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To find solutions for today's extensive suffering, we need to take a look at our collective past.
XII. DECISION MAKING PROGRESSION
10'000 BCE - Extended families form the cornerstones of society.
8'000 BCE - With the development of permanent places of settlements, the complexity of the decision making process increases.
3200 BCE - Cuneiform, the first written language, is born to keep track of the mercantile dealings and government administration of Sumerian city-states.
2050 BCE - Ur-Nammu's Code, the
earliest known written legal code, of which a copy has been
found, allows for the dismissal of corrupt men and the protection
of the poor. 1500 BCE -
The Phoenicians of the eastern shores of the Mediterranean define
the first step in the development of the alphabetic system that
exists today. 1200 BCE
- Writing is independently invented in North China; first with
Oracle-Bone Inscriptions and then with the Big Seal Script (Chun
Writing). 500 BCE
- Republican and democratic states in India co-exist with the
Eurasian royal dynasties over a vast territory for close to
a millennium. 487 BCE -
Perfection of the Athenian "democracy," which means literally
"rule by the people." Only men who were born free
in Athens and had Athenian parents could vote. Women, slaves,
foreigners and minors (90% of the population) have no say.
400 BCE - Writing is developed
independently in ancient Mexico by the Olmecs and forms the
precursor to the Maya glyphs (used 200 - 1500 C.E).
117 CE - The slaughter of wild
animals and prisoners for the entertainment of the citizenry
occurs alongside secret ballots for local elections inside a
Roman Amphitheater in what is now London. 400
CE - Indian Cultures develop a counting system depending
on the number 10. 550 CE
- The Sclavenoi and Antae nations, Slavs of the early Middle
Ages, are not ruled by one man and have lived from of old under
a democracy. Consequently everything which involves their welfare,
whether for good or for ill, is referred to the people.
600 CE - China develops woodblock
printing. 960 CE -
China undergoes fundamental changes in all spheres including
technological and commercial advances that reflect changes that
will take place in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Europe.
1041 CE - Moveable clay type
is invented in China. 1100
CE - For hundreds of years China is governed by men who
have come to power simply because they do exceedingly well in
examinations on the Neo-Confucian canon. The civil service examinations
are open to 98 percent of all males (actors are excluded).
1132 CE - Henry I of France
grants charters of corporate towns protecting commerce and industry.
1142. CE - The Haudenosaunee
(Iroquois or Six Nations) Confederacy uses a system of governance
across large parts of North America based on the consent of
the governed, including men and women. 1150
CE - The male citizens of the commercial city-state
of Novgorod at Kiev appoint and dismiss local princes and city
officials through a "veche" meeting. Not infrequently
two "veches" are held simultaneously, one on each
bank of the Volkhov river. The disputed issue is settled in
a fistfight on the bridge. 1200
CE - Commerce and industry boom in Europe. Many new
European universities are founded and large-scale manufacturing
industries develop. 1201 CE
- In the Valencia region of Spain, officials are elected
by the male owners of irrigated land to maintain a stable economic
and agricultural situation in difficult conditions.
1291 CE - The popular assembly
of all male citizens, called the "Landesgemeinde,"
enacts all laws in Unterwalden, Switzerland. 1396
CE - Greek classics are taught in Italy starting a revival
of ancient philosophical concepts, culture and literature.
1400 CE - The Igbo Agu-inyi
village democracy gives political weight to all sections of
the community including women and youth. The Africa continent
has pockets of flourishing political institutions with systems
and methods of leadership selection that share similarities
with modern democracies. 1440
CE - Gutenberg completes his wooden printing press, which
uses metal moving type. 1441
CE - The impact of printing includes drastically increased
intellectual activity and the spread of classical humanism.
1444 CE - Previously separated
Sub-Saharan African cultures and European cultures connect permanently.
1480 CE - 110 cities in Europe
have printing presses. 1492
CE - Previously separated North, Central and South American
cultures and European cultures connect permanently.
