Understanding Sustainable Development
Perhaps no word is heard more often in today’s society than the word “sustainable”. Is the expenditure sustainable? Is the environment sustainable? Is the effort being made sustainable?
Americans are hearing the word so frequently that we are becoming inured to it. BUT – we need to be wary. An effort is underway to further Sustainable Development and that effort is going to cost us our freedom in many ways.
The most common definition given of Sustainable Development comes from the Bruntland Report – Our Common Future – released during the 1987 United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development:
“Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
This initiative is more commonly known simply as Agenda 21 which directs “a comprehensive plan of action to be taken globally, nationally, and locally by organizations of the United Nations System, Governments, and Major Groups in every area in which human impacts (sic) on the environment.”
The chart below places the points of view into juxtaposition.
|
Nature Source |
Individual Rights U.S. Declaration of Independence |
Community Rights U.N. Declaration of Human Rights |
|
Purpose of government |
Protect the natural or unalienable rights of each individual: “That all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights…” |
Control the individual for the greater good of a global community “Rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.” |
|
In Short |
You’re born with rights, government exists to protect them. You and the product of your labor belong to you. |
Government grants, restricts or withdraws your rights according to its needs. You and the product of your labor belong to the community. |
The idea of sustainable development is the point around which the countries of the U.N. rally.
Sustainable development is ostensibly concerned with the environment, but it is more concerned with restructuring the governmental system of the world’s nations so that all the people of the world will be the subjects of a global collective.
Economy Equity Environment
Equity: The basic premise of Agenda 21 is that Rights are granted and rescinded by man. The program believes that individual wants, needs and desires are to be conformed to the views and dictates of planners. Harven Rubin, Vice Chair of the International Council on Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) and Clerk of the Circuit and County Court in Miami-Dade County, Florida, has said that “individual rights will have to take a back seat to the collective” in the process of implementing Sustainable Development. (Peros, Joan. Unpublished report. UNCED Rio+10 Summit. Johannesburg, SA. 2002.
Economy: “…current lifestyles and consumption patterns of the affluent middle class – involving high meat intake, use of fossil fuels, appliances, home and work air conditioning, and suburban housing are not sustainable.” Statement made by Maurice Strong, Secretary General, U.S. Conference on Environment and Development, 1992 also known as the Rio Earth Summit where Agenda 21 was unveiled. (Understanding Sustainable Development, Freedom Advocates).
Environment: Sustainable Development is being used as a means to promote a political agenda. It is “concerned with the environment; (but) it is more concerned with restructuring the governmental system of the world’s nations so that all the people of the world will be the subjects of a global collective. This will require the surrender of unalienable rights. (Understanding Sustainable Development, Freedom Advocates).
It is happening all around us. Chapter 25 of the U.N. Sustainable Development Agenda 21 calls for the need to “enlist and empower children and youth in reaching sustainability.” Note Maryland’s recent legislation requiring “green studies in all public schools”. Our students observe Save the Earth day. Economics classes feature lectures discouraging private initiative (look at what Obama has done to destroy small business and cripple the initiative of those who would be capitalists). History classes do not teach the importance of our founding documents that would help our young people understand the importance of their freedoms. Mandatory service programs send youths out to work for government-approved Sustainable Development programs such as Clean and Green. Recently Obama issued an executive order establishing rural councils – can you spell control?
Some of us are wondering if the recent action to “conserve” the lands where the Newport facility had been is a part of Sustainable Development? Surely, the efforts a few years ago to “conserve” the Kickapoo River near Danville, IL., are a part of that program.
The ICLEI (International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives) is an organization that provides the assistance to “identifying problems with the goal of implementing predetermined outcomes that advance Sustainable Development.” (Understanding Sustainable Development, Freedom Advocates). Its stated mission is to provide policy recommendations to assist local governments in the implementation of Sustainable Development.
According to Freedom Advocates, the ICLEI “is directing policies that cause stack’em and pack’em housing; traffic congestion; inaccessible open space; managed control over our lives; mismanagement of water supplies; prohibition on natural resource management leading to increased fire hazards and private property restrictions.
What YOU Can Do
Become informed. Sustainable Development is restructuring our lives and is targeting our children through an educational regime that seeks to develop collectivist attitudes, values and beliefs.
Recognize and resist the trend to replace political boundaries with regional governance.
Refuse local government receipt of federal or state money for the new Sustainable Development programs. (Who did pay for the National Heritage Trail through Terre Haute?)
Enforce the role of public officials in our community to administer government in a manner that protects individual liberty and ensures equal justice.
KNOW AND UNDERSTAND THE CONSTITUTION and the limits it places on federal government.
Start right now with this web site:
Agenda 21 for Dummies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzEEgtOFFlM
The Healthcare Compact - what is it?
LET'S CHANGE WHO DECIDES
The Health Care Compact moves the responsibility and authority for regulating healthcare from the federal government to the states. Is this a good idea?
Yes, for two primary reasons:
- Healthcare is simply too large and complex to manage at the federal level.
- States have generally been shown to be more effective regulators than the federal government.
To demonstrate the challenge of regulating healthcare at the federal level, consider the following facts:
- A federal system impacts 300+ million people
- Healthcare spending exceeds $2.3 trillion annually
- More than 14 million people work in the healthcare industry
- There are 2,688 pages of regulations for Medicare and Medicaid
Centralized planning of an industry that is this large and complex is not possible, and has never been successful in the history of mankind. By comparison, the US military "only" spends about $1 trillion and employs about 2.5 million people - and has the benefit of providing a public good, rather than a consumer service.
By pushing responsibility and authority down to the states, the problem becomes much more solvable. Many states have only a few million citizens, and there are dozens of developed countries in Europe and elsewhere who have effective regulatory regimes operating at this scale.
With regard to the second reason, when comparing state vs. federal regulation, ask yourself the following questions:
- Which transportation system runs more efficiently? Your state highway system or Amtrak?
- Would your state university get better results if it was run by the Department of Education?
- Which security system is more responsive and effective? Your local sheriff's department or the TSA workers at the airport?
- Which must operate with a balanced budget? Federal or state government?
State governments, of course, are not perfect. State officials have the same types of incentive and power relationship issues as federal officials. But they serve smaller districts, live closer, and are more accountable to their citizens than the bureaucrats in Washington DC. And the elected officials are easier to replace because of small district sizes.
Given a choice between a state-based and a federally-regulated healthcare system, we believe that the people will prefer returning responsibility to the states.
Where can I find more information?
The Health Care Compact Alliance website:
