Beware of false friends!

Despite the sobering experience of the last UN Summit of the Future and its completely inadequate results, some civil society actors still seem to believe that they can achieve something to reform the UN Charter. Their goals are noble and right. They should not be slowed down. Perhaps they will succeed after all. They write in the latest UN Charter Reform Coalition newsletter:

Brazil, South Africa and India join the call for Charter Reform!

On 19 November, the IBSA Dialogue Forum - which brings together India, Brazil and South Africa, released a statement encouraging a “wide-ranging reform of the UN Charter, including the convening of a review conference, in accordance with its Article 109”.

“We cannot wait,” the statement says, “for another global tragedy, like the Second World War, to build a new global governance on its ruins.”

The Coalition is now actively reaching out to each of the three countries to explore how we can support them in advancing the agenda.

However, caution is urgently advised here. The current governments of India, Brazil and South Africa are by no means trustworthy. After all, they are in a political alliance with the biggest liars, thieves and murderers in the world at the moment, the Putin regime in Russia, which is waging a war of aggression against Ukraine and constantly threatening to use nuclear weapons. The second rotten egg in the basket is the Chinese Communist Party, which wants to take away Taiwan's freedom with its military expansion policy, threatens the South Pacific and has qualified as a world champion in the disregard for human rights. And then there are others, such as Iran, the nightmare of every freedom-loving woman. These are the BRICS states. They have a slightly different world order in mind. Anyone who makes common cause with such powers cannot possibly be trustworthy.

So people, pay attention, also in the interest of your own credibility!

The 'Great Filter' in front of us

A strong explanation of the ‘Fermi paradox’ is provided by the theory of the 'Great Filter'. The filter can also be described as a barrier or hurdle. The assumption arises from the many possible catastrophes that can put an abrupt end to the further development of a species during its long evolutionary history. Just think of the dinosaurs here on earth. According to a controversial theory, the eruption of a supervolcano on the island of Sumatra 75,000 years ago reduced humanity to a few thousand people. In this way, the development of intelligent life on other planets in the universe can also be impeded and the progress of civilisations made impossible. We know from human history just how much natural disasters can influence the world. If the Tunguska event in 1908 had not taken place over Siberia, but over the Ruhr area in Germany, the First World War would almost certainly not have happened. The world would probably look a little different today.

Apocalypse - Painting by Albert Goodwin, 1903

Even if humanity could end all wars and realise world peace, the biggest hurdle for the survival of our species would still have to be overcome. It is climate change caused by global warming. This threatening situation is a result of our civilisation and began at a time when people were not yet aware of it. In principle, it started when our ancestors made fires in their caves to keep warm. The climate crisis is expected to worsen significantly in the coming years. The current storms, floods, droughts and wildfires are just a foretaste of what is to come.

If the United Nations system collapses in the course of increasing catastrophes, authoritarian powers will attempt to take over the world order. The Chinese Communist Party and Putin's Russia are already fantasising about it. India, Brazil and South Africa are not averse. There are many smaller dictatorships that will be happy to join in. ‘America first’ will then become the arse of the world. It's hard to imagine the chaos that will ensue. Only the iron fist of a ‘dictatorship of reason’ will be able to control it. However, this will not be able to solve the world's problems either, but will lead to even more death and destruction. I have already addressed this scenario in my article ‘Global empire or federal world union?' A tolerable passage through the ‘Great Filter’ is only conceivable for humanity in the form of a democratic world federation. Whether it will succeed depends on us humans.

Please read my detailed article at Substack:

Can mankind survive? - by Richard Maxheim

Why I'm not at X

It's a general weakness of social media that political muddleheads, conspiracy ideologues and fanatics of all kinds can spread their rubbish unhindered under the guise of freedom of opinion. The damage caused by disinformation is considerable. But unfortunately the problem cannot be completely avoided without strict censorship. Nobody wants that, of course. On Twitter, however, it reached a level that prompted me to delete my account there in 2022.

