Re: Democratization and International Parliaments

Here is the simple, logic and realistic recipee that meets the
urgent needs of the present situation: 
http://www.unitedpeoples.net   

Practical details follow:

CONSUMERS OF ALL COUNTRIES, UNITE !

The peoples have no say.
All economic and political power is concentrated in the trans-
national corporations, their mass media monopoly and their
politicians.

And from their point of view people are only of interest

1. - as slave labour, only to be kept barely alive at minimum
existence level,
- this giving rise to the general class struggle -

but at the same time also

2. - as consumers to keep the profit machinery running at
maximum speed.
The great potential of this other more pleasant role of ours so
far has only been exploited to a very limited extent and only
for defensive purposes.

So let us expand the class struggle with exploiting this
potential in an OFFENSIVE strategy:

Let us utilize the contradictions existing within the robber
barons castle to our advantage and disarm their imperialist
struggle over markets and resources before it now once again
will lead to world war.

Let us utilize the fact that it is our money the robbers are
fighting over, and play the predators out against eachother,
before they succeed in completing the monopolization process.

Why should we always remain on the defensive although the
salesmen are completely dependent on our willingness to buy
their products !

GLOBALLY

the consumers' power may be utilized for internationalization
of the corporations.
This is the only strategy  for saving our planet. It necessitates
the formation of the World Parliament of THE UNITED PEOPLES, cf.
http://www.unitedpeoples.net   (under construction).

REGIONALLY and NATIONALLY

the consumers' power may be utilized for the people's takeover
of the ownership or part of the profits of national companies
and local corporate production and distribution enterprises.

In each country a United Peoples Party or, to start with, a
Consumers' Power Committee, "CPC", comprising progressive
mass organisations and NGOs, and approved by the world parliament,
is formed.

The CPC may comprise a group of neighbouring countries.

The analysis of the market and identification of the products
and enterprises to be targeted is carried out by progressive
professional economists / NGOs / students under the guidance
of the CPC.

The tasks of the members will be, as consumers, to buy,
respectively boycott continuously or for a specified period of
time the products pointed out by the CPC, and to motivate rest
of the population to do the same.

EXAMPLE :

Three enterprises, A, B and C, are selling almost identical
products and share the market as follows:

Shares of market:
   A              B                   C
xxxxxxxx    xxxxxxxxxxxxxx    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Profits:
   A              B                   C
xxxxxxxx    xxxxxxxxxxxxxx    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Depending on the market, the strength of the CPC, etc.,
each one of the enterprises is asked either

A) - if it is willing to turn over the ownership to the people
in case it is chosen as the only one to survive, the stockholders'
invested money to be paid back over a specified period of time,

                          or

B) - how great share of its extra profits it will allot to the
people, if it is chosen as the only one or one of the few
enterprises whose products will not be boycotted.

If, for example, A and B bid highest, the CPC may choose to let
A and B share C's market and share C's profit with the people,
rather than let either A or B get complete monopoly:

Shares of market:
       A                       B
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx   xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Profits:
     A                        B                  CPC
xxxxxxxxxxxxx        xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx      xxxxxxxxxx

Everything of course will be based on a written agreement
beforehand.


ELECTRONIC SYSTEM FOR MOBILIZING THE CONSUMERS
AND  DOCUMENTING  THE  NUMBER  OF  PARTICIPANTS

1. A data base administered by the world parliament of the
united peoples,  http://unitedpeoples.net

Until the first parliament has been elected, the organizers will
function as a provisional parliament.

The data base stores the digitized biometric fingerprints of
all of the participating consumers worldwide.

The documentation of the vast number af active consumers
enables the world parliament to lay pressure on the transnational
corporations for ecologic, economic and political purposes.

2. The CPC publishes addresses in all cities and towns where
registration of the interested consumers can take place, by 
placing the tip of the forefinger on a newly developed biometric 
sensor with a chip that within a second reads the sub-skin 
structure of the unique fingerprint, cf.
http://dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Companies/Security/
Identification_Systems/Fingerprinting/   and
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~tonycook/nzsdp/

Name, address or other identification of the participants is
unnecessary.

