messages) that the donation is for the University for Peace. The full amount will be transferred to the University by the Robert Muller School, a fully trustworthy Institution which has existed for more than fifteen years and has spawned the creation of 33 more such schools in the world. For bequest and legacies, please consult Mrs. Gloria Crook, the Director of the School. Donations can be made for particular purposes. Several aulas have been contributed by donors in the name of a family, or a spouse or deceased ones. Under a Trees for Peace program, a tropical tree on the campus is selected and a bronze plaque affixed at the tree or on a pole in front of it with the inscription you desire. Contributions for a tree for peace are $5,000. They are usually made to honor particular persons or deceased ones.
Donors will receive the following certificate from the Robert Muller School and our warmest thanks. Although the University for Peace was created by the United Nations (We the Peoples…) only 32 governments out of 185 member-nations of the UN have ratified it and only three have helped it financially. The United Nations is not authorized by its governments to finance the University. Military education, not peace and non-violence education seem still to be the priority of most governments of this planet. It is therefore up to the people to step in by every means, including this one.
Check overleaf if your government has ratified or not the University.
Yours
in peace, Robert Muller
RECEIVED: _____________________ DATE: __________________________
The Robert Muller School gratefully acknowledges the receipt of your contribution, to be applied as indicated:
The Robert Muller School Transformation Institute Radio Wisdom Publications Fund
General Fund University for Peace Balanced Beginnings Cycles
FROM: ____________________________
______________________________
PRESIDENT/TREASURER
The Robert Muller School is a non-profit, tax-exempt Corporation, 501 (c)(3). since 1977. Tax Identification Number 75-1538044. All contributions are tax-deductible.
Entry
Into Force: 7 April 1981, In accordance with article 7.
Registration: 7 April 1981, NO. 19735
Text: A/RES/35/55.
Note: The agreement was adopted by resolution 35/55 (1) of the General Assembly of the United Nations dated 5 December 1980. It was opened for signature by all member states of the United Nations from 5 December 1980 on.
Bangladesh
8 Apr. 1981 Nicaragua
3 Apr. 1981
Cameroon 16 Aug. 1982
Chile 2 Mar. 1981
Colombia 18 Mar. 1981
Costa Rica 5 Dec. 1980
Cuba 9 Aug. 1985
Cyprus 15 Mar. 1983
Democratic Kampuchea 10 Apr. 1981
Dominican Republic 21 Nov. 1983
Ecuador 18 Mar. 1981
El Salvador 7 Apr. 1981
Guatemala 14 Sep. 1981
Honduras 10 Apr. 1981
India 3 Dec. 1981
Italy 27 Nov. 1981
Mexico 15 May 1981
Pakistan 30 Mar. 1981
Panama 20 Mar. 1981
Peru 9 Apr. 1981
Philippines 20 Mar. 1984
Russia 23 Dec. 1987
Saint Lucia 2 Sep. 1986
Senegal 1 Apr. 1981
Slovenia 7 Jul. 1992
Spain 21 Apr. 1981
Sri Lanka 10 Aug. 1981
Suriname 3 Jun. 1981
Togo 3 Jun. 1981
Uruguay 19 Nov. 1985
Venezuela 5 Dec. 1980
Yugoslavia 19 Jan. 1983
NOTES: (1) Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-fifth Session, Supplement NO. 31 (A/35/49) p. 103.
Spiritual
exercises of interiority, meditation, prayer and communion
with the universe and eternity or God
I.
Our planetary home and place in the universe
II.
Humanity
A.
Quantitative characteristics
B.
Qualitative characteristics
C.
Human groupings
III.
Our place in time
(Past, Present, Future)
IV.
The miracle of individual life
A.
Good physical lives
B.
Good mental lives
C.
Good moral lives
D.
Good spiritual lives
UN INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES COOPERATING ON
CATEGORIES OF SEGMENT I OF THE WORLD CORE CURRICULUM
These agencies often are humanity's best resource for world-wide statistics, information, recommendations, and teaching materials. They all have information services to whom you can write.
|
|
The mere list of the eighteen United Nations specialized agencies and fourteen world programs which compose the UN system illustrates the vastness of today's international cooperation. No other living species has ever so equipped itself with global instruments designed to study, observe, monitor and preserve its habitat. In innumerable organs, meetings and conferences, through thousands of experts and delegates, backed by forty thousand world servants, humankind is today probing its entire biosphere and condition, trying to augment peace, to reduce conflicts and tensions, to build bridges and to seek ways for a greater fulfillment of human life on a well preserved planet to an extent which no philosopher, prophet or social reformer would have ever dreamt possible.