After X-man Elon bought Twitter, things got a lot worse. Decent people, reputable organisations and companies are leaving the platform, which has since been renamed X, in droves. As a result, the proportion of negative elements is growing. This is why the German football club FC St. Pauli has also withdrawn from X. The sports fans explain their decision as follows:

‘Owner Elon Musk has turned a debate space into a hate amplifier that can also influence the federal election campaign’, ... ‘Racism and conspiracy theories spread unhindered or are even curated. Insults and threats are barely sanctioned and sold as supposed freedom of expression’, ... Musk had ‘turned X into a hate machine’ and had already ‘actively supported’ Donald Trump in the US election campaign, it said. ‘It can be assumed that X is also promoting authoritarian, misanthropic and right-wing extremist content in the German parliamentary election campaign and thus manipulating public discourse.’ Source: t-online

Unfortunately, I have to note that various civil society organisations - especially world federations - are still publishing their memes on X. Have they not yet realised what a disgusting swamp this is? How can they credibly campaign for a better world if they destroy their own reputation by doing so?

Here's an alternative:

The exodus from X to Bluesky has happened – the era of mass social media platforms is over | Gaby Hinsliff | The Guardian

United Nations reform is cancelled

As I noted in my article ‘World Parliament not now’ from 18 October, the desire for the rapid realisation of a Parliamentary Assembly at the United Nations seems to have been frozen among its supporters. As none of the demands of the ‘We The Peoples’ coalition were mentioned in the ‘Pact for the Future’ adopted by the UN General Assembly, it can be assumed that all of this will now be on ice for the unforeseeable future

The ‘Civil society letter to UN Member States on inclusive and accountable global governance’ did not bring the desired result either. Perhaps there are some states that agree with this. But that is a small minority. The well-intentioned attempt to support the open letter with a petition failed miserably. Even AVAAZ, ‘The world's largest and most effective online campaigning community for change’ with over 69 million members worldwide, had just 1157 signatures after two months. Perhaps one more signature is added every day. This result documents all too clearly how little interest there is in the democratisation of the United Nations among the general public. The campaign simply lacks people. The photo of the empty meeting room fits like a lid on a bucket.

Even if existing or newly forming coalitions try to squeeze something in their favour out of the meagre UN Pact for the Future, their efforts will be no more than another race on the hamster wheel of the pretended co-determination of civil society in the UN system. But a possible alternative path is already emerging. More on this in my latest Substack article

Democracy ist not a law of nature - by Richard Maxheim

For a dream without substance

Nobel Peace Prize 2024 goes to the anti-nuclear weapons organisation Nihon Hidankyo

'Nihon Hidankyo is the only national organization of A-bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Hibakusha) in Japan. It is formed with Hibakusha organizations in all 47 prefectures. It was founded on August 10, 1956, during the 2nd World Conference against A and H Bombs.' This is what it says on the organisation's website.

Nihon Hidankyo is fully deserving of the prize and the prize money of just over USD 1 million is very much appreciated. Since the 1950s, the organisation has been fighting for recognition and compensation for the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as for the Pacific islanders affected by atomic bomb tests. Through education and personal testimony, the ambassadors of Nihon Hidankyo have raised international awareness of the horrific impact of nuclear weapons. This has certainly contributed to the fact that no nuclear bombs have been used militarily since 1945 and can of course also be seen as part of deterrence.

Toshiyuki Mimaki, Chairman of Nihon Hidankyo, said after the award ceremony was announced at Hiroshima City Hall: ‘It really does feel like a dream. I would like to continue to appeal to the people of the world to abolish nuclear weapons and achieve lasting peace.’ (Source SPIEGEL)

As with most other movements for disarmament and peace, this positive dream lacks a realistic vision. I have described in my article ‘World without nuclear weapons’ why this is not so easily possible. In today's world disorder, no nation with nuclear weapons will give up its sovereign self-protection. In fact, more countries will seek nuclear armament. Some of them with aggressive intent, as Russia and North Korea are already demonstrating with their threats.

The global abolition of nuclear armament is currently an illusion. To make nuclear disarmament possible, humanity must unite in a federal world union. This is the indispensable prerequisite for lasting world peace. There is no other way. All organisations working for disarmament and peace should finally understand this and become active accordingly. Otherwise they will all remain just dreams without substance.

World without nuclear weapons - by Richard Maxheim (substack.com)