The new world rises in the East
The PeaceJustice Conference
This conference is organised every spring in Denmark, by our sister schools DNS Tvind and DRH Lindersvold.
This year, it was of course online....and we were around 100 people participating – small groups in several schools in Norway, Denmark and England and also participants in many other parts of the world.
It was a very inspiring event – and the high light was a lecture: "The new world rises in the East" by Jan Oberg - author, peace researcher and photographer. He held an exciting lecture, presenting his visions for what we can expect to happen in the world after the Covid19 global crisis.
No “back to normal”!
There should be no going back to “normal” again. The normal we have been living in was a crisis already....creating global warming and climate change, which are threatening the lives of millions of people, not to mention thousands of other species and the rest of the natural world.
Instead we should use the opportunities that present every time there is a crises. Rebuild our societies in a more humane way. And there should be elections everywhere, so the governments that have not protected their populations can be got rid of!
The new world rises in the East.
The dominating force in the world at the moment is the “American Empire”. It has a huge military dominance, with bases everywhere in all corners of the globe...and is using very confrontational language and threats towards Russia, China and in general countries who don't follow directions. The increased threat of nuclear war and the climate crisis have resulted in the Doomsday Clock being moved to 100 seconds before midnight in January 2020. The American empire is in decline – and the people of the USA are suffering from this, just as many others.
Will the American empire collapse? If it does, will there be another empire taking over? According to Jan Oberg - no, not another empire. Instead, after years of turmoil and problems, China will emerge as the leading world power....but it is not interested in being an all-dominant empire. There are other ways of doing things- the Belt & Road Initiative is a very interesting and grand example of co-operation across borders for the benefit of all involved.
Can the military provide security?
One of the many points Jan Oberg discussed in this lecture is the absurdity of the so called “military defense”.
Many countries use colossal sums of money on the military, that is supposed to defend the people against enemy states in a possible war.
At the same time, not near enough resources have been used on REAL defense against attacks on the health of the population – such as having a stock of face masks as well as desinfectant and ventilators, in case of a pandemic.
Many governments were well aware that we should expect such a pandemic, but still there was no stock for protection.
What will society be like after Covid19?
Now the novel Corona virus has infected more than 5,5 million people (there are many more, but that's the official figure for people who have been tested) and it has killed around 350,000...
From this perspective, it's good to consider: what does it mean to defend a population? Many countries were not prepared to keep their populatioon safe.....
What do we want in the future..maybe countries should use the money only on actual defensive military, and use all the money left over for health and real security for the population!
Discussing these issues also raised many other relevant questions.
So - what do you think about it all?
What kind of security do you think we need?
And how can we become more safe?
Here you can listen to Jan Obergs exciting lectures:
1st part: https://vimeo.com/419050675 and 2nd part: https://vimeo.com/419108838
