POSITIVE MONEY

THE MONEY GAME

In the light of the negotiations between Greece and the EuroGroup, it is time to discuss some of the implications for money creation.

There are two forms of ‘money’.

First, ‘cash’,  which is printed and minted by governments.

In January 2015 it was calculated that the total global cash in circulation  was  

$1.39 trillion, which is 3% of the total ‘money in use.

For a long time, Governments and their Central Banks have been allowed by law to create money as cash [coins and notes]. For some reason, this is called  QE today: quantitive easing. They distribute cash  to local banks. The value of  the cash  is  measured  in terms of the amounts in circulation [e.g. too much/inflation; too little/deflation].  In this way governments  control the supply of  ‘cash’, and the value of the currency.

No-one else is allowed to print money nor mint coins.Those who do so  are prosecuted  for forgery and  imprisoned. Today, the 3% cash in circulation  is to be found in our wallets and purses; even in the mattress : in ATMs, pay packets, and shops. Banks do promise to pay cash to us on demand via an ATM or cash clerk.

Your local bank will ask the Central Bank for cash by daily/weekly payments. The Central Bank will authorise the creation of notes, and coins.The amount of money as cash in circulation varies from country to country.

Another key source of cash is Gross  Domestic Product: the income from sale of products by trading All countries are involved in manufacturing or  farming, trading products,  buying and selling and generating profit. They depend upon their GDP to provide the cash to pay their debts, as well as to create surpluses with which to pay for government and corporate projects. January 2015 the World Bank/CIA reports that $75.6 trillion is the global GDP.

Second, there is ‘digital’ money which is created out of nothing by  loans from banks/mortgages/building societies/insurance groups/savings and loan companies..  Today, of  all the monies available to bankers and fund managers,97% is digital/virtual; 3% cash/coins/notes.

The  ‘numbers’  traded every day on  the markets are many trillions in loans/in commodities/ currency exchange/ stock market dealings/ derivatives/ credit default swaps. It is estimated that more than $700 trillion is traded. every day as digital money. This may be a

$ quadrillion on some days.

During the 1980’s many banks across the world became deregulated, and  devised methods to create new money. Today, financial enterprises operate Fractional Reserve Banking which literally means that bank deposits need only be a fraction of the monies lent to customers.For example, a  cash deposit of $1000 can be ‘leveraged’ or multiplied by 100 to generate a loan of  $100,000, and the loan deposit of 100,000 converted into $1,000,000; to form the basis of a total loan of $100,000,000!

Fractional Reserve Banking enables corporations/companies/governments  to borrow millions  to finance their major projects. The loan creates new money out of nothing. The debt is a contract to repay the loan money over a specific number of years.

Fractional Reserve Banking is at the core of modern capitalism,  and acts as the driver  for profit and growth. It enables banks to create digital money out of nothing.  It enables banks to create ‘money’, free of the constraints of the Central Bank. Digital money does not depend upon the cash deposits in banks. Digital money can be manipulated, created, and  transferred at the press of a  keyboard. Creditors and debtors/ customers, assume that this virtual money,  will convert into cash.when required These assumptions lead banks to charge fees as if the numbers were cash.  Fractional Reserve Banking is designed to offer loans and  create new money out of nothing.

What is perplexing is that any $100 million as a loan  does not exist as cash in the bank. The original $1000  cash may be in a deposit account. But the new money ‘exists’ in a ledger and on a computer screen and hard drive as  a statement of account.

It is virtual. It is digital. This money is debt.  It will become  cash in the future  when repayments are made; and when  it is converted by the Central Bank.

We have to acknowledge that the E345 billion given to Greece as a bailout loan was created out of nothing. And only exists as virtual entries in the debtors account. No cash was transferred from Eurozone accounts to the Bank of Greece.   Today, the concept of ‘money’ is best regarded  as a set of numbers not a pack of notes nor a bag of coins.

We have to accept that most customers of financial enterprises are convinced that all dealings are ‘in cash’  But  Banks are lending/spending billions . that exist in statements as numbers, not hard cash. The amounts available [liquidity] are supervised by the Central Banks.

The next step in this procedure of  loans is that  bank profits are generated from the interest paid on the loans.The bigger the loan, the greater the interest.

