Alternatives to the MAI?
(Updated 28 Aug 1998)
Before you review the links below, an important message:
Any discussion about the MAI or alternatives cannot ignore y2k, the year 2000 computer problem. To learn about why it affects you, please click here. In a nutshell, the computer problems will not get fixed in time, and the "bugs" will begin to cause increasing havoc in 1999 with governments, corporations, NGOs and citizens alike, with breakdowns peaking on or after January 1st, 2000. The increasing preoccupation will be with survival. The challenge will be to face this as communities, not as lone groups of individuals.
So what, then, are our real objectives? One is to make very sure that the MAI and its ilk are delayed until this crucial date when any multilateral initiatives will be, if not quite dead, in extended hibernation, as the elites among us become preoccupied with their dwindling investments and disintegrating organizations.
We want to be sure that, as the need for disaster relief becomes apparent, we are not confronted only with corrupt for-profit firms taking advantage of the chaos with draconian "investment" rules enforced by MAI tribunals. At the same time, let's not fool ourselves: underfunded agencies such as Emergency Preparedness Canada or FEMA in the U.S. cannot be depended on either. Citizens must organize as never before.
Also, the last thing we need is an MAI-style provision for "protection from civil strife" as our social safety net becomes shot full of holes in the wake of the computer havoc. An excellent read on what will become of government services is Time Bomb 2000 by Ed Yourdon.
So, as you review the following links, note that "the times they are a-changing" with increasing speed. We are all out there, learning, networking, taking action, alert to the changes around us. Let us go into the fray with equal measures of resolve, compassion, boldness and humility. I hope we'll all see each other in the fair, sustainable world we have fought so hard for, not too long after January 2000.
Very best wishes,
Terry Cottam
MAI-Not! Project, y2k Ottawa
The first proposal is "towards a Citizens' MAI," by Tony Clarke with Polaris Institute.
Next is Joan Russow's updated Citizens Treaty of Fairness, Equity and Ethics in English and Spanish.
Next is IAM (International Agreement on Mutuality) produced by Jack McLachlan for a Winnipeg Church group called Justice Environment in Integrity with the Earth.
Finally, from Mike Nickerson's Sustainability Project, a document called Measuring Well Being, including discussion of MAI alternatives and supporting arguments for his "7th Generation Bill" now endorsed by his Canadian Member of Parliament.