Manifesto For A “People’s Peaceful Planet – 2025”
Kusal Perera
With the end of the Second World War, strengthening and uniting the larger world as the “United Nations” despite a slow growing cold war between two super powers, the USA and the USSR, the decade of 50 began with some sense of relief. The world psyche in general was that there will not be a “Third World War”, on this planet earth.
There nevertheless were serious localised armed conflicts even in the decade of 50. They were cocooned in smaller geographical areas like Korea, Vietnam, Algeria and the Suez Canal. The Korean and Vietnamese wars ended leaving 03 countries instead of 02. There were also internal armed uprisings and civil wars like in Cuba, Kenya and also in Rwanda towards 1959.
But, there was good and the bad of the Second World War. The good was that, science and technological leap in this human world was immense and unprecedented in post world war two, than ever before. Starting with the Soviet Russia’s Sputnik, man is said to have landed in the moon, brought its soil back home and is studying Saturn and Venus. The bad is that, this knowledge advancement was not focused or was not meant for the development of the quality of human life, only. While in general terms, life expectancy at birth increased, child mortality at birth decreased, deceases like malaria and polio were almost eradicated and more humans started living much longer than pre WW II, commuting and communicating in unbelievable speed, wide spread famine, hunger, poverty in most parts of the world, not only remained at pathetic levels, but increased too.
Its not that the world does not produce enough for the 7.2 billion people living on this planet earth. According to FAO (2002) the modern world produces enough food for every human to consume 2,720 kilocalories (kcal) per person per day. That’s what’s required for a decent healthy life. Problem is, the lop sided global economic order does not allow fair distribution and access to all. “The causes of poverty include poor people’s lack of resources, an extremely unequal income distribution in the world and within specific countries, conflict and hunger itself.” says the “2013 World Hunger & Poverty Facts and Statistics” sheet.
Yet the world has powerful nations speaking of and advocating justice, democracy, accountability and good governance. There are powerful nations that have “coerced” members of the UN to adopt universal charters on human rights, child and women’s rights, labour rights, have laid down restrictions on use of weapons and ammunitions in conflicts, on collateral damage in armed conflicts and wars, inter State and governmental responsibilities and much more, to keep the world in peace and with decent living. That’s for the rest of the people on this planet and not for them. They go unchecked and unquestioned with a right to violate all that. They have usurped the right to police this planet. Not simply on the strength of their economies alone, but also on the strength of their modern armed forces, their military hardware and mass scale arms manufacture.
