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STEERING COMMITTEE Ms. Megan Norgate, Chairperson The Venerable Dr. Ian MacKenzie, The Rev. Kangwa Mabuluki, The Rev. Dr. Ross Kinsler, The Rev. Dr. Wendy Fletcher, The Rev. Eileen Turner, _____________________ | MONSENOR OSCAR ROMERO-TWENTY-FIVE YEARS LATER Jesuit Jon Sobrino, close colleague of Oscar Romero during the military repression in El Salvador, offers his recommendations concerning the "celebration" of the 25th anniversary of his assassination, March 24, 2005. ("El seguimiento de Monsenor Romero: Meditation cristiana ante el 25 aniversario de su partida," Signos de Vida, CLAI, marzo, 2005) To celebrate the life of Oscar Romero is to follow him, i.e., to experience the change or conversion that he experienced and to remake one's life as he did. Conversion and praxis. Romero did not and does not offer recipes, but he does offer pathways, lights, impulses. His followers must tell the truth, not just preach a doctrine, and that means to denounce prophetically the evils that exist, to name the assassins and the victims. Sobrino spells out today's evils in El Salvador and the world. 1. The idolatry of money; the oligarchy, previously agricultural, now financial. 2. The idolatry of military power, more latent here and more evident in the United States, to -which must be added the shocking violence of 8 to 10 homicides daily [in El Salvador]. 3. The connivance of some political parties with injustice and the irresponsibility of the majority in the face of misery and suffering, to which must be added corruption. 4. The imperialism of the United States, through commerce, in our foreign policies, and above all in the false values imposed on us: individualism, success, the "good life." 5. The corruption of the administration of justice, which still has not even clarified who killed Monsenor. 6. The media, with lies, half truths, cover ups, as the case may be. 7. The falsification of religion, exaggerated spiritualism, that is not life with the Spirit; alienating individualism, that is not personal appropriation of the faith; gregariousness that fills stadiums, which is not community or mutual care; the infantilization of religion, which is not simplicity—as children—before the mystery of God. The praxis of Romero is one of mercy, "the ultimate sign of our being Christian." It is to promote justice, "the transformation of structures." It is the option for the poor, seriously, at risk, "remembering and honoring those who lived it to the end: our martyrs." We must recover evangelization in the primary sense that it has in Jesus: "the announcement of good news to the poor, not letting novel methods and language take the place of what is essential." We do not need to go back to the 80s, "but we do need to return to this fundamental intuition: as Church we are above all community, body, and for this community to have an influence in society it should be structured, organized, related to other social forces." We all know how difficult this is, but in this anniversary at least let us not say it is impossible. Let us ask that this be our Utopia. 1. What does it mean to be converted as Oscar Romero was converted? 2. What are the evils that we are called to denounce today? Jubilee Workbook VII, April 2005 Kinsler, www.sabbatheconomics.org ____________________________________________________ SOCIAL MOVEMENTS IN LATIN AMERICA The March/April 2005 issue of NACLA's Report on the Americas gives major attention to "Social Movements: Building from the Ground Up." (North American Congress on Latin America, www.nacla.org) It is well known that Latin American Indigenous, African, and poor peoples in general have endured over 500 years of exploitation and marginalization, making this the most polarized and unjust region of the world. What is remarkable today is the success of widespread movements for "democratic change, universal social justice, and meaningful political participation." The common enemy is perceived to be the globalizing "neoliberal" model of economic development, which since the 1980s has intensified the endemic poverty through the imposition of market oriented economic reforms, privatization, and austerity programs intended to favor capital investment and further redistribution of wealth upward. Popular movements of resistance, protest, and rebellion have achieved change, and in several cases they have brought down and replaced governments. Their vision: "another world is possible." A series of protests in El Alto, Bolivia led to the resignation of President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada on October 17, 2003. Indigenous uprisings in Ecuador, campesino land seizures in Paraguary, anti-privatization rebellions in Peru, and scores of other rural and urban social actions throughout the hemisphere can be understood in the same light. Since Venezuela's street protests of 1989, Latin America's popular protests have managed to topple governments, derail privatizations, and have, above all, made those at the lowest rung of the socioeconomic ladder... into the central protagonists of social struggles. In Argentina and Brazil, Nestor Kirchner and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva were elected in the wake of vast social movements that weakened or caused crises in the prevailing neoliberal model. Tabare Vasquez recently won the presidency in Uruguay on a wave of fierce resistance