WE CAN CHANGE THE SYSTEM

Old habits rule the world.
It's time to shift the balance of power.

A different world is possible. To accomplish such a transformation, we must break with old habits and defy the opinion makers about what is and is not possible. This takes authentic global vision, a consciousness that goes far beyond the economic dictates of globalization. We, the citizens of this planet, must become aware of our responsibility and bring together our combined wisdom to develop a new ethical foundation and a new economic system for world society.

In a collective plan of action, for example, the citizens of the world could agree to equal rights for carbon dioxide emissions per capita. This would mean that no individual or organization would be permitted to pollute more than others without paying a commensurate penalty. Such a powerful vision of climate justice could mobilize millions of people worldwide. Today, national governments and multinational corporations are encroaching on the global commons and angling for new ways of controlling or privatizing international public domains which do not belong to them, legally or morally. These domains belong collectively to humankind, to whom governments and markets - however important and necessary - are secondary functions. Global citizens, therefore, must organize and assert their right to make equitable decisions on behalf of the global commons.

Mary Wollstonecraft's call for equal rights for women in 1792 and Martin Luther King's vision of equal rights for blacks and whites in 1955 must have sounded just as utopi-an to people in their times as the call today for equal rights on the global commons. Yet history shows that the direct actions of citizens for social justice have brought about numerous advancements to make our world more civilized - and global justice is no different.

Together with representatives from politics, economics, science and the media, we can use the technologies of modern communications to network and disseminate this program for global justice on an international basis. A comprehensive plan for the global commons must involve all constituencies - governments, businesses, and civil society organizations. In this way, we can meet the exponentially growing problems of our time through our united and focused action.

COMMON GLOBAL VALUES