Here is a quick overview of this incipient world system: The eighteen UN specialized agencies : International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); International Labor Organization (ILO); Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); World Health Organization (WHO); International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD); International Development Association (IDA); International Finance Corporation (IFC); International Monetary Fund (IMF); International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO); Universal Postal Union (UPU); International Telecommunication Union (ITU); World Meteorological Organization (WMO); International Maritime Organization (IMO); General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT); World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO); International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD); World Tourism Organization (WTO), linked with the UN under a novel type of agreement.
The fourteen world programs : United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF); United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); United Nations Development Program (UNDP); Office of UN Disaster Relief Co-ordinator (UNDRO); United Nations Environment Program (UNEP); United Nations Fund for Drug Abuse Control (UNFDAC); Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO); United Nations Institute for training and Research (UNITAR); United Nations Fund for Population (UNRWA); United Nations University (UNU)*; United Nations Volunteers (UNV); World Food Program (WFP).
The UN itself is concerned with a multitude of global problems, such as peace, disarmament, outer space, the seas and oceans, natural resources, human rights, racial equality, women, multinational corporations, criminality, etc.
There also exists a first world ministerial council: the World Food Council. Hopefully, similar ministerial councils will be established in other crucial fields, energy, the atmosphere, water, transport in particular.
I am proud that I was at the origin of the creation of eleven of these 32 UN agencies and world programs.
*Also: the University for Peace in Costa Rica; the World Maritime University in Malmö, Sweden; the Institute for Nuclear Physics of the IAEA in Trieste, Italy, and the Training Institute (now recognized as a European University) for Labor Relations of the ILO.
If a divine or extraterrestrial committee of experts in planetary management visited the Earth, they would not believe their eyes. "You are insane!" they would exclaim. "This is no way to administer a planet! We give you the lowest mark in planetary management in the entire universe. "
We would look at them with surprise, astonished by the vehemence of their attack. "Look at what you are doing!" they would add with gentleness and pity. "You were given one of the most beautiful planets in the cosmos - one of the rare celestial homes, at the right distance from a sun, endowed with marvelous forms of life. It is a living planet with an atmosphere, fertile soils, waters, and oceans. It is vibrant and interdependent, with elements that are all interlinked in the most marvelous ways. A true jewel in the universe. And look what you have done with it:
1. You have divided this planet into 185 separate territorial fragments without rhyme or reason - without geographic, ecological, human, or any other logic. All these fragments are sovereign; i.e., each of them considers itself more important than the planet and the rest of humanity.
2. You have armed these fragments to their teeth in order to defend their so-called "integrity." They often steal a piece of land from their neighbors.
3. You let two of the biggest parts of this international jigsaw puzzle stuff the surface and the inside of the earth, the waters, the seas, the airs, and tomorrow the heavens and the stars with nuclear devices capable of destroying most of life on this planet.
4. You permit ego-driven tyrants to snuff out lives with poison gas.
5. You put some of your best minds to work designing more efficient ways to kill - instead of better ways to nurture one's body, mind, heart and soul.
6. You spend huge sums of money for each of these sovereign territories, and almost nothing to safeguard and provide for the needs of the planet as a whole. You do not even have a planetary budget! What an aberration!
7. You let many of your scientists, industrialists, developers, builders, promoters, merchants, and military progressively destroy the fundamental resources of your planet, so that within a few decades it will become unlivable - and you will die like flies.
8. You educate your children as if each of these territories were an autonomous island floating on an ocean - instead of teaching them about their planet, which is their home, and about humanity, which is their family.
They would have a long list of other grievances: the gaps between the rich and the poor, between the overfed and the hungry; violence in so many forms; self-destructive drugs; the radioactive and chemical poisoning of the planet; ruthless greed for money and power regardless of the harm to fellow humans and animals; the violation by states of individual human rights; refugees; tortures; abandoned children; the homeless; the absence of a philosophy of life, of ethics, of planetary morals; a youth without ideals; racism; misinformation by the media and governments; abusive all-devouring monopolies; and an unlimited imagination to dress our own nation or group with every possible virtue and greatness while at the same time denigrating and dividing other nations and groups.
