In the international arena, the multinational banks continue to centralize power under their control. They create the money, control its distribution, lend it to us and hold us and our governments in their debt. They are above the law and they do not believe there is a place for ethics in economics. International trade agreements like NAFTA and the proposed Multilateral Agreement on Investments (MAI) rob local governments and local people of the power to control their own economic activity. We are not far from the day when attempts to improve local self-reliance will be grounds for multinational corporate lawsuits against local governments and local organizers. Self-reliance will be outlawed.
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In this stranglehold, national, state and local governments are no longer able to represent our best interests. Under such conditions it becomes the duty of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community-based organizations (CBOs), as direct representatives of the people, to raise a new standard and build the base for economic democracy. This requires analyzing local resources and needs, developing a systematic planning process, creating a community consciousness, and engaging the local people in a movement for local self-reliance. It means regaining control of our government.
The resources provided here come from sources other than Proutist Universal. They have been organized in a way to help local people understand the issues involved in developing economic democracy and to give us the tools to do the work.
Defining
the New Paradigm
Planning
for Economic Democracy
Sustaining
Our Natural World
Making
Your Community Self-Reliant
Meeting
Basic Needs
Strengthening
Community Groups
Working
With Government
Rural
Development
Understanding
the Status Quo
Sources
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