What is Global People Power

Global People Power sets out to create global grassroots governance [1], not government. It’s about bringing humanity together to suggest, debate and vote on global policies to solve our most urgent global problems – problems such as climate change, mass extinction, war, debt and all forms of inequality. In doing so we can address the issue of the age, how to re-balance the power that multinational corporations exert over national governments [2] so that politics represents most people’s values and interests[3], not just the profit margins of the few [4].

To pull nations together to cooperate on global solutions, Global People Power “Pioneers” are not only demonstrating global democracy on the street, but prioritising our votes for politicians and political parties who join our movement. As Pioneers grow in number, politicians refusing to cooperate could easily find themselves loosing elections to those that do, to those offering a global democratic solution to global problems. Through international cooperative regulation of multinational corporations, nations can reclaim their democratic sovereignty. This is because Global People Power will happen in a synchronised way so no nation need lose out, or fear a competitive disadvantage for doing the right thing.

Global People Power is as ambitious in scope as global threats are to our survival. That’s why it’s supporters are called “Pioneers.” Please join us!

50-50 gender equity

Global People Power is all about participation and representation. It is fundamental to our vision of success that there is gender equity, an equal percentage of women and men taking part as active Pioneers. In this way, global decisions will become more balanced. Anything less is undemocratic and unworkable.

We are therefore being proactive to ensure that this is achieved. For example, in order to ensure 50-50 representation, our initial campaign strategy includes a target of two thirds female, and those who identify as female, proposing policy. To achieve this, we are strongly encouraging Pioneers to prioritise asking women to be the first to propose global policies and to invite their groups to debate and vote on them. This is just one way in which we will be tackling this issue. We will regularly review, report on and improve Global People Power’s gender equity balance, something already built into the Represent e-democracy platform.

Global life

Everyone and everything is interconnected. We share one atmosphere and one body of water on this most singular living planet. Climate change is not bound by borders, nor is the planet’s rapidly diminishing wildlife. Resources we rely on everyday are traded in a global market place where illegal corporate activity[v] in one nation damages all nations. War has engulfed the world twice before. In relation to the violence in the Middle East and Ukraine, some say it is now happening a third time[6]. Logically therefore, we have an urgent need of some global agreements and regulation to keep ourselves and the planet safe.

Today’s political reality is revealed in its truly dispiriting and demotivating nature after virtually every democratic election around the world. We see how no matter which political party gets voted to power, multi-national corporations have the final say. Corporations are capable of destabilising any government whose people voted for an agenda that is not “neo-liberal”, or which puts people and the environment before profits[7] of a tiny minority of globally mobile elites. What therefore, is the point in having elections if it is not the electorate who has the final say? What is the point of voting, of participating in a democratic system which does not represent the interests of its people? A system that only pretends to be democratic.

Our votes have been stolen but we can win them back. We can do this by pledging to vote for politicians and political parties that join our movement leading the way towards more mature international relations where world leaders end their playground hostilities and get on with the job of saving the planet from total war and total ecological destruction [8].

Pioneers

Some global policies do already exist[9] [10], but so far the ones which affect humanity the most were mostly created undemocratically, behind closed doors by career politicians in collusion with lobbyists from multi-national corporations[11],[12]. This happens precisely because we live in a globalised world with no global democracy. So we have an urgent choice to make. To take global control, or to continue to lose our democratic freedom.

It is immensely frustrating that we, humanity, already have the means and technology to tackle many of our most urgent global problems.[13] But with Global People Power, we now have a new international grassroots way to agree on these solutions and we have the tools to coordinate our power to pull governments together to act on them.

Although the world is bursting with great ideas for change, people are becoming increasingly disillusioned by the rhetoric and empty promises of leading politicians and also the ability of market capitalism to protect us [14]. It is more obvious than ever that we need a global democratic revolution [15]. To achieve it, we just need to realise the power that is already in our hands.

The word ‘democracy’ comes from ancient Greek: ‘demos’ – ‘people’, and ‘ kratos’ – ‘power’.

Democracy must evolve to tackle ever more complex problems in an increasingly complex world. That is why we are inviting humanity to find each other and to empower each other by becoming Pioneers.

“Heroes are intermediaries who open the world up to one another. Everyone can be a hero.”  – Theodore Zeldin. An Intimate History of Humanity.

Global People Power is not an alternative to local and national justice campaigns. It is complementary to them. It is vital that we work for justice at every sphere of influence. We are reaching out to justice movements around the world asking them to link together by joining us at the global level. We will be inviting them to share their campaign and policy expertise. We will be encouraging their experts and their supporters to become Pioneers suggesting, debating and voting on systemic global policies.

How long will it take?

We have seen how almost overnight, nation states can galvanise their citizens, find the resources and re-mechanise their industries for war. Now instead, people of the world have a new way to realise their collective power and organise for long-term justice, peace, equality, sustainability and prosperity. In order to avert the worst effects of our biggest, most urgent global problems, we plan to achieve the success of Global People Power with the same vigour with which war is prepared for. We pledge to do this as though our lives depend on it, which they do!

There is no virtue to be found in false modesty. Instead, we are confident that we can tackle issues that impact everybody by including everybody in the solutions. We have faith in humanity’s ability to agree on a range of sensible, practical and fair global rules and without the need for global rulers. We strongly believe that through global grassroots cooperation we can break down the manufactured barriers which prevent us from moving towards a decent, empathic human society [xvi]. To reiterate, we can only make this happen by redressing the corrupting influence of multi-national corporations[xvii] over national governments.

You are already a citizen of the world. Come and exercise your global power!

References