THE RIGHT LIVELIHOOD AWARDS 2003
Speech by
Jakob von Uexkull
December 8th, 2003
Madam Speaker,
Dear Award Recipients,
Your Excellencies,
Members of Parliament,
Dear Friends,
Earlier this year the Right Livelihood family lost one of its outstanding members. A 20-year-old French girl working in Peru in the 1940's, Marie-Thérèse Danielsson married into the crew of the soon-to-be-famous Kontiki expedition, then set up home in Tahiti with her Swedish husband, Bengt, and devoted her life to sharing his work as an ethnologist and to campaigning against nuclear testing in the Pacific.
The Danielssons tirelessly opposed French nuclear colonialism, with its widely destructive social and environmental impacts. Marie-Thérèse became a life-long ambassadress for the people of French Polynesia and their right to live without the dangers of radioactive fallout.
Please join me in a minute of silence in gratitude for the life and work of Marie-Thérèse Danielsson.
...
Tonight we are again honouring a pioneer in the struggle for a nuclear-free Pacific - and world. As Prime Minister David Lange said "NO!" to his country's super-power ally’s nuclear vessels. Today, New Zealand’s nuclear-free policy remains intact.
Amid the current clamour about weapons of mass destruction, there is an implied assumption that there are good and bad nuclear bombs, that certain countries can be trusted with them. It is time to explode that dangerous myth. "Nuclear deterrence is a gamble, which we will lose one day", to quote General George Lee Butler, former head of the U.S. Strategic Air Command. As the person in charge of the world's largest nuclear arsenal, Butler concluded that "nobody understood the real risks and consequences." "It was all Alice in Wonderland stuff". The war plan, written in millions of lines of computer software code, was reduced to between 60 and 100 slides that could be presented to the handful of senior U.S. Officials who were cleared to hear it.
"Generally no one at the briefing asked questions because they didn't want to embarrass themselves. It was about as unsatisfactory as could be imagined." ("SACRAMENTO BEE", 29.3.98)
It is worth repeating Butler's words. For almost the entire political spectrum in most Western countries accepted the principle of initiating a nuclear holocaust in an armed conflict with the former USSR. It is hard to imagine a greater crime -- far worse than any of the horrors of the last century, but carried out by democratically elected politicians.
Today, the nuclear arsenals may be smaller but they are still large enough to destroy us all. The US still insists on the right of "first use", although the Soviet superiority in conventional arms is no more. As revealed by our award recipient Mordechai Vanunu - a brave arms inspector and whistleblower - Israel has an arsenal of not a few but of several hundred nuclear bombs. For what possible purpose? Vanunu still languishes in jail after almost 18 years for speaking up and the Israeli nuclear arsenal is ignored.
With such double standards, it is hardly surprising that the trust in Western political institutions is at an all-time low.
Elsewhere the situation is even more worrying. In a recent Pew survey, significant populations in Indonesia (58%), Jordan (55%), Morocco (49%) and Pakistan (45%) expressed confidence in Osama bin Laden to "do the right thing regarding world affairs."
For politicians to say "NO!" - and mean it - to double standards and nuclear madness may therefore today be an act of self-preservation. "Nuclear madness" of course includes nuclear energy. After September 11th, the threat has multiplied. A plane crashing into a nuclear installation in Europe could release enough radioactive fallout to make large parts of this continent uninhabitable for thousands of years. Yet what has been the response of governments to this new threat? To experiment with "artificial fog" (to make the reactors invisible) -- and to ban nail files and scissors on planes.
It has been said that "not being active politically is the worst form of being active politically". In ancient Greece, the opposite of the politically involved citizen -- the "polites" -- was the uninvolved "idiots." Today, when the consequences of our actions (and inaction!) reach further into time and space than at any previous point in history, we more than ever need politically engaged citizens. But this requires politicians showing us that politics can and does make a difference. Tonight we honour a man who has done just that.
For true political courage and leadership, it is with great pleasure that I present the 2003 Right Livelihood Honorary Award to David Lange.
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The earth is not our property. But we risk leaving behind a globe worth much less than the one we have borrowed. How will our descendants judge us? Will they hate us?
The moral philosopher John Rawls gave the following example: Imagine being a member of a distinguished council with the task of making all the laws for a future society. The members of the council would have to consider every single detail, because as soon as they had reached an agreement – and everybody had signed the law - they would all drop dead. But they would instantly wake up again in the society they had legislated for. The point is that they would have no idea of their position in this society. They would not know what race they would belong to, nor whether they were re-born as a boy or a girl.
They would also have no idea in what period of time they would live their lives in the new society they were all responsible for. It could be very soon. Or it could be in five hundred years.
Would we want to be born then? Would we dare share the lives of our great grandchildren?
Five years ago the World Opinion Monitor found that large majorities in France, Germany and Japan expected their children to be worse off. Even in the USA, 38% thought so. These figures are likely to be even larger in today’s more unsettled times.
Our globalized world is increasingly resembling a Third World country, with a rich minority in "gated communities" trying to keep out the poor, for whom current policies have clearly failed. Between 1982 and 2000 GDP per capita (in 1995 $) rose from $15,400 to $26,100 in the rich countries, while it fell from $1,450 to $1,100 in the rest of the world. (This underestimates the real quality of life losses for the poor, as much "growth" has just been the monetarization of previous non-monetary wealth, causing many costly externalities).
Individualistic market ideology teaches the poor that all failure is personal. So instead of staying and fighting injustice at home, the rational decision is to emigrate to rich countries -- or to reject this ideology and join its most visible global competitor, religious fundamentalism.
