DEMOCRATIC WORLD FEDERALISTS
PEACEFUL | JUST | SUSTAINABLE | WORLD
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Articles in this Issue:
Why War?
Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud
Einstein & Freud Agree: Ending War Requires World Government
Roger Kotila
UN Peace Consultations: What Can We Do Better
to Prevent War?
UNFOLD ZERO
Netanyahu Zionist government out of control
Israeli Forces Carry Out Massacre in Jenin, Palestine
Richard S. Dunn
Barcelona City Cuts All Official Ties With Israel
Peoples Dispatch
From National Secrecy to World Security:
Friendship Sets Us Free
David Gallup
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Why War?
Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud - TRANSCEND Media Service
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Editor's note: In July, 1932 Einstein wrote Freud seeking insight into the psychology of war, with the hope for a better understanding of war and how to end the war. Freud admitted to Einstein that his psychological analysis was not satisfactory. -- R. Kotila, Ph.D. DWF NEWS
EXCERPTS
[EINSTEIN] ...Is there any way of delivering humanity from the menace of war?... There are certain psychological obstacles whose existence a layman in the mental sciences may dimly surmise, but whose interrelations and vagaries he is incompetent to fathom;... As one immune from nationalist bias, I personally see a simple way of dealing with the superficial (i.e. administrative) aspect of the problem: the setting up, by international consent, of a legislative and judicial body to settle every conflict arising between nations.
...(But)...How is it possible for this small clique (ruling elite) to bend the will of the majority, who stand to lose and suffer by a state of war, to the service of their ambitions? ...An obvious answer to this question would seem to be that the minority, the ruling class at present, has the schools and press, usually the Church as well, under its thumb. This enables it to organize and sway the emotions of the masses, and make its tool of them.
... Is it possible to control human mental evolution so that people can resist the psychoses of hate and destructiveness? Here I am thinking by no means only of the so-called uncultured masses. Experience proves that it is rather the so-called “intelligentsia” that is most apt to yield to these disastrous collective suggestions, since the intellectual has no direct contact with life in the raw, but encounters it in its easiest, synthetic form—upon the printed page.
[FREUD] ... Regarding the world of today the same conclusion holds good, and you, too, have reached it, though by a shorter path. There is but one sure way of ending war and that is the establishment, by common consent, of a central control which shall have the last word in every conflict of interests. For this, two things are needed: first, the creation of such a supreme court of judicature; secondly, its investment with adequate executive force. Unless this second requirement be fulfilled, the first is unavailing. Obviously the League of Nations, acting as a Supreme Court, fulfils the first condition; it does not fulfil the second. It has no force at its disposal and can only get it if the members of the new body, its constituent nations, furnish it.
You are interested, I know, in the prevention of war, not in our theories, and I keep this fact in mind. Yet I would like to dwell a little longer on this destructive instinct which is seldom given the attention that its importance warrants. With the least of speculative efforts we are led to conclude that this instinct functions in every living being, striving to work its ruin and reduce life to its primal state of inert matter. Indeed it might well be called the “death-instinct”; whereas the erotic instincts vouch for the struggle to live on.
The upshot of these observations, as bearing on the subject in hand, is that there is no likelihood of our being able to suppress humanity’s aggressive tendencies. ... In any case, as you too have observed, complete suppression of aggressive tendencies is not at issue; what we may try is to divert it into a channel other than that of warfare. ... If the propensity for war be due to the destructive instinct, we have always its counter-agent, Eros, to our hand. All that produces ties of sentiment between man and man must serve us as war’s antidote.
On the psychological side two of the most important phenomena of culture are, firstly, a strengthening of the intellect, which tends to master our instinctive life, and, secondly, an introversion of the aggressive impulse, with all its consequent benefits and perils.
...If you will travel with me a little further on this road, you will find that human affairs are complicated in yet another way. Only exceptionally does an action follow on the stimulus of a single instinct, which is per se a blend of Eros and destructiveness. As a rule several motives of similar composition concur to bring about the act.