The amount of digital money lent has little to do with the amount of cash in circulation.  Bankers and financiers and traders manipulate money numbers on a screen,  but their electronic dealings take place without regard for the consequences of their trading in numbers for cash/ stock/ commodities markets across the world.

  Even though governments have the right to print money to meet their costs,most use Central Banks to organize and supervise their monies, to avoid inflation and deflation.  Governments create  cash  but their demands are far greater and so  most countries are in debt. The current disputes about Greek debt are framed as if Greece was the only country in debt.

National debts can be as high as $18 trillion, as in the USA, with interest payments of $500 billion per year;  the UK, with 1.2 trillion GBP debts,has to meet 43 billion GBP annual interest. Other countries have large debts: Belgium $1.3 trillion; Japan, $1.5 trillion; France $1.7 trillion;China $1.9trillion; Ireland $1.8 trillion; Italy $2.2 trillion; Germany $2 trillion; Russia $76 billion. In order to pay their current debts the governments choose to contract  more debts to pay debts. and  to reconcile the credits and the debits; the assets and income with the loans and the interest payments.

January 2015 the BBC reported that the total global debt is $199 trillion: all of which is digital money.

. One of the rules of the ‘money’ game is that debts are paid on time and in full. If this is not possible, debts are to be covered by more debts  loans by more loans, interest payments by more interest.] Another rule is that the debtor is obliged to reduce costs, and increase income, so as to balance the books and repay the debts. The debtor has to be supervised, inspected and not to br trusted!

We have been considering  a situation in which the principal sums on loan are digital, and created out of nothing. The lender has made entries on a balance sheet, and charges the debtor for the completion of the contract. The profits of any financial enterprise are linked to the interest charged on loans.    For example, if a government or a corporation wants to borrow E100 million for 20 years at 7.5%,  the compound interest will be E424.7 million. The total to be repaid  will be E524.7 million. The borrower has to pay back 4.24 times the original loan.The total to be repaid  on global debt would be $1043 trillion or $1.04 quadrillion.

A country like Greece may borrow E345 billion for 20 years @ 7.5%, and be required to pay back E1.46 trillion. The current disputes are claiming that these totals are excessive. The new Greek government is challenging this system claiming that the interest charged is intended to benefit the creditor and punish the debtor. The bailout loans, that were supposed to rescue Greece, will bankrupt the country and destroy the government. The bailout monies could have been.GRANT AID with a low interest rate within a system of simple interest.

Recently, the USA was at the brink of bankruptcy when the the Treasury was not able to pay the interest of $500 billion on a national debt of $18 trillion. This reminds us that most  of the 195 countries in the world are in debt and need their GDP, profits and growth to pay their debts!

It would be fairer to adopt a system of simple interest,  whereby the interest is charged on the original principal

 The payment of interest would not be seen as a problem for a country such as Germany, USA, or China whose economy was growing by +5%/7%/10% a year. But for Greece, and many other poor countries across the world, whose economies are shrinking by -7% per year, these payments have become impossible.

