What are the environmental dimensions of globalization?
(19) In addition to the economic, political, cultural and spiritual effects of the current forms of globalization, the environmental consequences must also be taken into account. The globalization of diseases; the introduction (by accident or by plan) of non-native species of plants and animals into foreign ecosystems; the destruction of biodiversity in food production; the corporate patenting and genetic manipulation of life; pollution; depletion of water sources; expropriation and exploitation of land and all types of life forms without regard to their ability to survive; and the practice of toxic dumping in exploited countries and in communities of people of color are just a few of the ecological consequences of the current forms of globalization. It is also growing increasingly clear that the planet's ecosystems cannot sustain the current forms of global development. Current models of development are destroying many habitats leading to an alarming rate of species extinction.
What are the institutions that serve the current forms of globalization?
(20) Supporting and maintaining the current forms and direction of globalization include financial institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund as well as the World Trade Organization and other regimes of international trade agreements and regional trading blocs such as NAFTA, GATT and the FTAA. A just globalization requires a commitment to the globalization of economic opportunity. Since the current forms of globalization have not met this goal, international financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank must be transformed or replaced in light of a new set of priorities and values. These new priorities and values include ensuring full participation of all community members in all aspects of the development enterprise, as well as setting the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable at the top of development agendas. Similarly, international trade and investment institutions like the World Trade Organization, and regimes like the North American Free Trade Agreement, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and the Free Trade Area of the Americas, must be transformed, replaced, or if necessary, abolished in light of their failure to serve the dignity of the human person and respect for creation.
(21) In addition to the support of international financial institutions, the military might of the G-7 (the wealthy industrialized nations) provide the ultimate enforcement of the economic, political, social and environmental status quo upon which the current forms of globalization take shape. As the 1994-99 U.S. Defense Planning Guidance Plan stated, "...the US must show the leadership necessary to establish and protect a new order that holds the promise of convincing potential competitors that they need not aspire to a greater role...or seek to overturn the established political and economic order." The mission of U.S. military is to maintain a status quo where the world's richest 20% receive 86% of the world's income.
(22) Seen in this light, the response of the great Western powers to terrorism and regional wars breaking out around the globe continue to be shaped by their impact on the ability of the West to maintain the current forms and direction of globalization. As the record shows, U.S. military institutions like the School of the Americas play an instrumental role in training foreign military leaders to control the poor of their countries in service to the economic interests of the ruling class and to maintain the current global imbalance of power.
(23) International trade organizations like the WTO promote the view that the most important role for governments is to provide for a military to protect the country, and a police force to ensure order within it. And so while the WTO attacks social and environmental policies, it protects the war industry through a "security exception" in the GATT (Article XXI). It states that a country cannot be stopped from taking any actions "...relating to the traffic in arms, ammunition and implements of war." In this way the rules of international trade ensure that global arms dealers can continue doing business with governments more concern with controlling their citizens and providing cheap labor for the global economy than with meeting the human needs of its people.
(24) The institutional carriers of militarism view and treat Earth's as a commodity rather than a precious creation of God. Our faith teaches that we must revere and respect the Earth, not abuse it. Even though militarism devastated the Earth long before the emergence of globalization, the process of globalization has exasperated this problem. The U.S. Department of Defense is the world's biggest polluter. Virtually every American military base and nuclear arms facility, both in the U.S. and abroad, is polluted by chemicals and heavy metals used in weaponry and military hardware maintenance. Further, these facilities in tropical areas are often polluted by herbicides and pesticides banned in the United States. The Department of Defense generates 750,000 tons of hazardous waste a year, more than the five largest U.S. chemical companies combined. Some of the worst effects of U.S. military pollution have been seen in the Philippines, the Pacific Islands, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Japan and Germany.
What is Pax Christi USA calling for?
(25) Pax Christi's views in this statement are based on its understanding of Scripture, Catholic Social Teaching and its experience of being in solidarity with all those who suffer under the current forms of globalization. While Pax Christi does not seek to be the architect of global institutions, it is compelled by faith and its commitments to be in solidarity with the marginalized to articulate the emerging principles on which a new, more just order can be constructed. In setting forth the following principles Pax Christi commits itself to dialogue and collaborate with those who seek to create new forms of globalization.
(26) Pax Christi USA believes that the global economy should serve the needs of people - especially the most vulnerable and marginalized - not the people serving the needs of the global economy. We call for the adoption of sustainable development models based on the Catholic principle of distributive justice that insists that wealthier nations reduce their consumption and pollution while at the same time helping people in exploited countries improve their quality of life while preserving their environment.
(27) Pax Christi USA believes that the structures and institutions of globalization should respect and preserve indigenous cultures around the world. We call for institutional and legal protections that allow indigenous people to maintain their culture and identity while protecting the cultural rights of minorities, immigrants and refugees.
(28) Pax Christi USA believes that the promise of a global spiritual consciousness requires that all spiritual paths that advocate tolerance and the kinship of all peoples should be protected. We call for the continued development of interfaith dialogue and the development of a worldwide spirituality grounded in the profound reality of the deep unity of all creation and all creatures with the Creator.
(29) Pax Christi USA believes that the Earth is God's primary revelation to humanity, calling us to see ourselves as part of the web of life. We call for the creation of global institutions, structures and legal protections that protect the Earth's many ecosystems while providing ways for human communities to develop to their fullest human potential.
(30) Pax Christi USA believes that true and lasting peace is the fruit of justice. We reject global militarism, which maintains the position of the strong over the weak. We call for the development of new forms of global peacemaking and security that are truly international and which protect the human rights (both civil and economic) of all people.
(31) Pax Christi USA affirms the Vatican II Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World's condemnation that "the arms race is an utterly treacherous trap for humanity, and one which ensnares the poor to an intolerable degree. It is much to be feared that if this race persists, it will eventually spawn all the lethal ruin whose path it is now making ready." We call for the end of the global arms trade and a commitment to developing nonviolent means of conflict resolution through preventative diplomacy and a long-term commitment to eliminating the poverty that is a root cause of much of the world's conflict.
(32) Pax Christi USA believes that the promise inherent in a more humane globalization makes the work of transforming, replacing and, when necessary abolishing the current financial institutional carriers of globalization an imperative. We call for financial institutions with new priorities and values that include ensuring full participation of all community members in all aspects of the development enterprise, as well as setting the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable at the top of development agendas.
(33) We bring to this commitment our strong belief in the transformative power of nonviolent struggle in solidarity with communities of the poor and marginalized. We bring to this struggle our commitment to disarmament, demilitarization and reconciliation with justice; we bring our commitment to economic and interracial justice and human rights and global restoration. We also bring with us the wisdom of Sacred Scripture and the wealth of Catholic Social Teaching, which calls us to stand with the powerless, to protect human dignity, to uphold the principle of subsidiarity and to care for all of God's creation. Finally, we bring to this struggle our communion in the Roman Catholic Church, which is at the same time a local and global reality.
(34) In his 1998 World Day of Peace address, Pope John Paul II reminded the world that in order to create a more equitable society and peace in the world we needed to cultivate a greater sense of responsibility for the common good. The kind of globalization Pax Christi USA is committed to was best articulated by the Pope when he said, "The challenge, in short, is to ensure a globalization of solidarity, a globalization without marginalization.
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