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Einstein & Freud Agree: Ending War Requires World Government
Roger Kotila
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A new form of global governance will be needed to end war between nations according to Einstein and Freud in their exchange of letters in 1932. They describe a governing system consistent with what world federalists describe as world government.
The United Nations is not a world government. It would be no surprise to Einstein and Freud that the UN has failed spectacularly to prevent wars. The UN is not constitution-based according to the Center for UN Constitutional Research (CUNCR), but instead is based upon treaties between the nations. Unfortunately, treaty agreements lack reliability, and are too readily broken.
The solution to ending wars between nations goes beyond establishing a world government with a world constitution. It cannot be just any world government. It must be a well-designed world constitution such as the Earth Constitution from the World Constitution & Parliament Association.
The UN system has been under criticism from world federalists who note the lack of enforceable Law in the UN Charter. Illegal covert and overt military invasions (eg, US/NATO) and economic warfare (eg, US) but also other Bully nations such as Israel and Russia), go without consequence to the leaders responsible. They remain above international Law no matter how bad their war crimes and crimes against humanity are.
Psychopathic leaders and the role of paranoia
The importance of the Earth Constitution includes the fact that it has a well-designed World Judiciary System with Enforcement, something absent in the UN Charter. Lacking law and order on the global stage, psychopathic leaders feel free to illegally invade or otherwise attack other nations without fear of criminal arrest and prosecution.
The UN Charter's "sovereignty" principle inherently produces paranoia in a global system which gives nations the right to hide their military preparations and covert operations. As a result of such secrecy, countries cannot trust each other and paranoia is widespread.
The combination of paranoia and psychopathic leaders produce fear of war, threats of war, and war itself. The UN stands by helplessly as national sovereignty blocks preventative action.
Psychopaths and sociopaths are a reality
There is always some nation or multinational corporation, somewhere, ruled by a psychopath or sociopaths. Psychopaths lack conscience and remorse, while excessive secrecy is used by these potential predators to gain advantage "by any means necessary" in order to dominate other nations or to take advantage of the world's citizenry.
Removing psychopaths and reducing global paranoia does not require psychotherapy (although it might help), it requires a new geopolitical (UN) system. The UN General Assembly should work with the World Constitution & Parliament Association to introduce its Earth Constitution which can provide the UNGA with a guide and model to establish the urgently needed world federal government -- a "new UN."
Trust but verify. That's why "open inspections everywhere" is a must for successful global disarmament, and which can be accomplished by establishing a world federal government. The Earth Constitution is waiting in the wings, ready to go.
-- Roger Kotila, PhD
Psychologist (ret.)
President, Democratic World Federalists
Editor, DWF NEWS and Earth Federation News & Views
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UN Peace Consultations: What Can We Do Better to Prevent War?
UNFOLD ZERO
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Dear friends,
As we approach February 24, the anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine with no end to the war in sight, it's important to not only push more resolutely for an end to the invasion, but to also consider what the international community could do better to prevent such acts of aggression in the future and indeed to prevent any armed conflict.
And as we were reminded by the Doomsday Clock announcement on January 24, such conflicts elevate the threat of a catastrophic nuclear war, and we are also facing an existential threat to humanity and the planet from climate change.
The Summit will adopt a Pact for the Future and establish a UN Special Envoy for Future Generations. In addition, the UN Secretary-General is preparing a New Agenda for Peace in conjunction with preparations for the Summit.
Civil society input: Have your say.
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This includes a Global Futures Forum on March 20-21 (in New York and online), preparing a Peoples Pact for the Future for presentation to governments and the United Nations, direct advocacy at the United Nations and in capitals, and facilitating a number of civil society consultations to ensure maximum possible input and engagement.
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International Peace and Security Consultations
Civil society consultations on the Peace and Security theme for the Global Futures Forum and UN Summit of the Future will take place from Feb 15-28 through a combination of email/list-serve communications, and online meetings. The consultations will result in a set of proposals and recommendations on peace and international security to the UN Summit of the Future and New Agenda for Peace.