In the years following the credit crunch of 2008/9 when some of the biggest banks in the world went bankrupt, and many countries went into recession, and the global financial system almost collapsed, some alternative strategies are necessary so as to ease the economic pressures on poor countries: that is, most countries in the world..One solution could be to lower the compound interest rates charged. .Another solution would be to calculate the simple interest on loans  The interest payable on E100,000,000 @1% simple interest for 20 years would be E20 million. The total repayable would be E120 million.These totals are significantly less than E424 million repayable on a loan at 7.5 %. And all represent significant profits for the creditors on transactions that are trading virtual sums created and deleted at the push of a button.These transactions are politically significant in circumstances when a government has to raise taxes and to cut all social services in order to repay the interest on a loan; or when a government, like the USA, has borrowed so much that it can only afford to pay the annual interest, and therefore has to sell off national assets so as to remain solvent. Governments, such as Greece or Ireland or Portugal or Iceland or Spain or Italy, may have repaid the principal of their loans, but cannot pay the interest. This interest could be four times the principal! Ireland with a national debt of $1.8trillion is facing interest payments of $7.2 trillion; or Italy, $8.8 trillion interest. These are all inconceivable amounts of money: particularly for countriesthat are barely covering their costs.  Should any government be permitted to borrow more than it can ever possibly repay? Should any government be permitted to borrow sums at interest rates that will lead to bankruptcy? Should funding agencies be able to charge punitive interest rates? Should creditors be able to lend money to clients who cannot pay their debts? Should interest rates be variable according to the circumstances of the debtor?  Should interest rates be capped for everyone, so as to limit the profits of the creditors? Would it be better if all loans had a fixed fee? How could a regulator stop the debtors and the creditors from taking advantage of any preferential contracts? This leads us to another solution: the necessity for oversight and regulation. Which organization could be given authority to supervise, regulate, and control the financial affairs of individuals, corporations, countries? The WorldBank, the IMF, the United Nations, the EU, the AU? among others.It is not surprising that many clients, corporations or countries, become unable to repay the sum in total and default.It is clear that none of the funding agencies and their traders care about the circumstances of the debtors. All they are interested in is the generation of profits and bonuses. It is none of their business that many countries like those in Africa: Namibia, Niger, Sudan, Somalia, Congo,need loans to pay for foods to feed their starving peoples. The countries want grant-aid, but are driven to loans.that will bankrupt them.. It must be admitted that none of this would matter, because many countries would be unable to raise enough cash to provide collateral for any loans.So we are faced by a dilemma. How to structure and regulate a fractional reserve system that does not bankrupt those countries that try to borrow money? How to design a full reserve system which is more flexible in demands for collateral and assets? On reflection, it seems that banking systems that are intended to benefit the banksters and fundsters, and sacrifice the debtors, are not socially nor morally justified. They protect the interests of the 1% and control the savings and investments across the world. They are only interested in peoples and governments who want to borrow money, and pay maximum interest. One can conclude, that any banking system that is totally dependent upon the generation of profits from the interest on loans, is unacceptable. As we have seen, the calculation of the interest due from poor debtor countries leads to their bankruptcy. Such loans and compound interest are not intended to alleviate global poverty. They are intended to maximize the profits and bonuses of the banksters

SOURCES: ROBERT PESTON/ GAVIN HEWITT/ BBC

WIKIPEDIA

THE GUARDIAN

THE INDEPENDENT

www.positivemoney.co.uk

www.neweconomicsfoundation.co.uk

OPEN SOCIETY

LORD ADAIR TURNER

eKathimerini
www.kelvynrichards.com

CHANGE AND POWER

Can we change the world without taking power?

Recently, in ROARMAG,  Professor John Holloway revisited his thesis about changing the world. He recognized the need for change, but he wanted to minimize the role of the state, and challenge the workings of capitalism.  I want to argue that any challenge to capitalism requires the direct role of the State.

Some people argue that anarchy would be most effective. I want to argue that anarchy may satisfy the demands of the one, but we need the support of the collective.

What is meant by "we"?    

All references to we  are usually directed at the peoples who live in Europe and the United States and/or are part of the systems of capitalism.

Who do I include amongst those who can change the world?

Should I include all or some of the 7.2 billion people that live on earth and live in families, tribes, sects, classes, working groups; hierarchies;communities; neighbourhoods; ;nations, states, exercising different languages, celebrating different histories, cultures, and religions.  What about the tribes of Amazonia in Brazil?: feeding off the trees and flora; with own languages; unaware of the people who live beyond the forests? or the Inuits of the Arctic who survive on the glaciers?  What about the the millions of refugees, and migrants desperately trying to find a better, safer place to live?

Would these communities want survival or change? Would it ever be possible for them to act in unison ? Of course, it would not be possible to know all these peoples, although I may come to know what their preferences are by means of modern media.

Population maps show us that the world population lives in river valleys, estuaries and coastal lands as well as grasslands and forests. The maps also reveal that most of the Earth is empty …..... Yes, it is empty because many lands are unfit for human habitation, the hot deserts: and cold deserts; the tropical rain forests of Africa, and South America; the glaciers of Arctic and the Antarctica; and the cold lands of Russia, and Canada.  It may be the case that there will be a natural limit on the number of people on earth.   But at the moment it is 7.2 billion,more than at any time in history.

Can 7.2 billion people change the natural world? When the winds blow at 100 miles an hour; or the rains fall at 50 inches an hour, or the temperature rises to 50c in the summer, it is clear that we cannot cope with the vagaries of nature. The extreme events destroy our homes and factories and communities.

