Dear General Secretary:
We are writing to you encouraged by your welcome declarations regarding the establishment of a Universal Basic Income, a global ceasefire, Universal Health Coverage and the socio-economic effects of Covid-19 and believing that you could promote and drive forward global efforts to reshape the world we live in.
The present situation
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The global Covid-19 pandemic has put into sharp relief, once again, the fact that the current system of global governance is not fit for dealing with crises.
Several problems exist today that prevent human beings from reaching their full potential:
• Wealth is increasingly concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. A report by Oxfam from January this year estimates that the world’s 2153 billionaires have more wealth than the 4.6 billion poorest people. This concentration of wealth creates the conditions for death, disease, ignorance and violence in all its forms to flourish. It condemns entire countries to beg for help from the rich and it is unworthy of a planet that is supposed to be at the height of its intellectual, scientific and technological development.
• Global military spending, after a minor decline at the beginning of the last decade, is now on the increase once more, with the world spending US$1.9 trillion on their armed forces. This is money that now, more than ever, needs to be channelled towards human security.
• Within the scope of escalating military tensions, human civilization is under threat from nuclear oblivion as evidenced by the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War who have concluded that a “limited” nuclear war, in which only 100 of the world’s combined arsenal of 14,000 weapons were to be exploded on urban centres, could kill up to 2 billion people as a result of the explosions themselves, of radiation sickness and of starvation due to the dramatic cooling resulting from the dust and soot ejected into the upper atmosphere and the subsequent reduction in agricultural output.
• Forced migration due to persecution, conflict, generalized violence and human rights violations, stood at 68.5 million people in 2017. Thousands of people are dying in the Mediterranean, in the Sahara Desert, in Central America, in Asia and elsewhere in their attempt to reach better conditions for life and security.
• The aspirations expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are far from being fully enjoyed by the world’s population.
• The billions of women, representing more than 50% of the world population, are struggling everywhere to free themselves from the violence they are subjected to – in all walks of life – as a result of the dominant patriarchal system. It is essential to put in place the necessary security and education measures needed to eradicate gender violence which accounts for the deaths of thousands of women around the world every day, as well as ensuring equal pay, professional and personal opportunities, in addition to the right to healthcare and sexual and reproductive education.
• Those who identify as LGBTI+ have the same rights as anyone else, but today they suffer violence all over the world. The last time the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the United Nations issued a report in 2015 it called on “States to act urgently to end violence and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) adults, adolescents and children,” and the situation hasn’t improved much in the years since.
• In regards to children, quoting just one indicator in the latest report by UNICEF, “Globally, at least 1 in 3 children under 5 is not growing well due to malnutrition.”
• Indigenous people everywhere, despite the recognition of their rights gained in international law, are discriminated against, displaced, persecuted and murdered in order to ensure the seizing and exploitation of their territories. This compromises these people’s lives and deprives society as a whole of their contributions to culture and their defence of the balanced relationship with the environment which could be key to guaranteeing our survival as a species.
• The planet is on the brink of environmental disaster, according to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, in areas such as decreasing bio-diversity, food production, ocean pollution, reductions in forested areas and increasing urbanisation. There are 1 million species threatened with extinction.
• In terms of climate change specifically, the world is battling to limit global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees, and you, yourself have expressed disappointment at the lack of results emerging from the latest round of COP negotiations in Madrid.
All these indicators, and many more that we could list, are more than enough to show that the way the world is organised does not correspond to the needs of the population and is failing to meet the aspirations of the United Nations Charter, namely:
• to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and
• to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and
• to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and
• to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom
How did we get here?
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The United Nations emerged from the ruins left behind at the end of the Second World War. The Bretton Woods Conference, convened by the victors of that war put in place a financial order that has failed to deliver economic prosperity to the vast majority of the world’s population. On the contrary, it has increased inequality between the peoples of rich and poor countries to an extent never before seen in history.
Money, as a tool for the exchange of goods and services, has been given a life of its own through usury and speculation, and time after time the global economy has created fictional bubbles of wealth that then explode, shattering the lives of ordinary people whose livelihoods are ripped from under their feet due to decisions made in Wall Street, the City of London, the Tokyo Stock Exchange and elsewhere. We’re still dealing with the consequences of the 2008 crash, and the austerity programmes implemented around the world have severely hindered the ability of many countries to deal with the current Covid-19 pandemic.
Measuring progress in terms of economic growth is not only not sustainable, but it is the very reason why we are in the current situation that is threatening us all.
What is the solution?
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The construction of a new model of society based on agreements that are inclusive and collective in all its diversity (women, children, indigenous people, sexual diversity, young people, etc.) is required in which there is broad participation, putting the value of human life and life on the planet above any other interest. Humanity has the necessary knowledge and wisdom to design a new system favourable to every human being and the biodiversity that we need to respect.
Urgent measures
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1. Implementation of a Basic Income, that becomes a new human right in accordance with article 25 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights, with the following characteristics:
○ Universal: for everyone in the world
○ Unconditional: regardless of whether the recipient works or not and any other sources of income they may have
○ Individual: for everyone, independently of whoever they live with
○ Sufficient: a level that allows for the basic needs of subsistence to be covered (food, housing, etc.) and dignified living conditions.
○ Permanent: beyond the duration of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This basic income would be complementary to, and not to replace, previously acquired rights in some countries, such as free access to healthcare and education, pensions, disability benefits, etc.
2. Implementation and guarantee of Universal Health Coverage for every human being.
3. A permanent cease fire in all wars.
4. The application of the military funding to points 1 and 2.
Construction of a new social model
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We, therefore, call on you, Secretary General, to convene a Conference of the People in order to design a new form of social organisation that resects cultural diversity and at the same time is capable of sustaining human life in balance with nature and the environment.
The key paradigm will be to put human life as the central value, therefore this new social organisation must include (among others):
1. A new economic system in which money is at the service of human beings, and not the reverse. It will be necessary to eliminate speculation, usury and all kinds of tax havens, to redefine the value of commodities, work (remunerated and otherwise) as well as the meaning and value of money itself.
2. A Universal Unconditional Basic Income in the terms set out above. We propose it to be the same for everyone on the planet.
3. Real democracy in all countries that allows all decisions to do with human wellbeing (food, healthcare, housing, education, water, energy, culture, environmental protection, transportation, pensions, access to science and technology, etc.) to be in the hands of the population.
4. The elimination of nuclear weapons and the progressive and proportional of disarmament of all kinds of weapons.
5. The elimination of all polluting forms of energy generation including all fossil fuels and nuclear energy.
6. Policies that favour the development of the world’s poorest regions, bringing them all up to the best living conditions available on the planet, together with the elimination of unfair trade agreements.
7. The latest technological advances being made available to the whole world.
8. Independence and sovereignty for all non-autonomous territories, as the first step towards the elimination of borders and visas that harm the majority of the population.
9. The full implementation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and their extension to new areas of human activity, reflecting technological changes.
10. A refoundation of the United Nations which corresponds to the principles that it was originally founded on, guaranteeing all countries a fair process, free from all kinds of extortion and vested interests, becoming a truly democratic organisation in which member states have equal voting rights, eliminating veto powers.
This is an expression of our aspirations and a global proposal that we want to talk about and discuss with all those who share with us the need to build a new world. This is why these points are not exhaustive but rather are open to the contributions of other individuals and groups.
We, the undersigned, are going to participate and work with others in order to contribute to a collective construction project. You can count on our full cooperation to set these actions in motion. We look forward, with enthusiasm, to hearing from you at the earliest opportunity.
Best regards,
Humanist Network for Universal Basic Income
(Red Humanista por la Renta Básica Universal)