1497 CE - Previously separated
Asian cultures and European cultures connect permanently.
1500 CE - The centralized state
rises in Europe. 1500 CE
- The planet is opened to global trade, but unfortunately more
often then not, this is achieved with the backing of military
might. 1500 CE - Europeans
colonize and exploit the lands and people of Asia, Africa and
the Americas. 1501 CE
- There are 1000 printing shops in Europe, an estimated 35'000
titles and 20 million books in print. 1522
CE - The sixteen surviving crewmembers of a Spanish
expeditionary vessel become the first people to sail entirely
around the world. 1525 CE
- Water routes link all the seacoasts of the planet
for the first time in human history. 1530
CE - Literacy rates in Europe have increased from 30%
to 60%. 1550 CE -
The ancient practice of slavery is institutionalized internationally
and practiced on a scale never seen before. 1560
CE - Vast territories of entire colonies become forced
labor camps in the name of profitability. 1570
CE - The massive monetary benefits of colonialism and
slavery flow into the coffers of European nations and the elite
in the colonies. 1580 CE
- The traditional social infrastructures and cultures of many
indigenous cultures around the planet are systematically destroyed.
1616 CE - Previously separated
Australian cultures and European cultures connect permanently.
1619 CE -The male landowners
in the North American settlement of Jamestown want to have a
say in colonial politics. Elected representatives from each
plantation or town meet at the Jamestown Church for the first
Legislative Assembly. 1638
CE - The first printing press is brought to the American
colonies. 1646 CE -
The Treaty of Westphalia ends the Thirty Years' War in Europe
and ushers in the concept of the modern nation-state.
1649 CE - The Levelers, a political
group during the English Civil War, publish The Foundations
of Freedom, or an Agreement of the People, advocating social
equality and an extension of the right to vote to all Englishmen
who are 21 years old or over and wealthy enough to be "housekeepers."
1653 CE - The Levelers are met
with fierce opposition by the ruling class and their ideas are
suppressed for a while. 1690
CE - John Locke publishes Two Treatises on Government
, promoting the concept of Natural Rights that all people
are born with and that are to be protected. Locke expresses
these as "life, liberty and property." 1750
CE - The vast majority of the people, in most European
countries and colonies, live in poverty, servitude and a state
of constant exploitation without any say in the governing system.
Sentiments to revolt stir in many places. 1762
CE - Jean-Jacques Rousseau publishes The Social
Contract , developing Locke's idea that all men are born
free and equal. He defines a right to replace the state by forcible
means if necessary if the government does not look out for the
people's best interest. 1775
CE - The people of the North American colonies revolt
against England in reaction to the violation of the social contract
as defined by the writers of the Enlightenment. 1776
CE - The revolting colonists issue The Declaration
of Independence and announce: "We hold these truths
to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." In spite
of that, slavery remains a legal institution in all thirteen
states and women generally have no say in the new system.
1787 CE - The United States
Constitution and Bill of Rights is established. The original
U.S. Constitution permits the states only to allow white male
property owners to vote or to hold an elected office.
1789 CE - The French people
rise up in revolution to overthrow King Louis XVI and the French
aristocracy in a bloody civil war. 1789
CE - The Declaration of the Rights of Man
is approved by the National Assembly of France stating that:
"Men are born and remain free and equal in rights" and asserting
that people have the right to "liberty, property, security,
and resistance to oppression." 1790
CE - The first independence movement in Latin America
ignites under the guidance of Toussaint L'Ouverture. The revolt
in Haiti by the enslaved majority succeeds in expelling the
French. 1798 CE -
The paper machine is invented, allowing for mass production
of paper at a rapid rate. 1799
CE - After a decade of bloody wars and internal conflict,
the French people accept the coup d'etat by Napoleon Bonaparte
who installs a dictatorship. 1830
CE - Joseph Henry sends an electronic current over one
mile of wire and activates an electromagnet, which caused a
bell to strike. The electric telegraph is born. 1832
CE - The self-governing British colonies of Australia,
New Zealand, and Canada, as well as Switzerland, Scandinavia,
and the Low Countries develop democratic forms of government.
