Interesting things heard in and around the United Nations - Quotable Quotes!
[ Note: We are not political. Only interested in policies/actions (issues) that impact sustainablity and economic development. A psychological principle states that, "What ever a person does (says) in the past, is a pretty good indicator of what they will do (say) in the future."]
"Manufacturing industries shed 259,00 jobs in April 2001! 96,000 jobs in February 2001, after losing 94,000 jobs in February 2001, 92,000 jobs in January 2001.
And a separate household survey said, "...employment fell by 184,000 (March 2001)"
(Waiting with "baited breath" for May 2001 figures?)
"It's the Economy, Stupid!"
John Kenneth Galbrith’s Book “A Journey through Economic Times” published in 1997 tells us to look for issues of CONTROL of the people in the developed countries as the rich and corporations consolidate power and money [even away from our governments] dump jobs and marginalize their own citizens. More prisons, more police, downsizing the government to get big government and regulators off their backs (corporations), more right wing controlled judges on the benches, (Note: Steve Forbes editorial in Forbes Magazine about the Supreme Court Liberal Judges that "have to go!"), to add more new laws favoring themselves. We take note of the fact that the current Republican Congress is holding appointments to the bench of the current Democrat President (as of 1999/2000).
"Recently, I wrote the President expressing my outrage regarding the U.S. Army's decision to purchase 2.5 million black berets from companies that will manufacture them in foreign countries. Right here in North Carolina, there are companies and individuals who are willing and able to do this work and who need these jobs. Instead of allowing an American company to produce these berets, the Army waived a federal law requiring the Department of Defense to buy clothing made in U.S. factories. This decision was an affront to North Carolina and American workers everywhere." - Congressman McIntyre (Wednesday, April 4, 2001, Island Gazette)
CBS MarketWatch - 9 March 2001:
"CISCO cuts 8,000 Jobs
Intel cuts 5,000 Jobs
GE cuts 75,000 Jobs
Crysler cuts 35,000 Jobs"etc, etc, etc
This is so continuous that we can not keep up with the weekly "dumping" of USA Jobs.
C-Span Broadcast interview of the Fed's Mr. Greenspan, week of April 26, 2001: "Question: Will the tax cuts proposed by President Bush impact the economic downturn/fall?" Answer: "No, I don't believe it will have any impact on a turn around." "Look for an up tic in the 3rd quarter" Question: "Can we look for you to lower the interest rates soon?" Answer: "Well I just had a meeting with America's biggest corporations, and I asked them if there was any automation you could implement, that you haven't used so far? And, they said yes, probably 50%! I said, well go ahead and do that first." [Rather than hire workers...replace more of them with automation; Need to keep inflation (the cost of labor) down.]
$1.6 Trillion Tax Cut = $1,600 a day, every day backwards til the Birth of Christ! If it is $1.8 or $2.0 Trillion = $1,800 or $2,000 everyday since the time of Christ. Even a few of the Richest people in America said, "It isn't a good idea."
"Can we sell American Globalization, Democracy, Human Rights, and Capitalism to the rest of the World, while right in the Financial Capital's Center of the "Super Power America," (New York City) . . . 54% of the Children are born into Poverty! The soup kitchens find themselves in a crises with food shortages and more and more people (citizens) are appearing sleeping on the very streets of New York City. All while the Rich get richer and give themselves deeper tax cuts?" - Tuesday, November 14, 2000 - Dr. Larry T. Gell
August 28, 2000: New York Times: "These days the anti-tax movement seems driven only by a carefully selective sentimentality - one that weeps for children of multimillionaires who don't get their full inheritance, but tells poor mothers to go out and get a job." - Paul Krugman in "For Richer, for Poorer"
August 30, 2000: President Clinton Veto's Republican Tax Estate Bill saying, "It only benefited the top 2% of the Rich in America."
President Clinton is "happy" to report "ONLY 43+ Million American citizens are without any Medical Insurance in America. One third 1/3 of them Children. Down a million+ from last year."- Week of September 29, 2000
[PS: Did you ever try to get Dental Insurance in America? Is this part of the current concept of "They are not "Entitled" to it!"]June 13, 2000: The USA Congress is pressing for tax relief for the rich in estate taxes.
UNICEF released the following: USA now has 13.5 Million children in poverty, just behind Mexico in the World Poverty listings. [USA's current "Anti-Entitlement" Strategy seems to be working to put more people/children in poverty. Ck out the streets of New York City any night. - November 2000!]"TOO MUCH CORPORATE POWER? [ And No Responsibility!] Even though Big Business helped create UNPRECEDENTED PROSPERITY, most Americans think corporations have EXCESS INFLUENCE over their lives. Now, it's become a hot POLITICAL ISSUE. What's going on?" - Front cover of BusinessWeek Magazine September 11, 2000
[Our comment: A rather silly question, if you have spent more than a day or two inside the United Nations!]
