Introducing the International Simultaneous Policy Organization

zeroworkaholic writes Noam Chomsky has indicated his interest in the International Simultaneous Policy project, British in origin, about which, read on:

"The principal barrier to the implementation of any significant measure to improve today’s economic, environmental or social problems, be they in advanced, developing or non-industrialised countries, is competition. Global de-regulated capital flows and corporations know no national boundaries and by their ability or threat to move elsewhere, force nations to compete with one another for capital, jobs (and therefore votes) and ever scarcer natural resources.

Global financial markets have engineered strong leverage over the economic, social and environmental policies adopted by any country ensuring that only market and corporate-friendly policies are pursued -- regardless of the party in power. The result is the strangle-hold of pseudo-democracy in which, whatever party we elect, the policies delivered remain substantially the same. Since virtually all nations are part of an increasingly integrated global economy, they are all subject to the same control. In advanced countries, it is exerted by the market itself ably assisted by the WTO; in developing countries, by the market and through “structural adjustment” imposed by the IMF or the World Bank; in non-industrialised countries by the virtual absence of any foreign direct investment leaving them to the consequences of rebel warfare, poverty, disease, increasing numbers of refugees and so on.

No nation is seeking to re-regulate financial markets because such action would cause capital flight, devaluation and inflation if not outright economic collapse. Similarly, policies that address environmental or social problems requiring higher public spending or higher costs for industry are precluded on the grounds of uncompetitiveness, adverse market reaction or the threat of job losses. Global competition is also the reason why international agreements on reducing global warming emissions or other such targets are unlikely to prove successful for, to be successful, they would require far-reaching structural changes to industry across the world; changes which cannot be contemplated when nations continue to compete with one another.

Furthermore, the World Trade Organisation (WTO), being the one institution with supra-national authority in economic matters, has the remit of preserving the free movement of capital and corporations: the very forces which serve to subvert democracy and undermine the power of nation states. That politicians support the very institution that not only undermines their own power but also democracy itself, serves to demonstrate the extent to which party politics has become substantially obsolete as a means of achieving beneficial change. The subversion of democracy throught corporate and market domination are not, however, some kind of 'evil conspiracy' but merely the natural result of competition: a global vicious circle even business leaders are powerless to control. Far from a glorious ride to global prosperity, therefore, “we stand on the brink not of the era of plenty that free-marketeers project, but a tragic epoch, in which anarchic market forces and shrinking natural resources drag sovereign states into ever more dangerous rivalries... The likelihood must be that the laissez-faire regime will not be reformed. Instead it will fracture and fragment, as mounting scarcities of resources and conflicts of interest among the world’s great powers make international cooperation ever more difficult. A deepening international anarchy is the human prospect.”
from False Dawn John Gray. Granta Books, 1999.

In de-regulating capital markets, nations have therefore unleashed a force they can no longer unilaterally control -- a global merry-go-round now spinning so fast that no nation can get off (unless it is forcibly ejected by the market itself). The disturbing growth of far-right political parties is a sure sign that failure to address this situation could well prove catastrophic.

The argument underpinning the Simultaneous Policy is:

-- that politics -- regardless of the party in power -- has effectively been paralysed into a market and corporate-friendly position from which it cannot escape, and in which existing problems can only worsen;

-- that fundamental changes to the capitalist system are essential before there can be any hope of closing the ‘sustainability gap’ or of expecting any tangible results from international agreements such as those on reducing emissions or of any significant improvement in unemployment and social problems.

-- that since capitalism can only be changed and controlled by politics -- which has itself already been paralysed -- we are heading for economic, environmental or social collapse without the means to alter that course.

Many groups and organisations are seeking to reorder the international economic system using a range of strategies. Reporting of the demonstrations against the WTO in Seattle by organisations including the International Forum on Globalisation brought this subject to the attention of the general public and placed it firmly on the international agenda -- a commendable achievement. The United Nations agenda for the 21st century (Agenda 21) has also given rise to a great deal of thinking and local action on environmental issues.

What Further Action is now Needed?

The International Simultaneous Policy Organisation (ISPO) has developed a feasible means not only of regaining control of global financial markets and transnational corporations, but of going much further towards creating the conditions for a global society and economy more compatible with Nature and the needs of human nature.

It argues that a fundamental transformation from international competition to global co-operation is required, for only through global co-operation between nation states can meaningful changes be implemented. To achieve this aim, ISPO crucially sets out a practical, effective and peaceful means of doing so: the Simultaneous Policy.

What is the Simultaneous Policy?

The Simultaneous Policy (SP) is a new global politics of international community and consensus based on Right Livelihood and Right Human Relations.
Right Livelihood representing our need for a lifestyle more compatible with Nature and human nature.
Right Human Relations representing the recognition that sustainability can be achieved only with the co-operation and unity of all peoples.

SP is a means through which individuals, political parties, nation states can make the vital transition from international competition to global co-operation within the existing framework of current world politics and international relations. By reconciling the current demands of international competition with the future target of the peaceful, economically, environmentally secure world we all desire. SP provides a practical way of achieving the consensus needed to reach that target.

SP is a world policy consisting of a range of measures to be implemented by all nations simultaneously -- by consensus.

It is being campaigned for by the International Simultaneous Policy Organisation, ISPO.