Societies which have to educate their children in opposition to the dominant cultural message of consumerism are not sustainable. Despite the orgy of consumption over the past 40 years Westerners report increased stress and insecurity, while still chasing elusive gains. Current economic "reform" proposals offer only more insecurity in return for ever more consumer goods. The Japanese, who have decided they have enough of these, are portrayed not as an example to be emulated, but as a threat to our well-being...
The key challenge facing us is not economic but ethical. Present policies amount to inter-generational financial terrorism. How long can we continue to consume oil at four times the rate of new discoveries? How long can technologies of mass murder, widespread misery and rampant consumerism co-exist peacefully on our finite planet? How long will the poor wait for us to fulfil the commitments we have made?
The debt repayments the rich nations demand from the poorest today are higher (as a percentage of export earnings) than those demanded from Germany after World War I. As is well-known, those demands paved the way for Nazism and World War II. But the wretched of the earth do not have the power to threaten the rich – except perhaps by asking bin Laden to "do the right thing regarding world affairs…" Let us not say that we were not warned and had no alternatives!
It is estimated that one billion people are unemployed in today's world. (Hearing this at a lecture in her school, a young girl asked: "But has all the work been done?") 800 million go to bed hungry every night. 30,000 children die of preventable diseases every day.
Why are these unimaginable horrors tolerated? We have the ability, the knowledge, the technology to end them. However, in an astounding display of ideological idiocy, we are told that there is not enough money available. But, as J. M. Keynes said, at a time when economists still could lay claim to be scientists and not ideologues in the service of monied interests, "Whatever we can do, we can fund." Whatever we as a community can do, we can also fund.
Nothing except economic convention stops the international community from simply creating the required funds -- just as the banking system creates new money daily according to the financial requirements of those who, for example, want to buy options on options on options.
Perhaps such an act would cause a small global inflationary impact, but that is unlikely, due to the new productive resources mobilized. Yes, the $ monopoly would be weakened. But what a small price to pay for so many lives saved and nurtured: a choice (to quote our award recipient Vandana Shiva) not between haves and have-nots but between lives and live-nots!
The key issue of economic justice today is not so much re-distribution but predistribution. Do the poor have any citizen rights in an increasingly privatized world? Do we want a culture where everything is for sale and the economic sector dominates all others, as the church and one-party state do in totalitarian societies? Or do we want a culture where the market serves (instead of ruling) our higher common values, like reciprocity, respect for life, fairness, truthfulness, diversity, compassion, responsibility and community?
The Citizen's Coalition for Economic Justice in South Korea has been in the forefront of building such a culture since 1989. A citizens' movement of 35,000 members, it has achieved remarkable results in promoting economic justice, transparency and democratic reform. It has mediated civil society conflicts, and promoted organic farming, local autonomy, sustainable cities and people-centered regional development. It has initiated a broad environmental movement and now works to educate the public for reunification of divided Korea, through its Reconciliation Academy.
It is with great pleasure that I present the 2003 Right Livelihood Award to the Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice, represented here by Reverend Kyung-suk Soh and Mr Chul-young Shin.
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As recently as the 2002 Johannesburg summit, the governments of the South were still – with few exceptions – following the wishes of the North. But in Cancun they finally said “No more!” This change was to a considerable extent due to the behind–the–scenes work of key civil society representatives. Walden Bello played a crucial role in convincing major Southern governments that they would be better off refusing the crumbs on offer in order to work for a fair global order. He was able to do this because of his track record and credibility as a leading critic of the current model of corporate-driven globalization. Among the extra-ordinary breadth of his published output I mention only one book - "Dragons in Distress" - which foretold the financial collapse in South East Asia six years before it occurred.
Courageous Human Rights activist and peace campaigner, academic and environmentalist, journalist and organizer – it is with great pleasure that I present the 2003 Right Livelihood Award to Walden Bello.
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Nicanor Perlas’ work as an environmental leader in the Philippines has been remarkably successful, especially in helping farmers shift away from chemical–intensive agriculture. His activities as a social activist and organizer seeking a "creative response to the challenge of elite globalization" have had an impact far beyond his own country. Perlas argues that the challenges we face demand a deeper, ethical and spiritual response: we are facing a systems, not just a management crisis. He asks how our sense of identity and humanity will be affected by current advances in genetic engineering, nano-technology and artificial intelligence, with the goal of creating half-human half-machine "silicone beings".
His warnings echo the fear of IT entrepreneur Bill Joy that "we could become the last generation of humans". Recently the "FUTURIST" Magazine (May-June 2003) reported on scientists working to change the atomic fabric of matter, hoping to achieve in weeks what nature would take millions of years to evolve. Even this usually optimistic publication wondered if work of such momentous consequences should be left to global corporations operating under competitive pressures...
Among Nicanor Perlas' many other initiatives, his work to develop the theoretical and practical basis for an active citizens' culture is of special importance today.
For his work and wisdom it is with great pleasure that I present the 2003 Right Livelihood Award to Nicanor Perlas.
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Some of our supporters have been surprised that this award goes – for the first time – to a corporation. But without the energy of entrepreneurship we stand no chance of meeting the challenges we face.
SEKEM is establishing a blueprint for the healthy corporation of the 21st century. It grew out of a comprehensive development initiative, recognizing that the first question to justify any undertaking should not be "will it make a profit?" but "will it serve my community?"
SEKEM has built a thriving social and cultural base to address Egypt’s health, educational and cultural preservation needs. It has created a modern corporation based on innovative agricultural products and a responsibility towards society and our natural environment.
In the last decade, SEKEM has grown exponentially to a nationally and internationally renowned market leader in organic products. SEKEM’s many initiatives include an environmental NGO which succeeded, inter alia, in reducing pesticide use in Egyptian cotton production by over 90%.
It is with great pleasure that I present the 2003 Right Livelihood Award to SEKEM, represented here by its founder Dr Ibrahim Abouleish.
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Thank you very much!