We could offer many arguments to explain how we got this way: our checkered history; the current nation-states being the result of conquests, murders, stealings, invasions, wars, and marriages; the recent discovery, only 500 years ago, that we are a globe rotating around its sun rather than the contrary; the dearth of global data until the United Nations and its specialized agencies were born; a total inexperience in planetary management; the absence of any precedents; the novelty of the crises, challenges, and global problems to which we react like little children burning our fingers; a first very weak world organization, misunderstood, used as a scapegoat by its masters, who monopolize all fiscal resources of the planet; belief in obsolete values and ideologies; the multitude of tongues, cultures, beliefs, and religions that we have inherited from the past; and so on.
The extraterrestrials would answer, "All right. You have extenuating circumstances due to your history and slow evolution. But this has lasted long enough. You have until the year 2000 - the date of entry into your next millennium. Sit down. Think. Bring together your best minds. Consult your populations. And make a blueprint for a better system of planetary management. Luckily you have many excellent resources available. "The latest is PlanetHood, a book by Benjamin Ferencz and Ken Keyes. PlanetHood seems to us a good point of departure. That book raises in effect the following fundamental question: What would be the fate of the United States if each of its fifty states were sovereign and possessed an army, navy, and air force, a President, a Supreme Court, a State Department, a national hymn, a national flag, national days, and a Congress? What if the United States government were no more than a United Nations without sovereignty; without legislative, executive, judicial, and fiscal powers; unable to make laws or decisions, but only recommendations and exhortations? You would exclaim: 'What an indescribable mess it would be!' Well, this is exactly the state of your planet torn up into 185 pieces!
"We will return during your celebration of the Bimillennium. We hope that by the year 2000 you have drawn up a proper political and administrative regime for this planet."
"Do not lose any time. Be courageous. Do not get stopped by the antiquated beliefs carefully nurtured by existing powers and all those who benefit from the present disorder. "You are on the eve of major potential nuclear, ecological, and climatic disasters. May God protect you, bless you, and guide you. After all, you are our brothers and sisters. May cosmic enlightenment finally illuminate your marvelous little planet circling faithfully around its sun in the vast universe. "And please remember," they would advise as they left, "this planet has not been created for you. You were created as part of it and to take good care of it."
Ladies and Gentlemen, dear friends,
Receiving here tonight the Albert Schweitzer Prize for the Humanities, thanks to the work, vision, devotion and generosity of so many people, especially from your beautiful city and university, makes me feel that I am living on a Planet of Dreams.
As a little boy in Alsace-Lorraine, I dreamt that the border between France and Germany which I saw from my window would disappear. On 31 December last it was abolished.
I dreamt that God would allow me to work at the top of the world for peace, the greatness of life and the beauty of our miraculous planet. I worked for 38 years in the United Nations and am now the Chancellor of the first University of Peace on this Planet.
I dreamt of living in a region without militaries, and l live today in Costa Rica, one of the first demilitarized countries on Earth.
In the United Nations, I dreamt that colonization would disappear. It disappeared. That the UN would become universal. It became universal. That the cold war would end. It ended. So many dreams of mine became true, that I left a Testament to the UN which outlines a host of further dreams for a peaceful, better, beautiful and happy planet.
Since I seem to have been born as a dreamer, let me express to you my dreams concerning the fulfillment of some of the dreams of Albert Schweitzer.
I dream:
1. That for the second UN World Conference on human rights this summer in Geneva, a paper outlining the great man's views, dreams and actions for human rights be published and promoted.
2. That his views, dreams, and actions for a global order be submitted to the New Independent Commission of Eminent Persons on a Global Governance recently created in Geneva under the chairmanship of M. Ingvar Carlsson, the Prime Minister of Sweden.
3. That his views and dreams and actions for a world spiritual Renaissance be submitted to the Second World Parliament of Religions this summer in Chicago, one hundred years after the first one in 1893.
4. That his views, dreams, and actions for the family be published and promoted during the International Year of the Family in 1994.
5. That his views, dreams, and actions for world peace, for all life forms, and for all the ideals of the United Nations be published as a Testament contributing to the 50th anniversary of the UN in 1995.
*Acceptance speech by Robert Muller of the Albert Schweitzer Prize for the Humanities, University of North Carolina, 19 March 1993, at Wilmington.
6. That his views, dreams, and actions for art, music, culture, and philosophy be submitted to UNESCO for the 50th anniversary of that organization in 1996.