by the labor movement against the privatization of key public services and other neoliberal policies. These progressive new governments have not, however, been able to fulfill all the expectations of the social movements to which they are indebted. In some cases, such as Argentina and Ecuador, those movements have been co-opted and debilitated. In other cases, such as Brazil's Landless Movement (Movimento Sent Terra), they have chosen to maintain their autonomy and give limited support to the ruling party. The Zapatistas have chosen to build autonomy within the existing national order of Mexico. The Aymaras of Bolivia propose autonomy within a nation self-governed by communities. Venezuela is a special case drawing much attention throughout the region. President Hugo Chavez has been the focus for traditional social movements (students, trade unions, community-based organizations), and, since the 2001 coup, subsequent strikes, and the 2004 referendum, "chavismo" has become a massive mobilization especially among the poor 80% of the population. Electoral Battle Units have been organized in every neighborhood, first to support the President against innumerable attempts to unseat him, some with U.S. support and funding, but increasingly directed to meeting community needs. At the February 2005 World Social Forum it was Hugo Chavez who received the most enthusiastic cheers for his solidarity with the poor and struggle against imperialism. What social movements exist in this country? What is their vision? Jubilee Workbook VII, April 2005 _______________________ The fifth annual gathering of the WSF took place January 26 to 31 at Porto Alegre, Brazil with 150,000 people from 135 countries representing diverse indigenous, women, worker, campesino, environmental, and other social movements. The WSF has arisen as an alternative voice to the World Economic Forum, which is dominated by the powerful countries and has offered little or no access to popular movements. This year 350 concrete proposals emerged out of some 2500 "events" centering on "Twelve Proposals for Another Possible World." 1. Cancel the public debt of the developing countries. 2. Apply international taxes on financial transactions, direct investment abroad, the consolidated profits of the transnationals, the sale of arms, and activities that emit gasses in a substantive way, producing the greenhouse effect. 3. Progressively dismantle all forms of fiscal, legal and banking paradises. 4. Every inhabitant of the planet should have the right to a job, social protection and retirement, respecting equality between men and -women. This is an imperative of national and international public policies. 5. Promote all forms of fair trade, rejecting the free exchange rules of the WTO. 6. Guarantee the right to food sovereignty and security in every country through the promotion of campesino-based agriculture (i.e. small farmers). 7. Prohibit all types of patents on knowledge of living beings (human as well as animal or vegetable), as well as any privatization of common property of humanity, particularly water. 8. Fight, above all, for different public policies against all forms of discrimination, sexism, xenophobia, anti-semitism and racism. Recognize fully the political, cultural and economic rights (including the dominion of the natural resources) of indigenous peoples. 9. Take urgent measures to end the destruction of the environment and the threat of grave climatic changes due to the greenhouse effect. Begin to execute another development model founded in moderation in the use of energy and the democratic control of natural resources, in particular potable water, on the global level. 10. Dismantle foreign military bases and troops in all countries, unless they are acting under the expressed mandate of the United Nations. 11. Guarantee citizens the right of information and the right to be informed. 12. Profoundly reform and democratize international organizations, among them the United Nations, giving prevalence to human, economic, social and cultural rights in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The WSF draws an enormous response from the global South but little attention from the North. It demonstrates widespread opposition against neo-liberal globalization, especially against the U.S.A. and President George W. Bush. 1. What reports about the fifth World Social Forum have you seen? 2. What is the potential impact of non-governmental social movements in the U.S.? Jubilee Workbook VII, April 2005 ____________________________________________________________ Bread for the World's February-March 2005 newsletter, Bread, includes an article by David Beckmann, its president, "Building the Movement to Overcome Hunger." He explains that BFW has for many years been building collaborative efforts to fight hunger, including charities, Christian and Jewish groups, universities, corporations, and unions. BFW and its partners carry out letter writing campaigns and mobilize lobbying efforts to urge Congress "to commit to the goals of cutting U.S. hunger and food insecurity in half by 2010 and ending hunger by 2015." Their international goal is to pursue the U.N. Millennium Development Goals, agreed to by most countries, to reduce global hunger and extreme poverty in half by 2015. BFW advertisements highlight the slogan, "Hunger is one problem that we can solve!" The recently released federal budget proposal