The co-facilitators of the Peace and Security consultations are Alyn Ware, World Future Council. Basel Peace Office; Aline Burni, Foundation for European Progressive Studies and Sofia Anton, Kofi Annan Foundation. For further background please see Introduction to the Peace and Security theme.Yours sincerely
UNFOLD ZERO
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Netanyahu Zionist government out of control
Israeli Forces Carry Out Massacre in
Jenin, Palestine
Richard S. Dunn
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Jenin’s refugee camp is the scene of frequent clashes between Palestinians and Israeli troops. [Source: news.yahoo.com]
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EXCERPTS
On the morning of January 26, 2023, Israeli security forces massacred at least nine Palestinians in Jenin, among them a 61-year-old woman; Jenin is located in the north hills of the West Bank, Occupied Palestine. Medical attention was severely delayed because of the presence of security force snipers, and the targeting of hospitals and makeshift clinics with tear gas.
These occupying forces paraded through the streets of Jenin attacking civilian homes with rocket-propelled grenades (RPG’s), live bullets and the use of bulldozers to damage residents’ cars. The people of Jenin have taken to the streets in protest amid mourning for their loved ones, and a general strike has been called for the entire West Bank and the Occupied Territories of Palestine.
Israel’s belligerence and wanton disregard and continued violations of human rights and international law, gained further impetus with the return to power on November 1, 2022, of the arch-racist and Zionist Benjamin Netanyahu. His Likud Party will form a coalition with another arch-racist and Zionist Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has made no secret of his hatred for Palestinians.
Within the same week as the swearing in of the new administration, Netanyahu announced the expansion of the illegal settlements in the West Bank. On Monday, January 23, 2023, hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated in the village of Bedouin, the site of proposed demolition of existing homes, to make way for the construction of new Israeli settlements.
When will the civilized and democratic world unequivocally condemn and punish Israel for its continued genocidal and apartheid treatment of Palestinians within illegally occupied Palestine? On Thursday, August 18, 2022, Israeli security forces raided and forcefully closed the offices of seven civil society organizations in Palestine. This came right after Israeli forces killed 19 Palestinian children within 10 days in occupied Gaza and the West Bank, according to Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights... READ MORE
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Barcelona City Cuts All Official Ties With Israel
February 10, 2023
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Above Photo: Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau. Blanca Blay via Catalan News. |
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Over Its Systemic Violations Of Palestinian Rights.
Barcelona becomes the first city administration in the world to suspend relations with Israel since the BDS movement was started. It has also announced the suspension of the twinning agreement with the Tel Aviv city council.
Barcelona, Spain – Ada Colau, Mayor of Barcelona, announced on Wednesday, February 8, her city’s temporary suspension of all official relations with Israel over its apartheid practices and systematic violations of Palestinian rights in the occupied territories.
Colau wrote a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday announcing the decision to suspend relations with Israel. She also announced that the twinning agreement with the Tel Aviv city council, signed in 1998, was suspended “until the Israeli authorities put an end to the system of violations of the Palestinian people and fully comply with the obligations imposed on them by the international law and the various United Nations resolutions.” READ MORE
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From National Secrecy to World Security: Friendship Sets Us Free
David Gallup
EXCERPTS
Classified documents, top secret files, spy balloons, clandestine surveillance. What kind of world are we living in where we hide information about and from each other, spying to get the upper hand? Why do leaders and legislators feel compelled to keep government secrets from the public?
Weapons manufacturers, military contractors, government officials, and wealthy shareholders reap the profit from producing and selling tools of deceit and destruction. Meanwhile, a billion people are starving, and millions must flee their homes to survive. Moreover, war preparation and clandestine operations are some of the most devastating despoilers of the environment.
State secrets for “national security” and “public order” allow governments to act extra-judicially and to violate human rights with impunity. Hiding information leads to public mistrust in government. When secrets take precedence over transparency, governing decisions are made without analysis, oversight, or consent. The public is precluded from participating in decision making and mistrust of government grows. TO READ FULL ARTICLE
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