7. That his views, dreams, and actions for health and medicine be published for the 50th anniversary of the World Health Organization in 1996.
8. That his views, dreams, and actions for the participation of people in peace movements be published and promoted for the one hundredth anniversary of the first People's Peace Conference in The Hague in 1999.
9. That his views, dreams, and actions for the 21st century and the third millennium be published and promoted for the celebration of the year 2000 and our entry into the third millennium.
10. That one of the International Days for Peace proclaimed by the UN be celebrated in honor of Albert Schweitzer.
11. That the fulfillment of the dreams of Albert Schweitzer, the first 21st Century Man, be made a priority item on the agenda of all philanthropists&emdash;lovers of humanity and gaiaphilists&emdash;lovers of our Mother Earth, Gaia.
12. I dream that innumerable people of this planet, especially youth, will adopt the dreams, views, and actions of Albert Schweitzer, that we will let reincarnate and radiate from ourselves his love and reverence for life, for this planet, for God, and for the universe.
And last, but not least, let me mention the fulfillment of some immediate dreams:
I dream of having a bust of Albert Schweitzer on the beautiful, tropical grounds of the University for Peace in Costa Rica, to inspire students from all continents. In a moment I will unveil the first model of a life-size bust of him which I will donate to the University.
The inauguration of the bust, of an Albert Schweitzer Chair, and of Albert Schweitzer scholarships will take place at the University for Peace at the end of May * in presence of the diplomatic community, of Dr. and Mrs. Rhena Schweitzer Miller, of my dear friend Harold Robles, the dynamic and visionary President of the Albert Schweitzer Institute for the Humanities. He has just been informed that half-price tickets have been donated by LACSA, the Costa Rican airlines.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you from the innermost of my heart for this wonderful honor.
Like Albert Schweitzer, let us never cease to dream, to advocate, to serve, and to act.
Let us make our beautiful Earth the Planet of Dreams.
Note:
*This was done. I can see the bust from the Margarita and Robert Muller aula, my office at the University for Peace.
Framework of the Preparation of the Year 2000, the 21st century and the third millennium prepared by Robert Muller in honor of Albert Schweitzer and published by the Albert Schweitzer Institute, PO 550 Wallingford, CT 06492, US. Available from the UN Bookshop in New York. Tel. 1-800-553-3210.
For the fist time in history, humanity is preparing itself properly for its entry into a new century and millennium, something unprecedented. At the end of the last century, there was practically no such preparation. Only two efforts were made: the holding of a World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893 and the first World Peace Conference in The Hague, Holland, in 1899. There existed only two small international organizations, the UPU (Universal Postal Union) and the ITU (International Telegraphic Union), for the first two global reasons that the mail had to be transported across borders and telegraph poles and lines built across them. Today there exists a still imperfect, insufficient but first universal organization, the United Nations, strengthened by 32 specialized agencies and world programs created on the historic path opened by the UPU and the ITU. The UN and these agencies had the vision and foresight to hold and plan a whole series of world conferences reviewing the present state of the world and looking into the next century and millennium. There is also the unprecedented birth of a series of Independent World Commissions of Eminent Persons, usually headed by a chief of state, doing the same inspiring, forward looking work on some of the most fundamental issues confronting us at this stage of our evolution. Here is a list of these global efforts.
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2005
2006
2007
2010
2011
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2019
2021
2022
2024
2026
2027
2030
2045
Several other world conferences and world commissions of eminent persons headed by chiefs of states are proposed in these 2000 ideas for the year 2000. A list of them appears in the second edition of this Framework published by the Albert Schweitzer Institute.
We must envisage two radically different big pictures for the next millennium:
&endash;a silent Earth from which all living species and flora will have disappeared as a result of atomic radiations, AIDS (the loss of the human immune system), alcohol, drugs, chemicals, oxygen loss, endless economic growth, overpopulation in the poor countries and overconsumption in the rich ones, violence, conflicts, the planet floating silently in the vast universe, covered with mountains of garbage, abandoned cars, yachts, airplanes, skyscrapers, airports, highways, cities, universities, museums and houses filled with piles of objects, toys and junk.
