|
|
INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO RESTORE GLASS-STEAGALL
French-German Elected Officials Declare Intent To Fight For Glass-Steagall
16 August 2013
Pending a more complete report on the event, we include here an impromptu assessment Cheminade gave of the conference the next day in a short video, recorded in front of the Strasbourg cathedral, where he was holding a political rally. . The text, translated from the French, follows: Jacques Cheminade, founder Solidarité et Progrès:
After that, we can reconstruct an economy in which human labor, investment in the future — in schools, hospitals, laboratories, social housing — all this can then be done, and we will get out of the economy of destruction and contraction that we have today. They signed the Arzviller Declaration, which says we will support these ideas and take them to other elected officials, we will build a deep-going movement, we will organize other meetings in France, in the North, in Burgundy, in the South, everywhere, to create a grass-roots movement, which makes clear that this is an issue above the parties, it’s an essential issue for the future of humanity, and of the Republic. In Paris, in Berlin, officials say: ’Oh, those mayors, they can’t understand such complicated matters, they’re only interested in their local issues.’ Quite the opposite. The mayors understand that the problems they confront on a local level, such as budget cuts, and cost-cutting in road repairs and in social welfare, come from a system which, at the very top, prioritizes speculation, instead of what is needed for the economy. That’s something they have understood. And they see the link between what is happening on a local and regional level, and what is happening nationally and internationally. Now they have decided to take it into the political arena, and say what they think is their responsibility toward the general welfare, toward society and the future generations. The initiative might appear to be small — some 15 French and German mayors — but in terms of their state of mind, it’s very big. These mayors are fully aware that the situation in the world is extremely dangerous. They’re more aware of it than a [French President] François Hollande who tells us that the euro crisis is over, the recovery has begun, the economy is cyclical, sometimes it’s up, sometimes down. From that standpoint, these mayors are much more profound, much more concerned about the people, than our political leaders are. When a great moment in history meets small leaders, then a people can become great. —————— Arzviller Declaration by French and German Elected Officials; Signed on August 10, 2013We, the French and German mayors and elected officials gathered here in Arzviller, France on Saturday, August 10, 2013 in the spirit of the Elysée Treaty on its fiftieth anniversary, deplore the failure of our leaders to confront the financial oligarchy which promotes social breakdown, tramples on national sovereignty and imposes on the world a conscious policy of depopulation. We experience the consequences of their failure on a daily basis in our towns and villages. Tax revenue has collapsed and vital public services are no longer ensured. The scandal around the international manipulation of the LIBOR and the ruinous, fraudulent swaps contracts put out by the banks, which have hard hit many municipalities in Germany and in France, are but the tip of the iceberg. We need a fundamental change of direction in order to protect the general welfare and the people. We are particularly scandalized by the new banking laws in Europe, in Germany and France, which allow unbridled speculation, while imposing ever more criminal austerity policies. We do not want the causes that produced the monsters of the 1930s to produce the same monsters today! We are committed to stopping this infernal machine. We believe the first step to be taken is to separate banks in order to prevent the financial criminals from doing further damage, because they know the state will protect them. This is known as the principle of the Glass-Steagall Act of Franklin D. Roosevelt, which we also had in Europe after 1945. At the same time, to jump-start our economies, we call for massive long-term investment projects, based on developing man and nature from the Atlantic to the China Sea, through an understanding on mutual development among sovereign nations. The issuance of credit by national banks will allow us to control our future. We are convinced that failure to return to such public initiatives, both nationally and regionally, will condemn us to remain under the order of the financial oligarchy in the City of London and Wall Street and their collaborators in our countries. To reclaim our identity as true Germans and Frenchmen, patriots and world citizens, we intend to raise the voice of justice and dignity, and demand a return to what inspired the very best of our history. That clearly means exiting the euro system, which prohibits the funding of great projects with public credit and subjugates the states to the major banks. We want a world free of the City and of Wall Street so that future generations can live, discover, create and implement mutual development. We want a true Europe of the peoples! This is not a commitment based on partisan beliefs, consensus or compromise; the commitment we make is to the future of our children and grandchildren, and beyond that, of all mankind. We strongly support those, in the United States, who are fighting for the same cause and hope that their success will bolster our courage. We intend to make our initiative as public as possible, while giving our own leaders no reprieve. Signed, Michel Carabin (Mayor of Arzviller, France) |
