Nov 10 at 1:39 PM
We as President and Executive Director of Globethics.net
send you this email as a personal point of view and comment on today’s election
of Donald Trump. We invite you to send us your comments, especially on the
topic of an ethical response to populism.
Today, 11/9 will
probably change the world even more than the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World
Trade Center in New York in 2001. The election of Donald Trump as President of
one of the leading world economies is a victory for a candidate who during his
campaign has openly challenged many of the values that many in the
Globethics.net community stand for such as respect, openness, global
solidarity, caring for others and for the environment and personal integrity.
Trump has on several occasions represented and propagated anti-values such as
hate-speech, disrespect (for minorities, women and for those who hold a
different opinion), lying (whenever it served his own purposes), cheating and
economic exploitation (not only in tax affairs), and nationalism accompanied by
sentiments of white superiority.
The election of
Donald Trump can be seen as yet another shocking instance of a trend in many
countries around the world of a growth in populist movements. The message to
hear and to take seriously from the populists is that an inclusive society (as
set as a goal in the UN Sustainable Development Goals SDGs) cannot only be
inclusive for ethnic minorities, migrants, children, women and the
marginalised, but has also to be sensitive and inclusive for those lower and
middle classes who fear losing their economic status and losing their identity
in the midst of globalisation. Their cry can be heard as a cry to restore their
dignity. “Restore dignity”, the motto of the University of Nigeria in
Enugu/Nigeria and partner of Globethics.net, has to be on the agenda. But the
means of populists is the wrong way to restore dignity. Upholding global values
with respect for contextual and local values is the more future-oriented
answer. In our own publications on globalisation we have been warning for the
last two decades that economic globalisation without globalisation of values
and respect for cultural diversity is doomed to fail. This Trump populist
movement could well indicate the failure of one-sided globalisation – and provides
an opportunity to call once again for a balanced globalisation.
Populism is
characterised as an ideology in which an individual or party claims to be the
only, true representative of ‘the people’. “We are the people” – as opposed to
the ruling elites – is the slogan that has brought other leaders to power now
in the USA, in Eastern Europe, the Philippines, Russia, India, China and in
some African and Latin American countries. ‘The people’ are usually a group of
peers who align with a particular party and its leader. They are often linked
with tribal, ethnic, nationalist and religious identifiers with a strong
connotation of superiority over others. The ideology of the self-selected
people who are called to rule and save the world often has a religious
dimension related to promises of salvation in this world or the next. Ethical
leadership is in short supply globally. The consequences of the populist
politics in the USA and elsewhere may spread further with immeasurable
consequences.
The biggest danger of
populism is its link with nationalism, authoritarianism, fascism and
absolutism. Since these leaders represent ‘the people’, they feel themselves to
be above the law, the media and other powers. In general they disrespect the
important balance of power between the five powers of civic government - the
legislative, executive, judicial, media and civil society powers - and claim to
rule over all of them by weakening the parliaments, controlling the judiciary,
the media and civil society (including academia). Trump gave these signals very
clearly even though he may not succeed in attaining all his ‘dreams’ in a
country such as the USA, which is still essentially a democracy. It could be
said that Trump represents the same movement from populism towards absolutism
as the new president in the Philippines, the governments in Poland, South
Africa, Russia, China, Turkey and others. The state of law and especially
international law and the UN system and values are under huge pressure. This
populism also tries to limit and control civil society with new laws,
restrictions on academic freedom to research and teach by administrative
measures and direct political interventions (e.g. Turkey).
Populists want to
replace freedom with control, justice and equality with priority being given to
‘the true people’, peace with polarisation, caring for the earth with
short-term benefits for their own nations, honesty with shameless manipulation,
integrity with ‘power at all costs’, respect with aggression. That is why 11/9,
9 November 2016, will remain in our memory as a day that challenges us to
reassert the importance of global values.
Trump’s acceptance speech was gracious towards his opponent
Hillary Clinton and in large part encouraging. “I pledge to every citizen… that
I will be President for all Americans”, he said “For those who have chosen not
to support me in the past… I’m reaching out to you for your guidance and your
help… It’s time for us to come together as one united people… we will get along
with all other nations willing to get along with us… I want to tell the world
community that while we will always put America’s interests first, we will deal
fairly with everyone”, he stated.
We appeal to all citizens in the USA to hold their new
President to account, to ensure that he keeps his promises. We are confident
that many of you, the 174’000 registered participants in Globethics.net, will
continue to struggle for our common values such as peace, freedom, justice,
equity and virtues such as fairness, respect, honesty and integrity. Values
matter more than ever. In as much as we respect the democratic process, people
must be supported to regain the inspiration that the Globethics.net vision and
mission offers; it places people at the centre and pushes for values-driven
leadership and inclusion, which includes all those who voted, whether for Trump
or for Clinton. We need to be prepared for harder times. We will need to take
more action for creative, non-violent resistance to populism and absolutism.
Let us turn this day into a day for integrity and global values! Our faiths,
our worldviews, our compassion and our communities will support us. Thank you
for your continued resistance to anti-values and for your engagement for global
values wherever you are!
Christoph Stückelberger, Globethics.net President
Obiora Ike, Globethics.net Executive Director
Send your comments to
infoweb@globethics.net.
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