However, over a long period of time, the actions of 7.2 billion people are causing changes in the atmosphere, and the biosphere. As a result of our development of industrial processes and products since 1800’s, we are increasing the levels of nitrogen, carbon, and methane in the atmosphere, altering oxygen levels, the balance of green house gases, and raising the global temperatures by +2c each year, We are now being urged by environment agencies to lower the temperatures by changing our behaviour and reducing pollution and emissions. For example,as we have taken to driving cars,and lorries and increasing carbon emissions, so we will have to stop driving petrol vehicles and reduce carbon levels, and adopt renewable energies such as solar power and wind power.

What is meant by "we"?   The UN and many charities estimate that

5 billion people try to thrive and ;survive on less than $10 a day; among whom are

3,25 billion  on $2 a day.

1 billion people are known to starve to death each year, of which many are children.

I live in a world in which the norm is to be poor, and starving. I live in a world in which it is expected that a minority forms a privileged elite. In this world the elites exploit the majority with no shame. They see nothing wrong with paying little for a lot of work; living amongst communities that have little to eat, depending upon food banks and nowhere to live.. We are poor and starving; abused and exploited. And ;we are the majority. The central element of global society is poverty!  That is, lack of money and resources.

Following more than 500 years of Euro-capitalism and colonialism, it is declared in 2014 by FORBES: Merrill Lynch; Morgan Stanley, the TIMES  and other rich lists that 1,654 people across the world are billionaires, in control of $6.4. trillion, amongst 12 million $millionaires who control $46 trillion…………..the so called 1%.

.We consider that money is power; and purchasing power allows 12.16 million people to influence and control the lives of the other 99% of the global population: what is consumed and produced, what jobs are available, how much money is shared: money is power. The World Bank tells us that in 2013, the world produced $85 trillion: most of which went to enrich the 1%.

Discussions about ;wealth always seem to assume that wealth is the norm, and poverty the exception. This is not true. 

It is true that 12 million rich people form a significant group, but it is less than 1% of the 7.2 billion. Poverty is the norm.

Any debate about who takes control has to accept the fact that most people in the world are trying to survive. Their poverty results in their starvation; malnourishment; without sanitation; no clean water; subject to disease; inadequate medical care.This evidence indicates that the key social change that must take place to reduce poverty and attain a fair, just, equal society, is the redistribution of $52 trillion private wealth, and the $85 trillion world GDP.

It is clear that the billionaires and millionaires are not going to take part in this social change. Government authorities, State agencies, are to be directed, entrusted to redistribute the wealth of the 1% to the 99%. Of course one could argue that the 99% direct their actions to the removal of the 1,654, and the 12 million, [all of whom are known] and confiscate their riches for the benefit of all.

This needs to be done peacefully in democratic parliaments organizing legislation to promote social change. It will only be done if the actors are committed, honest, just, and not corrupt.

COMMUNITIES IN CONFLICT: ARABIA

Islamic State in Syria and Levant looking for a Caliphate.

Kurds looking for home!
Turkey looking for Empire
Communities in Conflicts in ARABIA.

Recent events in Syria and Iraq, triggered by the actions of the ‘Islamic State ‘and their Caliphate, have revealed the complexity of the struggles.

Indeed the situations are so complex that the views of the USA and UK seem naive and simplistic.

Of course the USA, in particular, is acting in the belief that ‘might is right’: a privilege that it vigorously denies to other countries.

A corollary of this view is that the peoples of the countries that the USA invades or attacks : ‘hate’ the Americans!
The Kurds are taking advantage of the situation to further their claims for 'a homeland'. They lost their place during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after 1918. But in 2014, they are fighting the ISIL, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey and the USA to re-establish Kurdistan. But no one wants to support them. Their conflicts are leading them nowhere.

At the moment, the Christian American and European democrats are busy intervening in the affairs of Muslim Ottoman Arabian dictators and all the associated tribes and religious sects.

The current conflicts are economic [to protect sources of oil] ;  political [to support the Israelis, and other friendly regimes, and to control the growth of Iran; Syria; Egypt, and Turkey];  and religious [to stop the rise of extreme sects]: and a combination of all these. For example, the leaders of the ‘Islamic State’ have captured oil fields and refineries, and are selling the oil to their enemies to finance their wars against the infidels! At the same time the forces of the USA along with allies from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, are attacking these sources of oil and gas so as to get rid of the so-called ‘Islamic State’ and protect their own prosperity.