&endash;a beautiful, alive, warless, well-preserved Earth with a stabilized human population living in small communities, in the middle of a regrown, healthy, magnificent, prolific nature, traveling little, consuming little, living simple, frugal lives, taking from the Earth only what is needed, in harmony with nature, well-governed, in spiritual union with God, the universe and eternity, happy and fulfilled, with few children, respecting the elderly and returning to the Earth without any caskets, to be resurrected into other life forms, a humanity in which there will be no homeless and hungry, in which every human being will be grateful for the miraculous gift of life on a unique, miraculous, life-blessed planet in the vast, star-studded universe.
To achieve the second picture, the United Nations, several major world conferences, World Commissions and innumerable citizens groups around the world have recommended vigorous action plans and are working very hard to implement them (e.g. population, the environment). But there are several major gaps on which I would like to recommend the following actions:
1. Convening by the UN of a world conference on proper Earth government and administration
Since despite the end of the cold war, international and internal conflicts have increased from 38 in 1991 to 47 in 1995, and the number of sovereign nations members of the UN has increased from 160 to 185; since the duplication of government expenditures, national institutions and bureaucracies between 185 nation-states has reached staggering proportions, and military and armaments expenditures have barely diminished since the end of the cold war; we must declare the absolute necessity to consider and adopt new ways for proper world government and administration for the sake of the survival of the planet and the peace, well-being and justice of all humans.
The Independent World Commission on Global Governance headed by the Prime Minister of Sweden, Mr. Ingvar Carlsson, has opened the door to the consideration of new ways of properly managing and administering our planet and human society. It should lead to the holding by the United Nations of a world conference on the proper government and administration of the Earth, to permit the adoption of a new system as we enter the 21st century, a system infinitely better than the United Nations.
*From an opening speech by Robert Muller to the Peace on the Seas and Oceans Conference in Puntarenas, Costa Rica, 1995
The pathbreaking Law of the Seas, adopted by nations for the proper administration of the seas and oceans, a commons representing 71% of the planet's surface, could provide an example for the adoption of a Law of the Earth. We owe it to the Earth and to humanity.
2. Establishment of an Independent World Commission on Democracy
It is high time to review the concept of democracy which has been largely replaced by the rule of moneycracy, corporatecracy, powercracy. Even elected Parliamentarians, once they work with central governments, often do the contrary of what the people expect from them. World public opinion polls and referenda should be held. If one were held on nuclear armaments, the overwhelming majority of people would ask for their elimination. And yet, governments do not do it.
3. Absolute necessity for a World Security System
The United Nations Charter established a Military Staff Committee of the Security Council in which the heads of the armies of the five permanent members were supposed to come up with a world security system whereafter they would turn to the disarmament of the planet.
This sensible way was cut short by the cold war, and still has not been revived since the end of that war. If the five permanent members of the Security Council do not comply with this requirement of the UN Charter, the Secretary General of the UN should come up with his proposals for a world security system allowing effective disarmament thereafter. It is gratifying that the Worldwide Consultative Association of Retired Generals and Admirals has taken up that task and has come up with proposals for a world and regional security system.
My own proposals for a world security system include the creation at the United Nations of a World Peace Room similar to the War Room of NATO to monitor all potential conflicts and inform immediately the Security Council and the Secretary-General. Another proposal is to create an instantaneous telecommunications system between the Secretary General and all heads of states, open day and night. There are several other proposals in these 2000 ideas.
4. Establishment of a World Commission for the Total Denuclearization of the Planet
It took billions of years until the original nuclear radiations of our planet disappeared, giving birth to the immense variety of life forms which we have today. And now through nuclear armaments, no longer necessary after the end of the cold war, and through nuclear energy plants, we resume irresponsibly and foolishly the radiation of the planet. This must be urgently stopped by the destruction of all nuclear armaments (see the frightening picture of atomic submarines and old nuclear plants being dumped to the bottom of the oceans provided in the paper submitted to the conference by the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation in Santa Barbara, California). All nuclear energy plants on the planet must be dismantled, since as proved by the UN years ago the supply of the world's energy needs can be met by still to be exploited hydro-electrical power sites and new sources of energy around the planet. Nuclear energy plants are built by nations purely because they do not want to be dependent on foreign sources. In an orderly managed and secure planetary society, such fears would no longer be warranted. In any reform of the United Nations the International Atomic Energy Agency should be replaced by a United Nations World Energy Agency.
5. Establishment of a World Commission on the Demilitarization of the Planet
25 countries, mostly small ones, are already demilitarized on this planet. Dr. Oscar Arias, Costa Rican Nobel Peace Prize winner, is doing a wonderful, pioneering job in obtaining the demilitarization of more countries.
