http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-garry-davis-20130801,0,7051529.story
My friend and colleague during the 1970s has passed on. Garry Davis (1921-2013), “World Citizen No. 1,” died on Wednesday, July 24. Garry was a formative influence on my philosophy as well as the father of binary economics Louis Kelso, with whom I had formed in the late 1960s an advocacy firm, Agenda 2000 Incorporated, for broadened individual ownership of productive capital assets. These two men were inspirations in the formation of the philosophy of the Just Third Way.
While Garry was “World Citizen No. 1,” I certainly was there as No. 2 or within the top 10. In fact, my World Citizen Passport was issued, stamped and signed by Garry on April 7, 1973 in San Francisco. My World Citizen identity card certified that the holder is registered as a world-citizen. “He will try to recognize his responsibilities as a member of the World Community.” That was issued when I was the Executive Director of the Institute for the Pursuit of Economic Justice at Berkeley.
Garry also issued me a World Government Identity Card (No. 005), issued by the World Service Authority, 4002, Bale, Switzerland, which I used during travels in Europe. I was the first and only World Citizen to be stamped for entry into Great Britain (November 2, 1973) without using my United States passport.
Garry was a tremendous influence on my values and principles and I will always cherish his friendship and teachings. We traveled together through Europe in 1973, during which time I was lecturing at various universities on binary economics.
Garry was a leader of the highest moral character. He was interested in people and building something other than the fortunes and resumes of the wealthy ownership class. He had a vision of a unified world and was willing to spend decades (58 years) building that vision.
He will be missed!
Garry’s paper “Who Owns the World?” is at WhoOwnsTheWorld – World Government of World Citizens
Norman Kurland of the Center for Economic and Social Justice (www.cesj.org) writes:
It was good exchanging thoughts with you on Garry Davis’ paper “Who Owns the World?” Our recently departed friend, the founder of World Government of World Citizens and World Service Authority, in this paper combined the best of Bucky Fuller’s vision for redesigning the physical tools of the world to move away from weaponry to livingry, with Louis Kelso’s vision for redesigning the social tools of the world (i.e., laws and institutions as proposed in our Capital Homestead Act) to democratize economic power from control of any small elite or the State — at every level of government, from that of any community to that of world government. The systemic changes under the Kelso model would guarantee as a fundamental human right that every child, woman and man would enjoy full equality of future access to private property rights over land, natural resources as well as energy slaves, structures, infrastructure and all forms of human-created physical and social wealth-producing tools. By combining the visions of Bucky and Kelso we can build a more prosperous and sustainable global economy for every world citizen and this can be done without violating the private property rights of existing owners or ending charity or welfare as expedients during the transition process. Otherwise, political democracy will never be built upon a foundation of economic democracy. Since power follows property, if the laws are unjust and exclusionary, as they are in every country, class conflict and poverty will be perpetuated and there will never be peace in the world.
Norman G Kurland:
Garry’s global economic vision as written in his article “Who Owns the World” should be required reading for everyone who considers himself a global citizen. Click on http://www.worldservice.org/whoowns.html. It is the key to the realization of global economic democracy and economic justice, without which global political democracy and social justice will never be realized. In Peace, Prosperity and Freedom, only through Justice for every global citizen, Norm Kurland, Center for Economic and Social Justice, Washington, D.C.
Norman Kurland Comments: Democratizing economic power and economic sovereignty to each world citizen through a world constitution that subordinates the economic power of a global State to that of “We the People” is needed to attract people still clinging to the Nation-State System to Garry’s vision. The key for marketing Garry’s vision is for a global constitution to be developed that would lift all unjust institutional barriers in today’s world to equalize access to the means to acquire and spread future economic power and ownership opportunities among each World Citizen through the Just Third
Way and Capital Homesteading institutional reforms. I’m personally convinced that such an economic vision is the key to overcoming fear of World Government. A World State, civilization’s only legitimate political monopoly — over the supreme global power to coerce — could otherwise become the worst oppressor and violator of fundamental human rights in the history of civilization, with no challenger to its superior military and police powers and potential monopoly over advanced weaponry as well as its control over everyone’s stomach and economic needs, even if the political ballot is extended to all outside the State.
Here is something we drafted for a Preamble to a Constitution for a global state that would achieve, Peace, Prosperity and Freedom for every World Citizen . . . from the bottom-up and consistent with the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, especially Article 17. I’d be in
PREAMBLE OF
THE CONSTITUTION FOR WORLD GOVERNMENT OF WORLD CITIZENS
Based on our faith that all sovereignty, under the highest sovereignty of the Ultimate Source of all Creation and all absolute values such as Truth, Love, Beauty and Justice, begins with the individual human being, and that every man, woman and child is endowed with the inalienable right to life, liberty and property;
And that inherent in these rights is the power of the people:
To associate freely with others to create a livable homeland for persons of all faiths and beliefs;
To foster strong families as the bedrock of society;
To foster advances in the spiritual lives, moral development and the realization of the fullest creative potential of all the people;
To build a responsible society based on peace through justice;
To promote economic justice and material well-being by enforcing contracts, protecting property, and expanding to all persons and families equal opportunity to participate both as workers and as owners in the creation of wealth, sharing of profits, and in the control over technology and productive enterprises;
To encourage a freely competitive marketplace for determining just prices, just wages and just profits;
To institute a just monetary system for creating no-interest money for expanding ownership of productive property, a fair tax system that encourages productive activity, and inheritance laws that discourage private monopolies of power, privilege and wealth;
To create a government to advance and secure these rights;
And to restrain government from ownership of natural resources or in the means of production where such property could be owned broadly by the people, or from abusing its otherwise legitimate monopoly of coercive powers in violation of fundamental human rights;
We the People of the Global Community, do hereby establish this Constitution as the Supreme Law of World Government.