The emergence of the ISIL, Islamic State of Iraq, and Levant, has resulted in direct aggression against various groups who are declared the enemies of Islam. Recently, ISIL/ISIS/IS have been accused of being an enemy of Islam, and subject to attack by Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, the USA, and the EU.

ISIL is perceived as challenging the viability of  the first Caliphate, and thereby the Prophet Muhammad, by declaring itself as the fifth Caliphate and the Caliph Ibrahim as the  leader of Islam, contrary to the rulings of  the many sects and tribes.

Having been identified as the enemy of the USA and the EU, ISIL has become identified as the enemy of  Sunnis and Shias in Arabia.

632 AD: the Prophet Muhammad  had founded the religion of Islam, and  left behind a community of 100,000 followers. These Muslims were organized as an Islamic State in Arabia, centred in Iraq and Syria. They were arguing about who should succeed Muhammad on his death. There were many claimants among the relatives and family, sisters, daughters, cousins, sons in law, and supporters.

The divisions of the Islamic religion were not resolved and   those who chose Abu Bakr, came to be known as ‘Sunni’; those who chose Muhammad’s son in law, ‘Ali’ were called ‘Shia’.

The history of Islam has been punctuated by the conflicts between the Sunnis and the Shia Muslims.

2014 AD: it has been calculated that there are 1.2 billion Muslims in the world: 85% Sunnis; 15% Shia.

In the ‘Middle East’, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan, Turkey, are Sunni: Whereas Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar are Shia/Shiites. It is clear that the conflicts between these countries is rooted in religion. The USA and the EU and Russia are perceived in the ‘ Middle East’ as the agents of Christianity determined to undermine Islam.

At the same time, ISIL is being seen as an enemy of Islam! On the other hand, it is clear that they regard themselves as the Saviours of  Sunni Islam, getting rid of all dissidents and heretics.

The situation is made more complicated by the struggles for power between the tribes and religious sects of Arabia. As well as the divisions between the Sunni and Shia, there are the Bedouins, Ottomans, Kurds, Jews; the Muslim Brotherhood, the Ba’ath Party, the Bahai: The tribal defence forces of Hezbollah, Hamas, Mahdis, Fatah.; The sects of Mahmud, Karim, Druze, Copts, Maronites; Alawites, Ibadis, Ismailis, the Shafis, the Sufi, the Wahabbis; Salafis, Yazidis, Zaidis.

The conflicts are not between countries/nations. It is between families, tribes and sects!

At any one time these groups can be involved in conflict which may result in the death of many thousands of citizens e.g. the attacks on the Yazidis, the aggression of the Alawites in Syria; the attacks by Hamas against the Israelis; the claims for land by the Kurds; the on going rebellions in Yemen.

Turkey has entered the ‘ring’ with the Parliament agreeing to organize their troops in opposition to Syria and the IS and in support of the USA.

The role of Turkey is perplexing in that it is the ‘rump’ of the Ottoman Empire that ruled Arabia/North Africa for many years. Currently it is a member of NATO, and therefore an ally of the USA, and will be a key player in the USA/Arab League coalition. At the same time, it is an enemy of the Kurds and opposes their claims for a homeland. However, it is the homebase for more than 1million refugees from Northern Syria, including  Syrians and Kurds.

At this time, the ruling families of Arabia are to be counted among the richest peoples in the world, controlling the supply of oil and gas to the world; as well as the financial markets. We have to reconcile excessive materialism with intensive spiritualism, as well as the divisions between Sunnis and Shiites.

It is worth noting that the present conflicts may be settled, and peace restored., and the USA withdraw, but the religious differences between the Sunni, Shia, and Jews will continue in many forms for many years.

SHARIA

In the light of the emergence of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the Caliphate and the Caliph we need to consider the significance of their rulings on Sharia Law.

‘Sharia’ is a code of conduct for all aspects of Muslim life.

’The clear, well trodden path to the water’.

For example, it embodies the Five Pillars of Islam: declaration of faith; prayer; fasting;charity; and pilgrimage. It is expected that men and women dress with modesty and do not expose private parts. Women in particular should conceal their whole bodies. This is applied differently in different countries. For example, it may be acceptable for women to wear dresses that cover the body, but not the head.

