by William Schryver
It has now been ten years since I first turned my attention to the necessity of prudent financial investments in order to both preserve and hopefully enlarge the modest amount of wealth I had accumulated up to that time. I began by attempting to identify the wisest and most discerning “experts” in the field. This was no easy trick.
Part 1
Shining democracies face gloomy autocracies. This is the narrative of the Western mainstream, in the familiar vein of old Eurocentric arrogance. The author of this article has investigated the matter and found that in many countries of the global South, unique forms of democracy and participatory processes have emerged that differ from the sclerotic bourgeois systems of Western countries.
by Ricardo Martins, october 19, 2024
On September 7, the British and American chiefs of their secret intelligence services, Richard Moore and William Burns, released an op-ed piece in the Financial Times, and on that day took part in a live talk hosted by the same journal. They had one common objective, to lie to their peoples and the world about the real causes of the violence and insecurity in the world, to provide them with the pretext for their attempt to rule the world. In other words, they openly displayed the conspiracy of their governments to commit aggression against anyone in the world who resists them, the supreme war crime.
by Christopher Black, September 12, 2024
The ICC – A Cog In The NATO War Machine
On June 25th, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, so-called, issued arrest warrants for two more Russians, the former defence minister, Sergey Shoigu, and the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Federation Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov, on three charges, which claim the deliberate targeting of civilians in the conflict in Ukraine by the Russian Armed Forces, in strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure, to wit, electric power generating plants.
by Christopher Black, July 2024
The World Union of Freethinkers has signed the letter from organisations calling on nations to support South Africa’s lawsuit against the State of Israel at the International Court of Justice. The letter was initiated by a newly formed coalition to end the genocide in Palestine. It is imperative that more states follow South Africa’s historic lead and demand that Israel be held accountable under international law. The Coalition is determined to end genocide in Palestine, regardless of how the World Court rules on the South African case, and will continue to take action to make this a reality. The letter has now been signed by more than 1500 international organisations worldwide.
The International Peace Conference, which took place in Rome from 27 to 28 October 2023, was attended by peace organizations from all over the world. The conclusion: humanity is acutely threatened by a Third World War. For this reason, a new, peaceful and just concept of living together is needed. Under the motto “Stop the 3th World War”, the participants of the International Peace Conference in Rome founded an international alliance of anti-imperialist peace organizations on the last weekend of October and set a sign for commitment to peace over ideological differences.
On May 17, 2023, the Executive Office and the International Council of the World Union of Freethinkers met in Offenbach am Main. In addition to organizational issues, the program included final preparations for the conference the following day.
The committees received the application for membership from the Freethinkers’ Group of Hungary, which had submitted its statutes. This is in accordance with the principles of the World Union, after which the Bureau recommended admission, which was then unanimously decided by the International Council.
Since the number of members of the Executive Office is currently below the statutory norm, the International Council unanimously elected Fabienne Cartreaux from the German Freethinkers Association as a new office member.
The new election of the entire office will take place in connection with the 2024 Congress, which will deal thematically with the 25th anniversary of the NATO aggression against Yugoslavia.
On the occasion of the 50th Congress of the World Union of Freethinkers, more than 100 people gathered in the Saalbau Bornheim in Frankfurt on 18 May to follow the panel on the topic “Free Thinking and the Multipolar World Order”. Speakers illuminated the topic from various aspects. The many requests to speak from the audience showed that the event had touched on a topic that was burning under the nails.
Die Sänger Ernesto Schwarz und …
… Guy Dawson (All photos: K.-R. Landau)
The cultural contributions, which livened up the event, also attracted a lot of attention: Ernesto Schwarz with his songs against war and state of emergency accompanied by guitar, Ekaterina Frank on the piano with Russian classical music and folklore, and Guy Dawson spread a combative mood with his international peace and freedom songs.
Klaus Hartmann: “Turn of the times” between war and peace. The “turn of the times” proclaimed by the German Chancellor Scholz was the starting point of the presentation by Klaus Hartmann, President of the World Union of Freethinkers. The term marked the transition of the decades-long policy of encircling and surrounding Russia by NATO into direct war. In view of the exclusion and defamation of all those who do not follow the NATO line, the Freethinkers have an urgent task: enlightenment, enlightenment, enlightenment: “Let’s approach the people!” → to the presentation by Klaus Hartmann
Vladimir Kršljanin: From the 1999 NATO aggression against Yugoslavia to the war against Russia. We must organise, fight and welcome the new world – a just, multipolar and multilateral world based on international law, equality, cooperation, social justice and true democracy, as the community of destiny of humanity. → to the speech by Vladimir Kršljanin
Jean-Marie Jacoby: The world situation is changing. The EU member states are driving the economy to the wall with anti-Russian sanctions. There is a threat of loss of competitiveness and deindustrialisation. This can only be changed with ‘Yank go home and take your NATO with you’ as the basis for peace and friendship between nations. → to the report on the presentation by Jean-Marie Jacoby
Ekaterina Frank set the mood with Russian classical music and folk songs.
Dr. Corinna Oesch: 1848/2023 – on the historical and contemporary democracy movement. The role of women in the ’48 revolution remains underexposed to this day. All the delegates in the Paulskirche were men; the “ladies’ gallery” had to be expanded for the interested women. On the streets, however, large numbers of women campaigned for democracy. → Report on the presentation by Dr. Corinna Oesch
Peter Berger: Neutrality and multipolar world order. The status of neutrality is currently the subject of controversial debate in both Switzerland and Austria. How credible is the neutrality of the two countries against the background of their history and their actions in the current crisis? What perspectives arise for neutral states from the emergence of a multipolar world order? → to the presentation by Peter Berger
Sebastian Bahlo: The current tasks of the freethinker movement At the end of the conference, the chairman of the German Freethinkers’ Association stated that the historical goal of overcoming the self-alienation of human beings caused by class society remained, subordinated to which were sub-goals such as the propagation of enlightenment, criticism of religion and the fight against the social power of the churches, as well as the fight against economic exploitation and for political freedom. → to the presentation by Sebastian Bahlo.
Media reports:
Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.
Dr. Corinna Oesch, Wien, Historikerin mit Fokus auf Frauen- und Geschlechtergeschichte
Dr. Corinna Oesch aus Wien erinnerte an die historische Situation, in der es zu den demokratischen Revolutionen in Europa und der Revolution 1848/49 in Deutschland gekommen ist. Ausgehend von der Französischen Revolution und einer Abfolge von Reaktion und neuerlichem Aufbegehren kulminierte die Demokratiebewegung letztlich in der Deutschen Nationalversammlung, die am 18. Mai 1848, also genau vor 175 Jahren, in der Frankfurter Paulskirche eröffnet wurde.
Vladimir Kršljanin, Belgrade, spoke at the WUF congress via video link.
by Vladimir Kršljanin
Distinguished comrades and friends,
Today we are all, willingly or unwillingly, part of the decisive battle of the World history – battle for the New World.
The question is whether the human civilization can survive (and win) or the mankind will disappear under the burden of criminal oligarchic dictatorship. For all of us, only the first answer is possible.
