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donderdag 7 februari 2002
Anders-globalisme voor beginners. Hieronder vind je een vrij algemene maar toch verhelderende
tekst omtrent het globalisme.
Mister Chairman,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It was right to move the World Economic Forum this year to New
York. We want to reiterate our feelings of distress and solidarity with the citizens of America's first city and to insist
on our resolve to defeat terrorism.
Last year, as president of the European Council, I engaged in a dialogue
with the so-called anti-globalist movement. I wrote an open letter on the subject of globalization. I hosted an International
Conference on Globalization in the city of Ghent. I fully intend to continue this dialogue with all actors involved. I am
planning a second conference in October, which will focus on the trade negotiations that were launched in Doha.
I have learned that the overwhelming majority of the so-called anti-globalists are non-violent. They are sincerely concerned
about the major problems of our world. And if you care to listen, you will notice that they put many interesting ideas forward,
even if, from time to time, you first have to cut through some ideological woodblocks.
As a matter of fact,
they are not anti-globalists. They do not oppose globalization as such. They oppose the one-sided economic view on it. That
is why I prefer to call them by the name they choose: the alter-globalists. Their message is that globalization needs a political
counterpart, to tackle the social, ecological and cultural consequences of the world becoming one economy. They want globalism
to include human rights, democracy, social protection, ecological responsibility, freedom and equality for all. Most of them
want more globalization, not less.
Surely, their analysis is in many respects one-sided too. Still, there
is a common ground to reach. We should stress time and again that economic globalization has been beneficial for the creation
of prosperity in many formerly poor countries, especially in Asia. But we should not ignore that globalization has made the
problems worse for many nations in the world, especially in Africa.
Economic and trade globalization have
made national boundaries less and less relevant. Nevertheless international frameworks and platforms are all too often restricted
to political actors, first and foremost the nation-states and their governments. New world actors, from Greenpeace to Microsoft,
have entered the international scene. They already have a great deal of influence. However, they are all too often absent
from attempts to regulate the economic and trade environment and thus are not obliged to take up responsibility.
But worst of all, on the international stage today the voice of poorer countries is marginalized, even if they speak for
tens of millions of people. Let us face it: in the world today, money and economic strength remain more powerful arguments
than the number of people you represent. Yet, we can no longer deny that poor countries are getting poorer. And on September
the 11th, we learned that countries could become so desperately poor that they may be hijacked and even controlled by criminal
and terrorists gangs. In that respect the core message of the alter-globalists is right. The world needs more and stronger
political organization. I like to call this the need for an ethical globalization.
That is why I fostered the
idea of an alternative G-8, not made out of the richest and most industrialized nations of the world, but composed of the
most important regional unions such as Asean, the European Union, the African Union, Mercosur, the North American Free Trade
Association, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, the Arab League, the states of the former Soviet Union.
They represent nations bound by the same political, economic, social and cultural forces on a continental scale. They are
stronger than single nations and closer to their citizens than the United Nations.
I know these regional bodies
are not of the same making. In political organization, for instance, the European Union is ahead of its regional counterparts.
But if we create a new political forum where these regional partnerships speak on an equal footing, we will already have tilted
the balance of power somewhat in the right direction. It would be a first step towards a much-needed form of world federalism.
Because the North-South divide is the greatest challenge for this new century. And this divide is bolstered by a powerful
image shared by a large majority of the world population: the power is for the rich; the burdens are for the masses. It is
an image we, in the rich world, remember all too well from our own past.
Ladies and gentlemen,
There is no miracle cure for the many problems of the world. But we must reach a common ground between the people here
and those in Porto Alegre. Inside the European Union we are trying to reach that common ground, by pushing all member states
to spend 0,7 % of their GDP on development aid, by looking for ways to implement debt relief for the poorest countries, by
accepting that our export subsidies must disappear.
I remain convinced that economic development and free trade
are the best tools to eradicate poverty. But we too must cut through some of our own ideological woodblocks. Indeed, our strong
belief in economic liberalization should not make us refuse the dialogue with its critics, for they often have a point. Nor
should this belief become so dogmatic that we think the system does not have any failures. The idea that the world can unite
without being regulated is clearly an illusion. There is no better place than New York to understand this.
Introduction
of Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, at the future of Anti-globalization-debate at the World Economic Forum
New
York, 1 February 2002
Omtrent het OCMW
Sinds augustus 2001 zetelen Jos Appelmans (fractieleider) en Kjell Bosmans (lid vast bureau)
voor de VLD in de OCMW-raad. Eigenlijk zouden we al op 1 april moeten van start gegaan zijn maar een interne ruzie binnen
de voormalige VU-ID en een daaropvolgende klacht heeft ons 5 maanden achteruitgezet.
U moet weten dat Jos en ik nieuwelingen
zijn in de politiek. Niet dat we van toeten noch blazen weten maar het is wel ons eerste mandaat. Wij hadden dus een kleine
inwerkperiode ingebouwd zoals destijds Jean-Luc Dehaene zei: Sire , geef mij 100 dagen.. Wij hebben zelfs geen week gekregen.
De oppositie wil bloed! Ze vermoeden dat het cement tussen de meerderheidspartijen niet al te stevig is en willen via het
OCMW de meerderheid platleggen. Een niet geziene lastercampagne is sedertdien ons deel. (in kranten, op televisie en op zijn
website spuit ene T.Webzevers de ene demagogische volzin na de andere, de SP.A (wat is er anders?) geeft een persconferentie
over het OCMW maar nodigt haar eigen OCMW-raadsleden niet uit!)
Dat deze onrustzaaiers met hun tactiek alleen maar slachtoffers
maken bij een groep die al zeer kwetsbaar is, is voor de oppositie waarschijnlijk aanvaardbare schade. Van socialisten zou
je iets anders verwachten!
Wat eveneens zeer cynisch is, is dat de grootinquisiteur van de oppositie, deze Torquemada
van de Zennevallei die ten allen koste het vel wil van de OCMW-voorzitter, de enige is die er verantwoordelijk voor is dat
de huidige voorzitter zit waar hij nu zit.
Dit was, beste lezer, onze allereerste kennismaking met de politiek.
Ondertussen zijn we bijna 6 maand verder, staat de meerderheid steviger dan tevoren, meer zelfs, vormen we een hecht
team en kunnen we werk maken van een lange-termijn beleid. Niet zoals de vorige raad, waar de voorzitter er door zijn eigengereid
optreden, wel een nieuw rusthuis neerzette maar met evenveel bedden als het oude en dit terwijl een klein kind kon voorspellen
dat gezien de demografische evolutie het dubbel aantal bedden nog te weinig was geweest.
Jos en ik zullen onze
ervaring en onze creativiteit blijven aanwenden om de problemen van de komende jaren het hoofd te bieden. Je kan ons altijd
bereiken via mail of telefoon:
WEDSTRIJD: Bij het schrijven van dit artikel werden enkele woorden later vervangen
door andere. Zet ze op hun juiste plaats en win een etentje met 1 van de twee OCMW-raadsleden.
Prutsers, loser, ordinaire
viswijfruzie, bloedhond, dictator, Asociaal?,
Kjell Bosmans uit 'de burgerkrant'
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