The rulings about marriage are complex and controversial. Marriage should be between ‘virgins’, who are pure, not abused. nor violated. When this is not possible, it is essential that the man must not be a fornicator at the time of the marriage.. Of course, the demand for a virgin bride makes it possible for the man to marry a virgin child. Reports have shown that 3year old girls have been promised for marriage.

The practice of ‘child brides’ is illegal in the UK. It is a crime. In this case Sharia  is in direct opposition to civil law in Europe.

SHARIA LAW is Islam’s legal system expressing how to behave socially, in family affairs,finances, business.

Sharia Law is based on the Koran, as the word of God ; the sayings of Muhammad the Prophet; and the fatwas - the rulings of the leading scholars in their debates about the interpretation of the laws.

For example, Adultery is a crime. Sodomy is a crime.Theft is an offence. Apostasy, the leaving of the faith, is a serious offence. Usury is illegal.

It seems that there are  no standard punishments. They vary according to the nature of the offence, and the rulings of the law courts.

But the punishments are severe and include: caning, lashing with a cane; cutting a hand off; cutting a head off as in executions; stoning to death. It is the severity of these punishments that appal the citizens of Christian countries. Although it is worth reminding ourselves that execution by electric chair, or by lethal injection, is still common in the USA.  Comments about  Sharia Law and courts make it clear that while the offences are common, the punishments are rarely performed. It is unusual for offenders to be stoned to death, or have their head cut off. In Europe  Muslim lawyers will argue that it is important to observe the laws of the country you live in, rather than rigorously apply Sharia  Law or even incorporate it into the civil law.

However, the rulings by  the 5th Caliph of the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant have insisted on the strict application of Sharia Law and punishments. Recently, the Muslims of Indonesia have reaffirmed the strict adherence of the codes of Sharia.

In both cases, traitors to the faith will be punished by death : having their heads cut off. Women who dress without modesty are caned with a 100 lashes. Financiers who lend at interest will be punished.

The severity of the punishments in Sharia Law is  justified on the grounds that the offenders know what the punishments are if they are caught by witnesses. But  as they continue to offend. It is argued that their defiance of the laws invites strict punishment.

On the other hand the Caliph of ISIL insists that Muslims must endeavour to reaffirm the truths of Islam, and the rulings of the Koran. If they do not, they will be punished according to Sharia Law, risking humiliation, mutilation  and death.

It seems that the militants of ISIL are intent on a campaign of Holy War in which all sects of the Sunni and  Shias are to be treated as  heretics, as traitors to the faith, and executed  in war.

All Americans are to be regarded as the enemies of Islam and are to be executed in war and peace.

One has to conclude that the Caliph of the Islamic State is intent on a world war! and the 5th Caliphate  is the centre of Islam, in opposition to Saudi Arabia, to Egypt, to Indonesia, to Nigeria, to Pakistan, among others.

SOURCES

ALJAZEERA

WIKIPEDIA

BBC WORLD NEWS

ECOCIDE: CRIMES AGAINST PEACE

SOCIAL ECOLOGY AND THE CRIMES AGAINST PEACE AND SECURITY OF MANKIND.

Polly Higgins wishes to establish that Ecocide is one of the Crimes against the peace and security of mankind: crime of aggression; crime of genocide; crimes against humanity; war crimes.

Ecocide is a crime of aggression when it leads to the waging of aggressive acts against communities and territories. For example, recent reports have revealed that gangs of ‘drug barons’ have killed indigenous tribes, and destroyed  rain forests in Peru and Ecuador so as to plant many acres of cannabis.

Ecocide is a crime of genocide when agents of corporations; syndicates; governments; kill and maim members of indigenous tribes in the forests of Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Indonesia, Malaysia. Genocide results from the planned destruction of environments that support the local communities. This ecocide  leads to the hunger and starvation of the communities.

Ecocide is a crime against humanity when tribes are murdered; animals are exterminated; local peoples are tortured and enslaved to enable syndicates of drug barons, and corporations, to destroy the rain forests  and to deport local communities.

Ecocide is a war crime when civilians are attacked so as to cause widespread damage to natural environments in the territory and to gravely prejudice the health and survival of  the population.

Ecocide is a crime against the peace and security of mankind.

Research into the behaviour of agents of criminal syndicates; soldiers, militants carrying out acts of war in order to exploit the resources of territories, it is clear that they will kill, torture, destroy. Attack, plunder, pillage, all those who are deemed to be ‘in the way’.

