Let's take Egypt's lessons and apply them to the planet
CBC News
Vive la révolution. A whisper at first. Soon, the words spread like wildfire from Tunisia over the tinder-dry African plains and mountains to the over-populated streets of Cairo.
Vive la révolution. The words Twittered and fluttered on iPhones and Facebook, tumbling into the mass media, a global din, coming to rest even on the tongue of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in the hallowed halls of Davos, Switzerland.
At a pro-democracy rally in Beirut, a woman carries a mockup of a Facebook page urging the ouster of Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Modern communications technology is mobilizing crowds. (Sharif Karim/Reuters)We need a revolution, he declared at the World Economic Forum, the annual meeting of the mighty and the powerful. It may seem strange to speak of global revolution at a gathering like that, but that is what he said.
As for why, a clue can be found in the 2011 Global Risks report, the WEF's regular look at the big problems facing the planet.
The report reels off the familiar threats — financial instability, food prices, energy security, water, floods, storms and fires. All have hit the headlines in the last several months.
The number of environmental catastrophes is rising and more economies, more businesses and more people are being affected, thanks to globalization, urbanization and our growing interconnectedness and interdependence.
Consumption without consequences has turned into a recipe for national disaster — "a global suicide pact," according to the secretary general.
Tensions everywhere
The two largest risks, according to the report, are economic disparity and failures in global governance.
The widening gap between rich and poor is tightly connected to fragile states, conflict and disease. What's more, these inequalities between countries are being exposed more directly by the internet and global communication network, heightening tensions.
Meanwhile, ineffective global governance is blamed for everything from grinding poverty to the inability to dent greenhouse gas emissions.
Politicians argue that technological innovation is the solution to these global problems.
If we invest enough in technology we can feed everyone and supply all the energy we will need, while protecting the environment. The so-called green economy.
But if this is the only solution, it is doomed to failure.
Technological innovation is bound by the political framework it sits within and, at the moment, global governance is a mass of fragmented international networks, agreements, organizations and national governments, lacking a mandate for the kind of reform urgently needed.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2011/02/11/f-vp-gaffney-global-democracy.html#ixzz1E8ih7hfZ
CBC News
Vive la révolution. A whisper at first. Soon, the words spread like wildfire from Tunisia over the tinder-dry African plains and mountains to the over-populated streets of Cairo.
Vive la révolution. The words Twittered and fluttered on iPhones and Facebook, tumbling into the mass media, a global din, coming to rest even on the tongue of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in the hallowed halls of Davos, Switzerland.
At a pro-democracy rally in Beirut, a woman carries a mockup of a Facebook page urging the ouster of Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Modern communications technology is mobilizing crowds. (Sharif Karim/Reuters)We need a revolution, he declared at the World Economic Forum, the annual meeting of the mighty and the powerful. It may seem strange to speak of global revolution at a gathering like that, but that is what he said.
As for why, a clue can be found in the 2011 Global Risks report, the WEF's regular look at the big problems facing the planet.
The report reels off the familiar threats — financial instability, food prices, energy security, water, floods, storms and fires. All have hit the headlines in the last several months.
The number of environmental catastrophes is rising and more economies, more businesses and more people are being affected, thanks to globalization, urbanization and our growing interconnectedness and interdependence.
Consumption without consequences has turned into a recipe for national disaster — "a global suicide pact," according to the secretary general.
Tensions everywhere
The two largest risks, according to the report, are economic disparity and failures in global governance.
The widening gap between rich and poor is tightly connected to fragile states, conflict and disease. What's more, these inequalities between countries are being exposed more directly by the internet and global communication network, heightening tensions.
Meanwhile, ineffective global governance is blamed for everything from grinding poverty to the inability to dent greenhouse gas emissions.
Politicians argue that technological innovation is the solution to these global problems.
If we invest enough in technology we can feed everyone and supply all the energy we will need, while protecting the environment. The so-called green economy.
But if this is the only solution, it is doomed to failure.
Technological innovation is bound by the political framework it sits within and, at the moment, global governance is a mass of fragmented international networks, agreements, organizations and national governments, lacking a mandate for the kind of reform urgently needed.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2011/02/11/f-vp-gaffney-global-democracy.html#ixzz1E8ih7hfZ
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