Under The Sun: A Shared Ground & A Shared Future

7^th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PEACE AND NONVIOLENT ACTION

7^th ICPNA, Jaipur, November 10 to 14, 2008

3rd Plenary Session, 11.11.2008

Dedicated to: BETTER CHOICES & ALL THE VOICES OF HUMANITY.

PROLOGUE:

“No one wants anyone to be intelligent,” says Bill Mahler in the documentary “Stupidity”^[1], where the world power has been defined under three main categories:

1. Capital
2. War, Violence & Crime
3. Masses/Stupidity.

[I will come back to the third one later on…)

President Dr. S.L. Gandhi,
Excellencies,
Distinguished participants,
Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am honored and privileged to be a part of the 7th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PEACE AND NONVIOLENT ACTION by the ANUVRAT Global Organization in association with JAIN VISHVA BHARATI LADNUN.

As my inspiration, I would like to quote a couplet by Yunus Emre, an Anatolian mystic poet from the 13th Century:

"Earth Is Mine, Sky Is Mine, Heavens Are Mine"^[2]

WE ALL SHARE THE SAME GROUND and THE SAME FUTURE UNDER THE SUN whether we are a multi-billionaire or homeless or someone with AIDS or cancer or disabled.

The very basic fact is, we all have been sharing the very same ground from the very first evolvement of humanity to the present in this World, and will continue to do so until the world completes its life span in the universe.

We all have more commonalities than differences amongst us in this world where we are just visitors or in another words, passengers. Our duration of existence here is defined simply by two dates with a dash sign in between.

Our FUTURE MUST and WILL be SHARED on the Earth if it is protected and if we can change all the chronic WRONGDOINGS for both the majority of humanity and our environment.

And,

• We ALL are dependent on gravity; in other words, none of us has an ability to resist gravity in this world yet!
• We live on the same planet EARTH. We share the very same SUN, SUNLIGHT, ENERGY, AIR, and atmosphere.
• We ALL are dependent on decent food for our health or at least one meal a day for basic survival.
• We ALL are dependent on sleep whether it is 6 or 8 hours in a day.
• We ALL are dependent on some source of income in order to sustain our daily survival.
• We ALL are dependent on our activities based on our health, education, economic, and social capacity as well as intelligence level.
• We ALL are dependent on a family life, a loved one, and/or a job or profession.
• We ALL are consumers regardless of the extent of our consumptions.

Regardless of where we live and who we are, each of us mainly is A CONSUMER, and a target for marketers of one or another product on a daily basis even if we are able to spend only one dollar a day!

In a general context, we are basically COUNTED and VALUED mostly on three conditions:

Our consuming and spending capacity, in other words, our position versus the “consuming culture and its potential power” is one of our major capacities towards “A New Model of Nonviolent Lifestyle for Universal Peace and Sustainability."

We have been mostly directed or manipulated solely to become instruments or puppets of a consumption culture whether it is for survival or just for an entertainment purpose. In the process, we find ourselves either following up some trends or being under the influence of one or another highly priced and commercialized product.

In general, the “consumer culture” and “individualism” have greatly undermined the human development, in terms of one’s awakening, questioning of individual soul and mind. This has turned billions of people into some kind of robots, who live only to buy and consume but not produce or create or question or contribute to their own existence within the general context and question:

• Why are we here?
  Or:
• How will/could I contribute to my own development until it is my departure time from this earth?

Whether we are a multi-billionaire or don’t have a secure or decent life or are homeless or in completely poverty, it is very clear that we do have more common things than differences amongst us.

And, NO ONE, NONE OF US HAS COME TO THIS WORLD ONLY to eat, sleep, and work for survival!!!

In most cases, it is very unfortunate that things seem to be OK for the most, when they are practiced in the name of politics, national security, business, or God versus the rights of the majority people of the World! However, no form of packaging presented by various organs of mainstream media through manipulations and justifications should give any single country on the Earth the right to attack or invade others’ natural resources and basic rights.

In Yunus Emre's words:

"WHEN WEAPONS AND IGNORANCE COME TOGETHER,TYRANTS ARISE TO DEVASTATE THE WORLD WITH THEIR CRUELTY."

The main question here is, how can we combat with this chronic CRUELTY and change this existing direction toward a HUMANITARIAN AGE like the INFORMATION AGE or SPACE AGE?

In most cases, the seller/marketer/shop owner/major corporations never care where and how you've made money as long as you can pay them, and this is the only thing that counts for them!

On one side of the coin, our consumption capacity is the engine of their existence. On the other side, this is our greatest strength we must be aware of and own. We must be very selective about each product we buy and consume in order to protect, obtain, and sustain our basic universal rights!

On its 60th anniversary, Article ONE of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states:

"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."

