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Written by: Kamran Mofid

Published: 12 August 2012

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A Message from Kamran Mofid to mark International Youth Day, 12 August 2012

Photo: larazonsanluis.com

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”- Mark Twain

On 17 December 1999, in its resolution 54/120, the United Nations General Assembly endorsed the recommendation made by the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth (Lisbon, 8-12 August 1998) that 12 August be declared International Youth Day.

The theme of International Youth Day 2012 is "Building a Better World: Partnering with Youth" — a global call to action to develop and engage in partnerships with and for youth.

Over 50% of the global population is under 30, and with the global population at over 7 billion - that’s a lot of young people. Young people are incredibly important in bringing about change, they are generally less afraid to speak out about what they believe in than older people, and they are the ones who are going to be affected the most by the decisions made today. If we effectively harness the leadership and potential of young people around the world then together we can empower youth for the common good.

We must realise that what the young lack in experience they make up for in courage and vision, dreams and hope for a better, more sustainable future.

In the words of Sir Winston Churchill:

“Come on now you young, all over the world. 'The earth is yours and the fullness thereof.' Accept your responsibilities. Raise the glorious flags again, advance them upon the new enemies, who constantly gather upon the front of the human army, and have only to be assaulted to be overthrown. You will make all kinds of mistakes; but as long as you are generous and true, and also fierce, you cannot hurt the world or even seriously distress her. She was made to be wooed and won by youth.”

Whilst evoking Jefferson, Luther, Alexander and Joan of Arc, Robert Kennedy once declared that:

"The answer is to rely on youth. Not a time of life but a state of mind. A temper of the will. A quality of imagination. A predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease."

Today mark a time when youth are raising their voices to claim their place in the future of their communities, societies, countries and the world. The need to be heard, and to go beyond and actually shape decision-making, is of the essence.

Today the youth of the world have committed themselves to build a world that is just, free and prosperous for all, by promoting and practicing the true human values of love, compassion, justice, dialogue, truthfulness, honesty, trustworthiness, humility, courtesy, hard work, dedication, commitment, sympathy, empathy, volunteerism and service. Values such as these should never be underestimated; the power of a value-led life coupled with the commitment and the passion of young activists is a force for change that cannot be matched. The youth are empowering the world for the common good.

These qualities, essential for the moulding of character, must be internalised, and be expressed in daily action, whether in the context of family, community, country, or the world at large. The youth are an instrument of peace, promoting dialogue, advancing justice, so that we can all realise our dreams. The dream of young people has become the dream of the older generation. Their hope is now our hope.

Whilst paraphrasing the wise words of the United Nations Secretary- General, and echoing his hope, it can be seen that, around the world, there is growing recognition of the need to strengthen policies and investments involving young people. On International Youth Day, I call on Governments, the private sector, civil society and academia to open doors for young people and strengthen partnerships with youth-led organizations. Youth can determine whether this era moves toward greater peril or more positive change. They must not be let down.

Recalling the wise words of Mahatma Gandhi:

"I have the highest admiration for young people and I believe very strongly that they are dreamers, they are idealists, they believe it is possible to make poverty history and to have a world without war and where there is no hunger. I want to be able to enable young people to change the world and to make the world the place that God wants it to become.”

I know that young people are inspired by so much wisdom before them and are changing our troubled world for the better, enabling us to build a world fit for the common good.

Prof. Kamran Mofid

Founder, Globalisation for the Common Good Initiative

Coventry, 12 August 2012

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Written by: Kamran Mofid

Published: 08 August 2012

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Austerity in Europe and elsewhere:

The consequences of the stupidity of the “Creative destruction”, the so-called Austerity Measures are all there to be seen: Massive cuts in public expenditures, huge rise in unemployment, including youth unemployment and under-employment, cuts in wages, pensions, increases in costs of education, healthcare, housing, transportation, public utilities, recession and depression, and much more. If this is not the triumph of Profit over People, then, what is it?

The pertinent questions must now be: Why austerity? Why inhumane policies, causing so much pain on the vulnerable masses? Why are these elected and not elected governments not collecting the taxes that should lawfully be collected? Why are they not doing the right things about tax avoidance and evasion? Why are they allowing the 1% to get away with “murder”, whilst blaming and punishing the 99%? What has happened to morality? Where has justice gone?

In short, “the world economy is edging nearer to the abyss, and policymakers, none more than in Britain, are paralysed by the stupidities of their home-spun economics. Yanis Varoufakis, ex-speechwriter for former Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou and now an economics professor in the US, said last week: "There is precisely zero chance of austerity working. It is the same as thinking you can escape from gravity by waving your arms up and down."

See more below:

At least $21tn (£13.5tn) of untaxed private wealth was invested in global tax havens in 2010, according to a report from the Tax Justice Network, a group of tax professionals which campaigns on the issue.

To put that into context - it is more than a quarter of the total GDP (gross domestic product) for the whole world - about the size of the US and Japanese economies combined.

How big is the problem, and what is its nature?

A Background reading

“Assets held offshore, beyond the reach of effective taxation, are equal to about a third of total global assets. Over half of all world trade passes through tax havens. Developing countries lose revenues far greater than annual aid flows. We estimate that the amount of funds held offshore by individuals is about $11.5 trillion – with a resulting annual loss of tax revenue on the income from these assets of about 250 billion dollars. This is five times what the World Bank estimated in 2002 was needed to address the UN Millenium Development Goal of halving world poverty by 2015. This much money could also pay to transform the world’s energy infrastructure to tackle climate change. In 2007 the World Bank has endorsed estimates by Global Financial Integrity (GFI) that the cross-border flow of the global proceeds from criminal activities, corruption, and tax evasion at US$1-1.6 trillion per year, half from developing and transitional economies. In 2009 GFI's updated research estimated that the annual cross-border flows from developing countries alone amounts to approximately US$850 billion - US$1.1 trillion per year.

Offshore finance is not only based in islands and small states: `offshore’ has become an insidious growth within the entire global system of finance. The largest financial centres such as London and New York, and countries like Switzerland and Singapore, offer secrecy and other special advantages to attract foreign capital flows. As corrupt dictators and other élites strip their countries’ financial assets and relocate them to these financial centres, developing countries’ economies are deprived of local investment capital and their governments are denied desperately needed tax revenues. This helps capital flow not from capital-rich countries to poor ones, as traditional economic theories might predict, but, perversely, in the other direction.”…

Read more:

TAX HAVENS CAUSE POVERTY

The Broken Capitalism and Cruel Austerity