AfaintcoldcupofTea..
9th October 2003, 06:12 AM
Part extract.
The European tradition has always been one of dynamic equilibrium and of balance both in the intellectual and the political areas. This is not to deny that Europe has undergone periods of rapid change or times of - to say the least - excess. It is to say that equilibrium has been a goal, and often an achievement, of European societies. Our history is marked by great successes as well as tragedies. Europeans have, to a great extent, learnt to live together as people of diverse backgrounds and cultures, and even to value the vitality such diversity offers. We have achieved a fairly balanced social and political system. We need to build upon such values in the new context.
European culture is also characterised by a tradition of research and enquiry, with a particular emphasis on fundamental research in most domains from science to culture. Europe has provided the rest of the world with a great deal of fundamental knowledge, and in the European Way the tradition of enquiry which generates this is seen as a good in itself, largely independent of market value. The long-term view is an important part of this tradition.
We thus believe that such traditions offer a characteristically European contribution to the world's response to the current exciting and challenging conditions of opportunity and danger.
We need to find an equilibrium between dynamic markets and the needs of the long term - particularly the conservation of resources and the survival of ecosystems with the diversity to support humanity and all the other species into the far future.
The challenges in other areas such as the economic, social and cultural are at least as important and may cause even more concern for the stability of our societies. Globalisation and the international reorganisation of value chains, due to liberalisation of commercial and financial markets and to the use of information and communication technologies, are putting enormous additional stresses on labour and employment systems. They are challenging social structures everywhere in the world, in both developing and developed countries, particularly in Europe.
As a result, people suffer growing anxiety about jobs in some areas and increasing labour exploitation in others. The fields of work most closely associated with ICT and the globalisation of trade are characterised by hugely overworked, insecure posts; meanwhile, those with other skills suffer unemployment. Such divisions must increase social instability. "Life-long learning" is the buzzword of governments struggling to come up with a response to this, but educational and training systems have not restructured or improved their performance.
We need to find an equilibrium between flexibility, which encourages the exciting potential of rapid technological and economic change, and core values of social solidarity, equity and security.
The homogenisation effect of the globalisation of information and markets and the commoditisation of culture challenge cultural pluralism and linguistic diversity. This creates fears of loss of identity. For various reasons, strong sentiments of historic and cultural identity are growing. There is reason for concern about a growth of xenophobic tendencies, partly in reaction to anxieties about globalisation; and there is reason for hope in the ability of ICT to bring people into contact across divides.
We need to find an equilibrium between cultural dynamism and the amazing opportunities which globalisation and communications technologies offer for cross-fertilisation, and the sustainable growth of distinct cultural and linguistic traditions.
Anxiety also results from the general feeling that neither politicians nor social institutions are able even to monitor these changes, let alone affect them. There is clearly a lack of national and international instruments to deal with these challenges.
Indeed, if the global information society were to be governed by a framework operating according to purely economic criteria - which is how some governments and many individuals undoubtedly perceive the World Trade Organisation - governments' ability to act in support of social, cultural, civic and environmental goals would be severely weakened. Critics point to rulings against the EU on food safety and in favour of US-owned banana plantations, and express fears about the possibility of future rulings against Public Service broadcasting and even National Health services. They point out that pro-laissez-faire groups, such as the International Chamber of Commerce, want social and environmental concerns to be dealt with only in fora such as the International Labour Organisation and the Rio process - which, they fear, the WTO can over-ride.
The anxieties and insecurities we describe are not mere private emotions. Addressing the fears raised by the globalisation which ICT promotes is as important as addressing the fears some have of using the technology itself. If political processes fail to deal with their causes, the risk exists that they may become dominant political and social forces. To work to reduce insecurity and inequality is to work against causes of violence.
The European Way springs from traditions which recognise that economic activity is crucial, but is not the whole of life. Taking the long view, we recall that the French Revolution rallied to the call for "Liberté, Fraternité et Egalité". The great changes in the former Soviet bloc - which opened it to market vigour and the world to globalisation - were largely precipitated by a group called Solidarnosc - Solidarity.
We can see this tradition in the development of ICT, too. The World-Wide Web was invented by a citizen of Belgium and one of the UK working together in Switzerland - and they designed it to be maximally useful for the advancement of knowledge as a good in itself. It provides an astounding resource for education, and promises finally to transform education from the inculcation of information to instilling the skill of learning (see Chapter 2). Its highly visible and economically transformative use in electronic commerce is a side-effect.
The European Way is based in traditions of social solidarity, and of a search for sustainability and equilibrium between the needs of people and the biosphere in the long term. It considers "politics" as the empowerment of citizens to organise and influence affairs according to mutually acceptable ethical principles. This is, for citizens, the guardian of collective interests, including welfare and the social values of democracy. It is much more than the debased term indicating no more than factional battles between political parties. In this sense the European Way implies the primacy of politics - the art of striking a balance among all the people's interests - over economics alone.
So when we speak of the primacy of politics over economics, we are talking of the future: of political processes which can construct the kind of flexible, dynamic, adaptive global framework-building required for the 21st century
sourced site (http://www.poptel.org.uk/nuj/mike/isf/EW-ch7.html)
Could an equilibrium society exist and remain existing?
Is this a society that would be under total control? A similar control to that of a communist society.