The question is: How could any country, at the beginning of the 21st Century, and after signing this Declaration as one of the 192 countries in order to join the United Nations, ignore any violation of human rights, right to live, right to be free and equal with dignity? How could any country block one’s development and evolvement that could also contribute to evolvement of the humanity?

As of today, ON THIS WORLD, where we all have been setting our feet on the SHARED GROUND FOR ALL PEOPLES, ANIMALS, AND PLANTS, we are far, very far from reaching the statement of the first article of the Universal Declaration of the Human Rights although it has been agreed on and signed by each and every member state of the United Nations.

We see that ethnic conflicts have been deliberately escalated; some countries have been under attack in terms of being divided by some international powers who also have been collaborating at the internal level, and these have indicated a new form of "Cold War."

Despite the major breakthroughs in science, medicine, technology, and life styles, more and more children are becoming orphans, more and more children are being born into poverty, more and more families are torn apart by war, natural disasters, and economic and social burdens. An estimated two to three billions of the world population do not have access to a decent education, or occupation; jobs are either never provided or are lost; and over 2 billion people of the world today have to survive with less than 1 dollar a day. In other words, in many parts of the world, larger populations find themselves on the edge of “life and death"!!!

In this general context, where are - and where have been - the majority of the member states of the United Nations in order to fully implement the very first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948?

Obviously, this will be possible to implement fully when the majority of the peoples of the world are able to work hand-in-hand with the governments and municipalities in each and every country. When we can act as a collective mind and social manner to reverse any wrongdoing or to protest any product in the world market today which potentially threatens our health or contributes to pollution and global warming or dirties our minds and souls, this will be one of the major keys to move into a new era for “universal peace and sustainability.”

Or as a “collective mind,” we can apply pressure on certain companies who support violent activities by just NOT BUYING and CONSUMING their products, searching major companies who are in good business, and who are not, and selecting our daily used products based on that.

To begin with:

• Watch documentaries from which you can get the truest information in multi-perspectives.
  
  
• Don’t watch TV shows with negative, destructive messages.
  
• Don’t buy cheap newspapers which promote women as sex products or promoting/selling the ideas of cheap sex and colorful but empty life.
  
• Don’t buy and read cheap or horror-murderer stories/novels or action novels.
  
• Don’t use any product that is considered responsible for global warming or pollution!

Once we are aware of our own capacity, once we own and activate it, and become conscious to act as a collective mind on certain issues, that could/and will be leading to a drastically change in both short and long terms to new alternative non-violent life styles.

With reference to “masses” I have mentioned in the prologue, let’s imagine and visualize in our minds for a minute when:

3 to 4 billion of the world population has come to a point

• where they won’t watch TV programs that include live war coverage - bombings shown in the manner of a soap opera - commercials for marketing bad products;
• when they won’t go to any movie that promotes war, violence, inequality, or abuse of one another;
• when they won’t buy their children one single toy or video game even with a subtle level of promoting war and violence.

And, when no one pays any attention or even one penny to watch these films or to buy these products despite the millions of dollars worth commercials as well as when this becomes a global understanding and common manner, then just imagine your and those masses contribution to that! Just imagine your power as a part of the power of 3 to 4 billion of the world population together,

• just imagine our collective mind and its emerged unbreakable power, and
• just imagine WHEN none of those products have any potential buyers, how long can they continue putting those useless and bad products in the market?

This could be a pathway to shift the existing political and economic power of the world in favor of the majority for a mutual goal regardless of one's economic capacity, education, race, or religion.

Thus, when we are very aware and selective of any product that we might buy to eat or use, and act as a collective mind globally, then the majority of the world population can have a power and voice to show how this world will be running, and this could be a major shift from being masses to the Sun of this World!

Yet, we are not aware of the enormous power we have as individuals in us until we activate it in full capacity towards a collective mind and plan for majority.

In particular, ONLY WHEN we use our basic daily consumption as our strongest tool in order to combat with inequality, violence, war business, ONLY THEN, will OUR collective mind have the full power and capacity to allocate the world’s natural and human resources as well as scientific and technological capacity in the right direction and in favor of the majority of the world population.

As a new emerging motto:

• TRANSFORM YOUR CONSUMPTION POWER INTO A WEAPON TO COMBAT INJUSTICE, INEQUALITY AND VIOLENCE!

And:

• OUR CAPACITY AND CHANCE FOR A HISTORICAL TURNING POINT RELIES ON CHOOSING WHAT TO BUY, AND WHAT NOT TO BUY.

In conclusion, I would like to say what Yunus Emre had said a little differently:

SUN IS OURS,
EARTH IS OURS,
SKY IS OURS,
HEAVENS ARE OURS,
TODAY, and FUTURE are OURS.

Thank you all.