For example, at the moment all these crimes are being committed in the Middle East; in the Ukraine; in North Africa; and West Africa; in the forests of Amazonia; as well as all those territories where groups are intent on the illegal exploitation of forests; of minerals; of oil and gas reserves; of animals.

In the future, SOCIAL ECOLOGY must focus on the discovery of the perpetrators of these crimes, and to promote the peace and security of mankind and protect the exercise of human rights; to protect and preserve the global environments, and reduce the impacts of climate change.

SOURCES:

THE ECOCIDE PROJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS CONSORTIUM 2012

UNIVERSITY OF LONDON. Director:DAMIEN SHORT 2014

POLLY HIGGINS

RICHARD FALK

RAPHAEL LEMKIN 1944

MICHAEL MANSFIELD

WIKIPEDIA

INTERNATIONAL LAW COMMISSION

 BBC WORLD

UNITED NATIONS REPORTS

                                                   

ECOCIDE : ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMINALS.

NEW DIRECTIONS: SOCIAL ECOLOGY AND THE LAW OF ECOCIDE.

Any survey of the actions of mining corporations, logging companies, chemical companies, Oil, and gas groups,  in association with governments , and crime syndicates [growing and making drugs]  will reveal that they are actively involved in the pollution of the environment of the earth. They are ‘environmental criminals’ committing ‘ECOCIDE’………and denying all the evidence, and the accusations!  Oil Pollution can be seen across the world and the oil companies persistently deny their responsibility, and the consequences.

The crime of Ecocide has been identified  by the lawyer Polly Higgins. She has been particularly concerned to devise a law for the UN. She wishes to apply the Law of Ecocide to natural events as well as to humans; to corporations as well as individuals; to those in command and control as well as to those whose defence is that they were doing as they were ‘ordered’.

So what is ‘ecocide’?  It is when human agents are actively involved in the damage, loss, destruction of ecosystems of a given territory to such an extent that peaceful enjoyment by the inhabitants of that territory has been or will be severely diminished. As the law stands at the moment ‘abstract agents’ such as corporations, or syndicates, or governments, cannot be held responsible for ECOCIDE. Only human agents can be accused, prosecuted, called to account, for their environmental crimes.

The International Lawyer, Polly Higgins, wants to identify all those in command and control of their corporations and to render them responsible for the consequences of their ecocide behaviour , and subject to investigation and prosecution.

She also wants to apply the Law of Ecocide to natural events during which vast areas of the environment are damaged following typhoons/ tornadoes, storms/earthquakes/forest fires/floods/tsunamis/droughts: all of which may have been triggered by human mismanagement of the environment and the initiation of climate change.

I am proposing that Social Ecology should pursue new directions which would lead it to direct action to prosecute/fine/imprison/control ‘environmental criminals, and clearly identify ‘environmental crimes’ and support the work of Polly Higgins. Voluntarism is no answer to crime syndicates and corporate crimes.

ENVIRONMENTAL 

CRIMES

oil

SEPTEMBER 4 2014: Judge Barbier announced in New Orleans that BPOIL  was guilty of gross negligence at DeepWater Horizon oil disaster and would face a  fine of $18billion.

Oil drilling can lead to environmental crimes  by environmental corporate criminals. The profits and the fines generated by these corporate criminals can be huge, immense, unbelievable, sufficient to rectify the damages or sufficient to compensate for losses.

Oil Companies have been pursuing ‘fracking’ since 1950’s. Normally, it is developed when oil and gas have stopped flowing efficiently and need to increase their liquidity. Water and chemicals are injected into the wells and oil and gas are drawn out under pressure. When the pressure is too great, the base rock will crack and quake; and the water/oil/gas will leak and pollute all ground water! in the basin. The ‘fracking’ companies will commit an environmental crime, polluting the shale base.

rainforests

AUGUST 2014 Reports revealed that government agents in Brazil/Peru had discovered tribes of indigenous peoples that had lived in complete isolation in Amazonia from the migrant communities such as the commercial loggers, and shifted cultivators.

 Logging and farming can lead to the destruction of rainforests in South America; and Malaysia, and Australia. Also major projects like the construction of hydro-electric dams; mining for bauxite; and industrial operations like iron and steel making, and aluminium smelting;  lead to the direct loss of forests due to the clearing of land., building roads,  and long term water/air/land pollution.