of the Bush administration demonstrates the uphill struggle that lies ahead. The total of $2.5 trillion includes increases in defense and security, as expected, and concentrates all deficit reduction on non-defense spending, which totals about $400 billion or one-sixth of the total, (www.bread.org) Domestic anti-hunger and poverty programs are being drastically cut. The Food Stamp Program, our nation's first line of defense against hunger, faces a cut of$l. 1 billion over 10 years. Low-income housing, Medicaid, child care and other low-income focused programs are also slated for large cuts. These proposals just do not make sense with hunger and poverty on the rise. More than 36 million people, including 13 million children, live in families who are unsure -where their next meal is coming from. At the same time, the president wants to make permanent the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts that benefited primarily the very wealthiest people, which would add $10 trillion to the deficit over the next two decades. He's also proposing sweeping changes to the Social Security system that will cost more than $2 trillion dollars. The prescription drug benefit that Congress passed in late 2003 is now projected to cost $720 billion, not the $400 billion originally projected These numbers do not add up to fiscal responsibility. BFW and many partners are launching the ONE Campaign with the goal to increase the involvement of Americans in the global fight against extreme poverty, AIDS, and hunger and to ask the U.S. to commit an additional 1% of the federal budget to development and humanitarian assistance by 2010 in order to do its share in the international effort to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. That 1% could be close to $25 billion. The campaign also supports proposals to cancel 100% of the multilateral debt owed by poor countries without jeopardizing future assistance to those countries. Current funding for foreign aid is just 0.15% of GNP, the least among all the major industrialized countries. 1. How much of the U.S. federal budget should be spent on aid to poor countries? 2. How adequate is our "safety net" for the poor in this country? Jubilee Workbook VJJ, April 2005 ________________________________________ Lester Brown's book, Eco-Economy: Building an Economy for the Earth (W. W. Norton, 2001) poses the challenge we face as "a revolution in thinking," "a new worldview" similar to the one introduced by Nicolaus Copernicus in 1543. (P. 3) This will be the third revolution in the world's economic order since the beginning of civilization. The Agricultural Revolution "involved restructuring the food economy, shifting from a nomadic life-style based on hunting and gathering to a settled life-style based on tilling the soil." The Industrial Revolution "was a shift in sources of energy from wood to fossil fuels, a shift that set the stage for a massive expansion in economy activity. The Environmental Revolution, which is just beginning and must take place in "a matter of decades," requires "restructuring the global economy so that economic progress can be sustained." (P. 92-93) The problem is this: "Today's global economy has been shaped by market forces, not by the principles of ecology. Unfortunately, by failing to reflect the full costs of goods and services, the market provides misleading information to economic decision makers at all levels. This has created a distorted economy that is out of sync with the earth's ecosystem—an economy that is destroying its natural support systems." (P. 78) Brown spells out this reality with relentless and devastating details under the following headings: Signs of Stress: Signs of Stress: Climate and Water The Biological Base Temperature Rising Fisheries Collapsing The Ice is Melting Forests Shrinking Sea Level Rising Range lands Deteriorating More Destructive Storms Soils Eroding Rivers Drained Dry Species Disappearing Falling Water Tables Synergies and Surprises The building of a sustainable economy for the Earth is now simply a matter of survival. "Building an eco-economy in the time available requires rapid systems change.... We do not have a strategy for the systemic economic change that will put the world on a development path that is environmentally sustainable." (P. 81) "A sustainable economy respects the sustainable yield of the eco-systems on which it depends: fisheries, forests, rangelands, and croplands." (P. 78) Brown lists some of the industries that must be created or expanded: fish farming, bicycle manufacturing, wind farm construction, wind turbine manufacturing, hydrogen generation, fuel cell manufacturing, solar cell manufacturing, light rail construction, tree planting. Others that must decline or disappear are: coal mining, oil pumping, nuclear power generation, clearcut logging, manufacture of throwaway products, automobile manufacturing. He lists new or expanding professions for this new world economic order, and he affirms: "Restructuring the global economy so that economic progress can be sustained represents the greatest investment opportunity in history." (P. 92) Part in is "Getting from Here to There." 1. Do you believe it will be possible to make necessary changes before it is too late? 2. What wiU happen if humankind fails to make these changes? Jubilee Workbook, April 2005 Kinsler, www.sabbatheconomics.org
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