Furthermore, the fingerprints will be collected in shopping
centers and  - streets, at all sorts of gatherings, etc.,
by means of mobile computers or tiny specifically designed 
chips. 

The price of  each  of  the  recording  devices -  which  have
to be the same make and supplied with the same code everywhere - 
is of the order of $ 100.

Via Internet the digitized images of the fingerprints are sent to
the national data base of the CPC and to the global data base of
the world parliament, together with the date of the recording.

At the national data base each fingerprint automatically is
allocated an account number.

When all new computers before long will have fingerprint
reading equipment in stead of password requiring software, the
encrypted digitized image of the fingerprint may be sent
directly from home.

Confirmed by their fingerprints, the participants agree to
continuously keeping informed of and to follow the CPC's
instructions as to which products to buy and which products to
boycott.

3. The CPC's negotiations with the targeted enterprises can
start as soon as an adequate number of consumers have joined.

When these negotiations / boycott actions result in takeover of
ownership or part of the profits of targeted enterprises, the
profits will be shared equally by the participating consumers.

The payments most appropriately will take place as deductions
of the prices the consumers pay in connection with shopping:

In each store taken over by or associated with the CPC, the cash
register is connected electronically with the central CPC data
base keeping account of the balance of each individual.

Upon verification of the fingerprint, the cash register
automatically will reduce the price to be paid for the purchase,
with all or part of the balance.

Alternatively, the consumer may have the balance paid out in
cash.

A display on a screen in the store is remotely kept by the CPC
and shows which products / companies / corporations are to be
preferred, respectively boycotted, compares the prices of
comparable organically grown products, etc.

Furthermore, registration of new activists, fingerprint voting on
current consumer issues, voting for candidates for the national,
respectively the world parliament, etc., may take place here.

In Northern countries, half of the profits will be transferred to
the world parliament for global disposition.

An independent institution will control and regularly publish
all accounts.

The campaigns for new active consumers should be adapted to the
local economic conditions and the level of ecologic awareness.

In the poorest countries the emphasis should be on the economic
aspects: "Join us and make money !"

In some Northern countries, e.g.in Europe, the ecologic aspects
may be more appealing: " ecoNOW ! "

For the more confused and thrill-seeking, a slogan like this
may be appealing: " Touch and get polarized ! "

The superior political perspective should never be forgotten.
A universal text on the signboard behind the fingerprint reading
sensor could be:

                           Vote  for   a
                           better world!
             Internationalize   the     corporations !
                Ecological   sustainability   NOW !
                  Follow the instructions of the
                       United Peoples' Party
                          and  get  your
                               share
                                 !


Imagine the day when - as a first step - any beggar in Dhaka,
Nairobi, Rio, Washington or Copenhagen, by placing a fingertip
on an electronic chip, will get a share !

WHEN this will happen, is up to YOU !


The organizers,
the formative world parliament of the united peoples

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Robert M. Cutler skrev:
> 
> I will be grateful for any pointers, the more specific the better, that list
> subscribers may be able provide to any or all of the following related
> matters:
> 
> 1. Theoretical or empirical work about international parliaments other
> than the EP, preferably but not necessarily in comparative perspective.
> 
> 2. Theoretical or empirical work about democratization in relation to
> international parliaments, whether regraded from a global, regional, or
> national analytic standpoint.
> 
> 3. Specific work on these topic by, or contact coordinates of Held,
> Archibugi, or others whom I understand to have written on the issues
> involved in matters (1) and/or (2).
> 
> Thankfully,
> Robert Cutler
> 
> --
> | Robert M. Cutler, Fellow, Inst. of Eur. & Rus Stud., Carleton University
> | Regular postal address: c/o Succ. "H", C.P. 518, Montreal, Canada H3G2L5
> | ==Inquire for different FedEx address==   URL: http://www.panix.com/~rmc
> | Phone: (+1 514)939-2769  Fax: (+1 514)932-4457   Email: rmc@alum.mit.edu