All the other modern democratic states are a product of the
20 th century. 1835 CE
- Samuel Morse proves that complex communications signals can
be transmitted by wire. 1843
CE - The U.S. Congress contributes $30,000 worth of funds
to construct a 40-mile experimental telegraph line from Washington
to Baltimore.
1844 CE - The Morse system of
electric telegraphy is introduced commercially. 1848
CE - Female activists hold the first conference, in Seneca
Falls, to begin the Western women´s suffrage movement.
1866 CE - The European and North
American continents are connected by the first Trans-Atlantic
telegraph cable allowing instant communication between the two.
1877 CE - The development of
the telephone changes the face of communication again, by adding
the element of voice to personal transmissions. 1884
CE - Representatives of fourteen European countries meet
at a conference in Berlin and divide up the African continent
into 50 irregular parcels, ignoring thousands of indigenous
cultures and traditional regions. 1885
CE - The first telegraph cable is laid between Europe
and West Africa. 1888 CE
- Brazil is the last former European colony to abolish slavery.
The practice continues illegally for years. 1893
CE - New Zealand becomes the first nation to establish
a system of universal suffrage extending voting rights not just
to all men but also to all women. 1899
CE - The citizens of the Australian colonies vote, in
a referendum, to become a federal state. 1900
CE - Worldwide, only 55 sovereign states exist, none
of which can be judged as functioning electoral democracies
by today's standard of universal suffrage for competitive multiparty
elections. 12.4% of humankind live under a form of government
that can be deemed somewhat democratic. 1901
CE - Marconi invents wireless radio communication.
1903 CE - The Pacific Ocean is spanned by a submarine
telegraph cable. 1914-18 CE
- World War I demonstrates what widespread devastation
humanity is capable of by applying its recent industrial and
technological advances to aggression. 1918
CE - Women finally get the right to vote in Austria,
Canada, Estonia, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Kyrgyzstan,
Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and the Russian Federation after a
long, hard struggle. 1919
CE - Belarus, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Sweden
and the Ukraine follow with female suffrage. 1920
CE - Even the United States grants the ballot to women.
The fight continues for the next twenty years, in an internationally
organized campaign, to achieve female suffrage in 30 more nations.
1920 CE - The idea of a People's
Assembly is proposed to be part of the League of Nations, but
is rejected. The organization ultimately disintegrates because
it fails to protect all of its signatory members equally.
1939 CE - World War II becomes
the first true global event. The population of the planet looses
a degree of innocence, as violent conflict engulfs every corner
of the world, triggered by the self-serving interests of a few
men. 1942 CE -Technology,
science, communications and transportation advance in leaps
and bounds. Disastrously, these progressive steps are mainly
applied to the efficient killing of others. 1943
CE - The first electronic general-purpose computer is
introduced. 1945 CE
- The U.S. uses the first atomic bomb against the population
of Hiroshima. Three days later a second atomic bomb is detonated
over Nagasaki. Japan surrenders, following the never-before-seen
devastation. World War II formally ends. 1946
CE - Universal suffrage is extended to women in Croatia,
Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Senegal, Slovenia and Togo.
1947 CE - After years of struggle
against the English supremacist government with a non-violent
resistance movement under the guidance of Mohandas Karamchand
Gandhi, India becomes the world's largest democracy. All Indian
women and men are instantly enfranchised with the passing of
the Indian Independence Act . 1948
CE - The General Assembly of the newly founded United
Nations adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: "Whereas
recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable
rights of all members of the human family is the foundation
of freedom, justice and peace in the world." 1950
CE - 80 sovereign states exist. 31% of the world population
can elect their leaders through democratic means.
1950 CE - The gap between the
average income in the richest and poorest country is 35:1.