Less than 6 months ago (mid 2000) at the United Nations, some world's experts tracking the size of the ozone hole said, "The hole is now larger than the country of China!"
On October 5, 2000, Channel 7 News at 6:00 PM said, "The ozone hole is now greater in size than 3 times the U.S.A.!"
This means more melanoma cancers...to start...August 3, 2000: From the Republican Convention in Philadelphia: Comments on the new 'Compassionate Conservatives' , ..."Dick Cheney has always voted to the far RIGHT of me." - Newt Gingrich.
And, "...100 years from today, historians will say America in 2000 was 'Rich in Possessions and Poor in ideals'." George W. Bush (Presidential candidate 2000) See the UNDP 2000 Human Development Report on the widening gap between the Rich and Poor.
George W. Bush, from his latest book, "A Charge To Keep," 1999, Wm. Morrow & Company, "Americans look at Washington and they don't like what they see. Who can blame them? They see partisanship and bickering. They see some who would rather score a point for the next election than get something done for the good of the nation."
Again George W. Bush (from same source: "A Charge To Keep"), "The "Gap of Hope" threatens the very fabric of America. I worry that we are being divided into two nations, separate and unequal: one nation with the tools and confidence to seek the American dream; another nation that is being left behind. We risk becoming two societies: one that reads and one that can't, one that dreams and one that doesn't. Some think they can protect themselves through willful apathy. Some put up big fences and live in gated communities. Some close the shutters, turn on the television and withdraw. But apathy come with a risk, because when the American dream is diminished for any one of us, it is diminished for all of us."
[Editorial Note: If this is happening in the USA; we wonder what is happening in the the "Globalization of New World Economic Order" and all those countries outside USA, which are being sold on the "American Way of Capitalism and Free Markets?]
There is a massive growing GAP between the rich and the poor (including middle classes and rich) even in America. There is also a sense of NO Social Responsibility. "You're on your own. You're NOT Entitled to it! Greed is good! Further tax breaks for the rich are needed." . . . attitudes. See UN Human Development Reports.
• Charlie Rose show (February 1, 2000): Guest Jim Hightower said, " 80% of American workers are worst off today with less salary and a lower standard of living. Americans want to 'take back their government' from the corruption in Washington." (Referring to New Hampshire vote for McCaine and against Bush)
• Bloomberg Radio's latest report (1/18/00) "The Rich are further separating themselves from the rest of society."
New book just released: "From Dawn to Decadence:500 Years of history [for USA]" - by Distinguished Columbia University Professor. Classicist Says "Past 500 Years Marked by Revolution. Suggesting the decay of the nation-state is already in progress," Jacques Barzun argues in 'From Dawn to Decadence' that the rise of the nation-state was the hallmark of the past 500 years.
• See the UNDP Reports on Global Human Development
• Charlie Rose show (1/17/00) "83% of American workers are WORSE OFF or at a 'standstill' position economically in this new Globalization of the Rich!" Figures from 1973 till 2000!
Quote heard at the United Nations week of February 23, 2000 by a security guard, "Boy, things have really changed here at the UN. It use to be that I issued passes to NGOs all day long, but this year it has been a steady stream of companies and corporate people who are coming to the UN." SG Kofi Annan turns the United Nations into the "United Corporations" and clamps down on the NGOs (the people organizations) see the Blockers.
"The Federal Reserve only measures "inflation" as an increase in Labor Costs. Forget the inflation at the gas pumps, and in your grocery stores, and in-your-face every day!"
George Bush week of January 7, 2000 on television, "Americans are going to have to give up some of their Rights." (Which Rights?) (Note: See the Economist editorial quote of January 1, 2000.)
"79% of Americans believe there is intelligent life in outerspace.
39% believe there is intelligent life in Washington." (See G.W. Bush quote above.)"81% of society believes the media should focus on real news." (see the difference between "CNN International News" and "CNN USA News"...BIG Difference!!)
"God gave me the stubbornness of a mule and a fairly keen scent." - Albert Einstein
The Continuing Marginalization of America's Middle Class and Poor: More cuts for the middle class! ["Stay the course, a thousand points of light." and here comes another Bush.]
[After all, "they are not entitled to it!"] See"As Aid is Cut, Hospitals Prepare for a Tough Year:
After two years of cuts in government aid, a sharp increase in uninsured patients and the growing dominance of [private sector] managed care, hospitals in the New York region are bracing for what many people believe will be one of the most difficult fiscal years ever.