Would individuality be eventually, outlawed to keep this equilibrium society stable?
The European tradition has always been one of dynamic equilibrium and of balance both in the intellectual and the political areas. This is not to deny that Europe has undergone periods of rapid change or times of - to say the least - excess. It is to say that equilibrium has been a goal, and often an achievement, of European societies. Our history is marked by great successes as well as tragedies. Europeans have, to a great extent, learnt to live together as people of diverse backgrounds and cultures, and even to value the vitality such diversity offers. We have achieved a fairly balanced social and political system. We need to build upon such values in the new context.
European culture is also characterised by a tradition of research and enquiry, with a particular emphasis on fundamental research in most domains from science to culture. Europe has provided the rest of the world with a great deal of fundamental knowledge, and in the European Way the tradition of enquiry which generates this is seen as a good in itself, largely independent of market value. The long-term view is an important part of this tradition.
We thus believe that such traditions offer a characteristically European contribution to the world's response to the current exciting and challenging conditions of opportunity and danger.
We need to find an equilibrium between dynamic markets and the needs of the long term - particularly the conservation of resources and the survival of ecosystems with the diversity to support humanity and all the other species into the far future.
The challenges in other areas such as the economic, social and cultural are at least as important and may cause even more concern for the stability of our societies. Globalisation and the international reorganisation of value chains, due to liberalisation of commercial and financial markets and to the use of information and communication technologies, are putting enormous additional stresses on labour and employment systems. They are challenging social structures everywhere in the world, in both developing and developed countries, particularly in Europe.
As a result, people suffer growing anxiety about jobs in some areas and increasing labour exploitation in others. The fields of work most closely associated with ICT and the globalisation of trade are characterised by hugely overworked, insecure posts; meanwhile, those with other skills suffer unemployment. Such divisions must increase social instability. "Life-long learning" is the buzzword of governments struggling to come up with a response to this, but educational and training systems have not restructured or improved their performance.
We need to find an equilibrium between flexibility, which encourages the exciting potential of rapid technological and economic change, and core values of social solidarity, equity and security.
The homogenisation effect of the globalisation of information and markets and the commoditisation of culture challenge cultural pluralism and linguistic diversity. This creates fears of loss of identity. For various reasons, strong sentiments of historic and cultural identity are growing. There is reason for concern about a growth of xenophobic tendencies, partly in reaction to anxieties about globalisation; and there is reason for hope in the ability of ICT to bring people into contact across divides.
We need to find an equilibrium between cultural dynamism and the amazing opportunities which globalisation and communications technologies offer for cross-fertilisation, and the sustainable growth of distinct cultural and linguistic traditions.
Anxiety also results from the general feeling that neither politicians nor social institutions are able even to monitor these changes, let alone affect them. There is clearly a lack of national and international instruments to deal with these challenges.
Indeed, if the global information society were to be governed by a framework operating according to purely economic criteria - which is how some governments and many individuals undoubtedly perceive the World Trade Organisation - governments' ability to act in support of social, cultural, civic and environmental goals would be severely weakened. Critics point to rulings against the EU on food safety and in favour of US-owned banana plantations, and express fears about the possibility of future rulings against Public Service broadcasting and even National Health services. They point out that pro-laissez-faire groups, such as the International Chamber of Commerce, want social and environmental concerns to be dealt with only in fora such as the International Labour Organisation and the Rio process - which, they fear, the WTO can over-ride.
The anxieties and insecurities we describe are not mere private emotions. Addressing the fears raised by the globalisation which ICT promotes is as important as addressing the fears some have of using the technology itself. If political processes fail to deal with their causes, the risk exists that they may become dominant political and social forces. To work to reduce insecurity and inequality is to work against causes of violence.
The European Way springs from traditions which recognise that economic activity is crucial, but is not the whole of life. Taking the long view, we recall that the French Revolution rallied to the call for "Liberté, Fraternité et Egalité". The great changes in the former Soviet bloc - which opened it to market vigour and the world to globalisation - were largely precipitated by a group called Solidarnosc - Solidarity.
We can see this tradition in the development of ICT, too. The World-Wide Web was invented by a citizen of Belgium and one of the UK working together in Switzerland - and they designed it to be maximally useful for the advancement of knowledge as a good in itself. It provides an astounding resource for education, and promises finally to transform education from the inculcation of information to instilling the skill of learning (see Chapter 2). Its highly visible and economically transformative use in electronic commerce is a side-effect.
The European Way is based in traditions of social solidarity, and of a search for sustainability and equilibrium between the needs of people and the biosphere in the long term. It considers "politics" as the empowerment of citizens to organise and influence affairs according to mutually acceptable ethical principles. This is, for citizens, the guardian of collective interests, including welfare and the social values of democracy. It is much more than the debased term indicating no more than factional battles between political parties. In this sense the European Way implies the primacy of politics - the art of striking a balance among all the people's interests - over economics alone.
So when we speak of the primacy of politics over economics, we are talking of the future: of political processes which can construct the kind of flexible, dynamic, adaptive global framework-building required for the 21st century
sourced site (http://www.poptel.org.uk/nuj/mike/isf/EW-ch7.html)
Could an equilibrium society exist and remain existing?
Is this a society that would be under total control? A similar control to that of a communist society.
Would individuality be eventually, outlawed to keep this equilibrium society stable?