Since many Ministries of War have already transformed themselves into Ministries of Defense, I propose that they further transform themselves into Ministries of Peace, and that all military and police forces on this planet, from the top of the world (UN peacekeeping forces) to municipal polices be converted into Peace Protectors (the UN forces have already been renamed Peace Protecting Agents). The Worldwide Consultative Association of Retired Generals and Admirals * has come up with many interesting proposals for the use of the military for peaceful and productive programs, as well as their transformation into a new type of proper soldiering. For their own future sake all militaries of the world should consider their transformation and adaptation to the new global conditions and requirements of the world in the next century and millennium. If not, they are bound to disappear.
Note:
* For information write to the Center for International Peacebuilding, 9 West Street, Chipping Norton, Oxon OX7 5LH, United Kingdom Fax: 06086644732
6. Holding by the UN of a world conference on violence and the peaceful resolution of all conflicts
It is high time for the UN to have a look at all forms of violence on this planet, their causes, their prevention and the ways they could be solved by non-violent means, from the top of the world (international conflicts) down to violence in the streets and in the family. We must aim at a new century and millennium of non-violence.
7. Early decision by the UN General Assembly to prepare and celebrate the year 2000
There are only a few years left to the turn of the century and of a millennium. For the sake of a better future and the acceleration of the solution of our problems, it is of paramount importance for the General Assembly to decide to prepare and celebrate the year 2000. As was the case for the celebration of the UN's 50th anniversary, the General Assembly should establish a special commission for that purpose and ask all governments to create national commissions. The remaining years to the Bimillenium must be devoted by all humanity, nations and institutions to unparalleled thinking, action, inspiration, elevation and love to solve our remaining problems and to achieve a peaceful, united human family on our marvelous planet in the next century and millennium.
1. respect human dignity as well as ethnic, cultural and religious diversity.
2. work against racial injustice and all discrimination of women, and the abuse and exploitation of children.
3. work for the improvement in the quality of life of aged and disabled persons.
4. respect human life and condemn the sale of human beings or parts of the living human body.
5. support efforts to improve the life of people suffering from hunger, misery, disease or unemployment.
6. promote effective voluntary family planning in order to regulate world population growth.
7. support actions for an equitable distribution of world resources.
8. avoid energy waste and work for reduction of the use of fossil fuels. Promote the use of inexhaustible energy sources, representing a minimum of environmental and health risks.
9. protect nature from pollution and abuse, promote conservation of natural resources and the restoration of degraded environments.
10. respect and preserve the genetic diversity of living organisms and promote constant scrutiny of the application of genetic technologies.
11. promote improvement of urban and rural regions and support endeavors to eliminate the causes of environmental destruction and impoverishment which can lead to massive migrations of people and overpopulation in urban areas.
12. work for maintenance of world peace, condemn war, terrorism and all other hostile activities by calling for decreased military spending in all countries and of the proliferation and dissemination of arms, in particular, weapons of mass destruction.
signed
on 7 May 1995
Robert Muller, Chancellor, University for Peace
In October 1989, In UN document A/44/626, the government of Costa Rica offered to the UN General Assembly the following Declaration of Human Responsibilities for Peace and Sustainable Development for reflection and compromise. The Declaration was drafted and adopted during the Conference on The Search for the True Meaning of Peace held in Costa Rica from 25 to 30 June 1989 under the auspices of the UN University for Peace.
CHAPTER I. UNITY OF THE WORLD
Article 1. Everything which exists is part of an interdependent universe. All living creatures depend on each other for their existence, well-being and development.
Article 2. All human beings are on inseparable part of nature, on which culture and human civilization have been built.
Article 3. Life on Earth is abundant and diverse. It is sustained by the unhindered functioning of natural systems which ensure the provision of energy, air, water and nutrients for all living creatures. Every manifestation of life on Earth is unique and essential and must therefore be respected and protected without regard to its apparent value to human beings.
CHAPTER II. UNITY OF THE HUMAN FAMILY
Article 4. All human beings are an inseparable part of the human family and depend on each other for their existence, well-being and development. Every human being is a unique expression and manifestation of life and has a separate contribution to make to life on Earth. Each human being has fundamental and inalienable rights and freedoms, without distinction of race, colour, sex, language,