And with recent proposals from Albany, NY and Washington that would squeeze hundreds of millions more dollars from local medical centers, hospital executives and many health care experts are predicting significant budget cuts and warning of possible hospital closings and an erosion in patient care.
Most likely to get hit hard, of course are the city's public hospitals and other that serve the poor and are most dependent on income from the ["downsized"] government health insurance programs, Medicaid and Medicare.
Last year the hospitals laid off more than 900 workers, [Got to cut those "fixed" costs so our profits look good.] And the system's president says as many as 1,000 more jobs are likely to be lost [cut] in the coming months.
Those cuts, proposed last week in Gov. George E. Pataki's budget , would amount to $727 million to $850 million in Medicaid spending in the state. And this week, President Clinton said he wanted to squeeze $400 million more out of the state's share of Medicare.
[Seems both Democrats and Republicans are working for the same people . . . the Rich and the Corporations. . . and are willing to continue pulling the "social safety nets."]- The New York Times, Friday, February 5, 1999.
It has been reported that Wall Street moves, "$2,000,000,000,000 ($2 Trillion Dollars) a day through Wall Street, every day!"
Davos, Switzerland
Some 2,000 world leaders gathered in Davos, Switzerland, for the annual summit of the World Economic Forum. The key topic: How to limit the downside of globalization, to ease the globalization pains. [What ever happened to the “Trickle down” theory? Do you see the word “trick” and “down” in there?]
The 2,000 mostly business leaders said they are here to, “improve the state of the world” and “to set the global agenda for the coming year.” [ In case you forgot, it use to be governments that did this. But, then, didn't the President of the biggest country in the world say “this is the end of big government” and “this is the end of big government” - twice in his state of the union message.]
Their agenda: “the impact of the global economy, its effect on the developing countries, the volatility it creates in currencies, the crisis’ dire impact on the human environment, especially in parts of Asia where the number of people living under the poverty line has doubled. [What happened to “trickle down?” Could they have meant, “Money Gushing UP?”]
Global warming and its ecological impact on the environment was reduced to only one meeting this year.
[Ah! Greed is Good! . . . when you are setting the global agenda.]
President of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab said, “We will be particularly concerned about social cohesion in a world of megacompetition. Competitiveness and social cohesion are not natural enemies. They are the results of corporate decisions and government policies. All the new frameworks and procedures in response to the need of responsible globality will not suffice to make the 21st century peaceful as long as we do not share some fundamental moral values. We will need a new ethic of globality.” [And some concrete positive action.]
Poor Kofi Annan , SG of the UN, had to warn the big corporations about their greed going too far. About the widespread worries of Third World nations about their vulnerability to freewheeling global capitalism and the threat of violent protest against it. At a minimum he suggested the corporations could, “make sure that you are not employing underage children to forced labor, either directly or indirectly.” “We have to choose between a global market driven only by calculations of short-term profit and one which has a human face.” [What a choice!] “Globalization . . . we have underestimated its fragility. History teaches us that such imbalance between the economic, social and political realms can never be sustained for very long.”
President Hosni Murbarak of Egypt said, “Our global village has caught fire . . . In the emerging world there is a bitter sentiment of injustice, a sense that there must be something wrong with a system that wipes out years of hard-won development because of changes in the market sentiment.”
Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha of India, “Capital flows should be regulated to prevent national economies from being threatened by, one person putting one finger on their computer that makes billions of dollars move around the world.”
Henry Kissinger said, unless the international financial system was “fundamentally reformed” to overcome the “incompatibility” of the world’s economic and political systems, future crises were inevitable.
After years of “Greed is Good” and “they [other than the rich] are not entitled to anything”. [The pulling of the “social nets” in the developed countries] And with global pressure showing its face, the corporations are now beginning to use words like “human face,” “morality,” “fairness” “responsibility,” “accountability.” What a welcome sign of relief this is.
Least we forget: They are also building more prisons, putting more police on the streets, beefing up the military and increasing the military budgets. Wasn't the 1997 State of the Union message the same as the message delivered to the UN General Assembly in 1998? “Terrorism is the world’s greatest threat.” Hum!
America (home of Globalization, downsizing, dumping of 10s of millions of their workers, and the open free market philosophy) now finds itself with, “a dispirited, downward trending, broken community in the center of a land of plenty.”Historian and writer, David Halberstam, CSPAN 1/31/99 at Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida
The Pope speaks out January 23, 1998 . . . Declares Globalization, "Exploitative Capitalism" and issues a report. In Mexico January 23, 1998 condemning "exploitation of the weak, racial discrimination and ghettos of poverty" While targeting both Mexico and the United States saying, "no more violence, terrorism and drug trafficking, no more torture or other forms of abuse."