If the object is to conserve the rain forests, then any activities that result in the destruction of the rainforests, and their communities, must be considered an environmental crime.

 Logging companies select trees and cut them down. They depend upon the maintenance of the forest, and the removal of the best trees. Their work involves the removal of a few logs but it results in extensive damage to the forest due to heavy machinery, road building, as well as soil disturbance, soil erosion, siltation; deforestation, following the trees falling to the ground, and creating ‘jungles’.

Once the roads have been built into the rainforests, they are used by the ‘shifted cultivators’ to move into the forests to start small scale farming. Many of these farmers are landless, having lost their land to the government and the corporations. They are directly involved in the total clearance of the forests for food crops; tree plantations, grazing cattle, and fuel wood. In fact, they are the environmental criminals committing environmental crimes!  Total clearance is pusued by agriculture.

Governments see the forests as trees, and offer the areas under licences to international logging companies. Illegal logging is carried out by local communities, many of whom are sponsored by criminal syndicates.

Forest experts argue that the forests should be seen as sources of important plant, animal, and insect species, micro-organisms, as well as medicines. It is a real benefit of the forests to harvest the fruit, seeds, the products of the trees. The rainforests should be harvested.  It is a crime to log, cut, slash and burn trees.

EarthAction

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Corruption and Impunity Rife in Cameroon's Forestry Sector Posted: 03 Sep 2014 06:46 PM PDT Large quantities of wood extracted from forest "conversion" projects are reaching international markets illegally, in full knowledge of Cameroon’s Ministry of Forestry (MINFOF) and the European Union (EU), says Greenpeace Africa. The failure to fully monitor and regulate timber from such projects is undermining international agreements Cameroon has with bodies such as the EU, including its Voluntary partnership Agreement (VPA), part of the bloc's Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) action plan. Greenpeace Africa obtained evidence that Uniprovince, a company owned by US agribusiness company Herakles Farms, has cut at least 10,000 m3 of commercially valuable wood. While official documents  from the port of Douala show that a shipment of over 3000 m3 has already left Douala for the Chinese port of Zhangjiagang. The Herakles Farms project in the country's South West region has proved highly controversial since its announcement in 2009 and attracted the opposition of local residents, civil society and international NGOs who say it threatens an area of important biodiversity value and the livelihoods of communities who live there. "Sadly it comes as no surprise to Greenpeace Africa to see this wood find its way to China despite all the evidence of its illegality" said Irène Wabiwa, Forest Campaign Manager. In a report published last May, Licence to Launder, Greenpeace Africa documented how Uniprovince obtained a Vente de coupe permit to log without public auction, in violation of Cameroonian law. "Three different Cameroonian state prosecutors were given information proving Uniprovince's illegal logging operations, but no action has been taken to our knowledge," explains Wabiwa. "The Cameroon's Ministry of Forestry and the EU, in charge of the implementation of the FLEGT  Partnership Agreement, were also repeatedly informed; but unfortunately, it did not prevent the wood from being exported." On August 19th, Greenpeace East Asia submitted the evidence to the competent authorities  in China, asking them to investigate about the Chinese company that is involved in importing illegal timbers from Herakles Farms/Uniprovince. Regrettably, the case of the illegal logging title obtained by Uniprovince is just the tip of the iceberg. There are strong indications that the allocation of thirteen Ventes de coupe permits earlier this year, to a variety of timber companies for operations in the Kribi area, failed to respect procedure. A large proportion of wood from Cameroon's Vente de coupe logging operations is destined to China via the port of Zhangjiagang, taking advantage of the fact that the country doesn't yet have legislation in place to prevent the imports of illegal wood. "If these operations continue with total disregard for the law, it will undermine the credibility of the FLEGT partnership agreement ratified in December 2011, accelerate forest destruction and deprive communities who depend on the forest for their livelihood in Cameroon" warns Wabiwa. Cameroon made a commitment to verify the legality of all timber and derived products covered by the agreement whether these are sold on the internal markets, exported to the EU or to markets outside the EU. Sources: Greenpeace (http://www.greenpeace.org)  RainTree RainForest Facts Tropical Rain Forest Animals.com Save the RainForest.com MongaBay.com Forests Monitor.Com