1950 CE - It has taken the telephone
75 years to reach 50 million users. 1951
CE - Computers are sold commercially. 1956
CE - TAT-1, the first Trans-Atlantic Telephone Cable,
connects Europe and North America. 1957
CE - The Soviet Union successfully launches Sputnik
I, the world's first artificial satellite. 1957
C.E - Ghana becomes the first Sub-Saharan African state
to shed colonial rule and declare independence. 1965
CE - Most former European colonies in Africa struggle
hard and achieve independence. Many new democratic institutions
and states are formed worldwide. 1965
CE - 189 years after the Declaration of Independence
stated: "That all men are created equal." The Civil Rights
Movement under the guidance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. forces
the U.S. Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act giving African
American citizens the right to vote. 1965
CE - Early Bird, the first commercial satellite is launched
from Cape Canaveral. Global satellite communications begins.
1967 CE - Many newly independent
nations borrow heavily from international financial institutions.
Continued Western economic dominance and related corruption,
plagues many citizens in the emerging states. 1969
CE - Arpanet, the forerunner of the Internet, goes live.
1970 CE - 7'000 multinational
firms operate worldwide. 1973 CE
- Two researchers devise the protocol, to allow for
the development of the single-network Arpanet into the multi-network
Internet. 1980 CE
- The particle research station CERN, devises rules to start
the World Wide Web that allow easy travel around the Internet.
1981 CE - IBM's first personal
home computer becomes available. 1988
CE - TAT-8, the first Fiber-Optic Trans-Atlantic telephone
cable is laid on the ocean floor. 1990
CE - 20 nations are connected to the World Wide Web.
1992 CE - The gap between the
average income in the richest and poorest country has more than
doubled in 50 years to 72:1. 1993
CE - 37'000 multinational firms operate worldwide.
1994 CE - 342 years after the
first Europeans colonized South Africa, the African majority
under the guidance of Nelson Mandela, succeeds in forcing the
minority apartheid government out of office. Universal suffrage
and equal rights are extended to all citizens. 1995
CE - Democratic principles and representational governments
take over in several new nations that used to be part of the
Soviet Union. 1996 CE
- 45 million people use the Internet. Roughly 30 million of
those live in North America, 9 million in Europe, and 6 million
in the Asia/Pacific region. 1999
CE - East Timor gains its independence from Indonesia
through an internationally sponsored referendum and becomes
the newest sovereign state. 1999
CE - 192 sovereign states exist. There are an additional
60 related and disputed territories making the number of political
entities a total of 252. 1999
CE - More than 200 political entities are connected
to the World Wide Web. The number of Internet users worldwide
has reached 150 million. It took the telephone 75 years to reach
as many users as the World Wide Web has connected in four years.
2000 CE - Electoral democracies
represent more than 120 of the 192 existing sovereign states
and includes between 65%-75% of the world's population.
2000 CE -A vast class of second-class
citizens in the global South live under severe restrictions
of movement as well as a lack of technology, financial resources,
health care and opportunities. 2000
CE - 63,000 multinational firms operate worldwide, without
a formal code or binding business rules to abide by.
2000 CE - Multiple satellite
systems allow for full worldwide telephone and data connectivity.
2001 CE - International terrorism
has the predictable effect of provoking more conflict. The response,
in the form of military action, fuels the continuing spiral
of violence. 2002 CE
- 605.6 million people or 10% of the world population is connected
to the Internet. 190.91 million users are located in Europe,
187.24 million in the Asia/Pacific region, 182.67 in North America,
33.35 million in South and Central America, 6.31 million in
Africa and 5.12 million in the Middle East. 2003
CE - Many countries provide for democratic processes
and basic rights within their own national borders. These rights
are trampled on in the international arena as rich and powerful
nations expand their narrow interests with military might. The
extent of worldwide human suffering increases alarmingly.
2004 CE - The wheels are set
in motion to hold the first global human referendum. The world
vote extends universal suffrage to all men and women on the
planet with the aim of defining a clear path, backed by a popular
mandate, on how to resolve the vital issues of health, access
and security for all. |