Flash News Bulletin: Major lawsuit brought against major American clothing companies for imported child slave labor practices in Pacific Island of Sipan, reported last week of January 1999. [More details to come.]
“The Supreme Court in its last session continued a disturbing 30-year trend in American governance: usurping the powers that properly belong to (Republican) Congress. Our founding fathers never intended unelected lifetime judges to act as legislators . . .[Steven knows, he was there!] The watchdogs of democracy, the media [owned and controlled by the corporations and the rich] should examine the behavior and decisions of our increasingly powerful judges the same way they are supposed to critique elected officials.”- Steven Forbes, Editor-in-Chief [One of the richest men in America]
Fact and Comment section of Forbes Magazine, October 5, 1998, pages 29-30.
Jesse Helms would “like to see the United Nations out of the USA.” Yet, “Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina, Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi, Governor Kirk Fordice of Mississippi, and Representative Bob Barr of Georgia are associated with the CCC [a direct descendant of the Citizens Councils that opposed the Supreme Court’s 1954 school desegregation decision] Council of Conservative Citizens.”
[Same group actively trying to impeach the President of the USA]- New York Times article “Martin Luther King Jr.’s America” on Monday, January 18, 1999.
"The good Secretary-General must combine the skills of a smooth diplomat, deft organizational politician and unsentimental budget cutter.
Understandably, Washington would like the U. N. decisions to mirror American policy qoals [“downsize” your organization and “dump” your best people].
Washington also remains at odds with the U. N. over the scandalous arrears of American dues and the need for continued U. N. cost-cutting. There has been progress on both fronts, but not enough. America's back dues remain unpaid and Mr. Annan must cut the U. N.'s bloated staff and budget more deeply.
On balance, Mr. Annan . . . must work even harder in the next three years to create a leaner and more vital [impotent] United Nations."
- The New York Times Editorial, Sunday, January 3, 1999.
(See U.S.A.'s UN Strategy)
Have you heard about all the jobs they are creating?
And the lowest unemployment in 20 years? etc. etc?
"...in an era when everything seems stacked against workers. Union membership is continuing a long decline; inflation-adjusted wages are stagnant, and millions of low paid Americans struggle without health insurance, (life insurance, dental insurance, disability insurance, pension plans).(Throw in the weekly mergers and the continual dumping of thousands of workers. Next, add the new technologies ability to dump and replace additional thousands of workers. Technology has replaced 700,000 Secretaries, at last count.)
And all while the rich get richer! Executives at big corporations receive stratospheric compensation packages, and shareholders reap huge windfalls just by sitting back and watching the Dow industrials defy the laws of gravity."
- New York Times, Sunday, April 19, 1998
The United Nations various departments and studies/reports are tracking the huge separation of the Rich and the Poor with Globalization; And the marginalization of the middle classes in the developed countries (USA and Europe).
According to the Minister of Finance of Bangladesh (Saturday, April 18, 1998 at the UN) ....
"Adjustment has No Human Face, It is very hard on the Poor."
According to Head of the IMF (Saturday, April 18, 1998 at the UN) ....
"Either you Adjust or Perish! Adjust or you are marginalized! Adjustment is Good!"
(I wonder if he meant, Greed is Good!)
UN/DPI Briefing on Food, Thursday, November 20, 1997...
"You could now say that New York City is the THIRD WORLD of the United States, when it comes to the number and condition of the starving people of the city . Some 72,000 people are estimated to be turned away from the food kitchens in NYC, every month and it is increasing."
Don't blame the Government, they are "cutting the budget" and/or "closing down" the government and they "Don't have any money." Beside that, we are bailing out Asia's financial crisis currently.
Don't blame the Corporations, they "only have responsibility and accountability to their stockholders." They need their billions to buy out and consolidate global competitors.
Least you forget...These less-advantaged citizens and children of USA are "NOT ENTITLED TO IT!" They can "get out and get a job!" Just tune into some of the radio talk shows.
You could, on the other hand do something positive. Please do something POSITIVE!
U. S. Government Statistic
Week of November 30, 1997...
"1/3 of today's homeless in the United States of America are Veterans."
Christmas Message on many lighted telephone booths around New York City
Spotted on November 21, 1997...
"IN A CRASS
And INSINCERE WORLD
Something that isn't
Welcome to Civilization
Johnny Walker, Black-Label"
PS: We wonder how they know? Could this be what Vice President, Al Gore was talking about on TV this past week of December 4, 1997?
