Urgent reasons for the Movement

More than asteroids, earthquakes, or hurricanes the human species is at this time its own greatest threat.

"Forests are shrinking, water tables are falling, soils are eroding, wetlands are disappearing, fisheries are collapsing, rangelands are deteriorating, rivers are running dry, temperatures are rising, coral reefs are dying, and plant and animal species are disappearing. The global economy as now structured cannot continue to expand much longer if the ecosystem on which it depends continues to deteriorate at the current rate."

"--Facing a triple security crisis: the effects of environmental decline, the repercussions of social inequities and stress, and the dangers arising out of an unchecked arms proliferation that is a direct legacy of the cold war period."

"Analysts are finding a growing privatization of security and violence in the form of legions of private security guards, the proliferation of small arms among the general population, and the spread of vigilante and "self-defense" groups. A culture of violence in which vicious responses to social problems are the norm has taken root in many countries."

"Currently 65 per cent of the agricultural land in Africa, 45 per cent in South America, 38 per cent in Asia, and 25 percent in North America and Europe is affected by soil degradation. Among the soil erosion crisis areas are the Horn of Africa, eastern Iran, large patches of Iraq, the northwestern and northeastern corners of the Indian subcontinent, Central America, the Amazon basin, and several parts of China. In Mexico, for instance, at least 70 per cent of agricultural land is affected by soil erosion."

From "State of the World 1998"

Yet today's world economy is fueled by the desire for "growth." What may we expect for our deteriorating eco-system when the so-called "developing countries" reach the present rate of plundering and polluting already engaged in by the "developed countries?" Their people will be satisfied with nothing less than the standard of living now enjoyed in the "developed" regions.

As water and arable land grow scarcer, how soon may we expect bloody struggles over these?

The killing fields still flourish in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas. Religious rivalries and hatreds are claimed to have the blessings of God.

The nuclear arms race in Asia is heating up. The H-bomb is still the cornerstone of American defence-deterrence strategy, our President reserving the possibity of first strike.

Children as young as twelve, or younger, are trained as soldiers in some lands. In the USA growing numbers of children obtain guns, with some trained by their parents in their use.

The globally dominant value of acquiring and its related grasping, possessing, competing, deceiving, and plundering, has not been seriously challenged by activists for peace, environment, human rights, filling human needs.