This one is almost as good as the past Merrill Lynch Ad which USE to say "We are Bullish on America" and was changed to say "We are Bullish on the World"
Bloomberg TV Business News - Channel 31
Wednesday, July 9, 1997 . . .
"1/3 of today's present work force has been downsized at least once and in their present job for 1 year or less. Over 70 million have been downsized or eliminated since 1979. This is the most tumultuous period in our country's history since the Industrial Revolution."
World Bank quote at U.N. . .
"Layoffs have been averaging 8,000 a day, since 1980!"
Expert Economists quote . . .
"Layoffs in the USA are in the tens of millions since 1980!"
USA Mission Officer at the United Nations (April 1997)...
"Don't pick on our big corporations, they don't have any jobs in U.S.A.
The number one employer in the U.S.A. is women entrepreneurs."
Are we missing something?
USA Media and President Clinton say..."the economy is doing great. More jobs than ever have been created."We know the market is booming...after all, with no fixed costs (people), you have great ratios but,...
"The largest number of bankruptcies are currently being reported." and "the number of homeowners who are delinquent and defaulting on their mortgages is increasing." - NY Times, June and July 1997.
USA Congress wants to reward itself for all the budget cutting they have been doing by giving themselves a raise. Their average salary runs around $133,000 with full benefits. You know, Healthcare and retirement plans, things like that.
"Cutting the Welfare by $50-60 billion dollars is equivalent to filling every chair in Yankee Stadium with children of those dependents and then lining up Yankee Stadiums full of children, side-by-side from New York City to Boston, Mass...just saying no!" - Executive of one of the worlds largest Non-governmental organizations.
Congress would like to cut all aid to the ARTS and a few other areas but not defense.
The same Congress believes it is now time to cut their taxes also. Would like to tax the American Indians (Indigenous people) businesses and others.
According to a study of a research group..."Tax plans are said to favor the rich...while those with the lowest incomes would lose money." - NY Times, Monday, June 23, 1997.
A recent article in the London Financial Times...
(we do not have the exact dates and article for exact quote,
but we will replace this commentary as soon as we get it.)
The article referred to the Swedish government telling Sweden's three largest corporations TNCs that they have a social responsibility; since money and power is moving out of the governments hands and into the corporations like the rest of the developed worlds policies of downsizing and marginalizing their workers/citizens and moving towards a new world economic order of privatized global organizations rather than central government control. The Lead and largest corporation Ericsson was quoted as saying they have no responsibility to the "social net" of the country they operate in. And if pressed they would transfer out of Sweden since Sweden only represents about 3% of their revenue and profits. They said they only have responsibility to their shareholders not their workers or the citizens of Sweden who bought their goods and originally created their company. (Note: in the new Globalization...you can electronically transfer out of any country in a matter of seconds...you do not need moving vans anymore.)This is the typical attitude of many corporations...especially the TNCs.
This is the "New World Order!"
"The challenge that faces us now, and especially in the developed, free-market, democracies such as the United States, is to make pluralism of autonomous, knowledge-based organizations rebound both to economic performance and to political and social cohesion.It is futile to argue as Milton Friedman, the American economist and Nobel laureate does, that a business has only one responsibility: economic performance...But economic performance is not the only responsibility of a business any more than educational performance is the only responsibility of a school or health care the only responsibility of a hospital.
Unless power is balanced with responsibility, it becomes tyranny. Furthermore, without responsibility, power always degenerates into nonperformance, and organizations must perform. So the demand for socially responsible organizations will not go away: rather it will widen.
Every organization must assume full responsibility for its impact on employees, the environment, customers and whomever (wherever) and whatever it touches."
- - - Peter Drucker, 1995
World Bank sends top executive managers to learn from Burger Bars:
Mr. James Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank, is sending 300 of his top managers to business school to learn to think more like Burger King employees. These courses were devised by the universities of Harvard, Stanford and the Kennedy School of Government.
The seven week course ends with the last week spent in the field...
"...not in a hotel but living in the slum with a non-governmental organization."
- Mr. James Wolfensohn,
President, World Bank; in the London Financial Times,
Wednesday, June 4, 1997, Page 1.
" This is the end of Big Government. "
- President Bill Clinton in his State of the Union address, 1997 mentioned this twice!
(Some NGOs are wondering, what is it the beginning of?...is this the beginning of Big Business? and is the United Nations about to become the House of Big Corporations: A United Corporations?)
If you have heard of some interesting things...quotable quotes...
please let us know via e-mail to the Administrator. Thank you.
at the bottom of each page.
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