Turyak Distinguished Senior Citizens of the World Congress - "Wholesome Solution of the World Crisis: 4-5 December 2010 – IFA – 15 Dec 2010

Source: http://www.ifa-fiv.org/images/stories/PDFs/declaration%20of%20the%20turyak%20international%20congress%20on%20wholesome%20solutions%20to%20the%20world%20crisis.pdf

“We, as the senior citizens of the World, see it necessary  for the world system to shift to more efficient and  needs-based production policies that  are physically, ecologically, socially and emotionally sustainable” We must understand that the humanity and our world have lost their harmony with the cosmos.   This is where the crisis starts. We hope to succeed in bringing wisdom and culture to the forefront; we will see that they are both directed towards the same goal based on generally accepted values and norms which will provide a strong framework for full coverage of the entire humanity.  Thanks to such a global value system which truly understands that it is humankind’s common destiny; alliances of civilizations will increase, whereas competition among the strongest and the psychology of establishing hegemony over the others will decrease.

Interconnection and interdependency between the environment and people forms the very foundation of the universal system. The perception of nature as an unlimited resource is a wrong one. The ecosystem crisis that we are facing today mostly stems from the failure of natural systems to operate in a healthy manner due to the harmful effects of waste coming out of resource utilization processes as well as production and consumption of products. 

There are three reasons leading to this problem:

• consumption philosophy and patterns,
• resource, space planning and site selection,
• production technologies.

Even if the world has the capacity to cope with the increase in populations, it simply cannot do so due to this wrongful attitude of excessive consumption.  A lifestyle driven by the technological developments which does not take into account the future is not a sustainable one.  It is very important to ensure a change in mentality and concordantly to get organized for the cause of the environment. Once people grasp the wholeness of the ecosystem, then everyone should do their share of the work for balanced utilization.

It is observed that the environmental organizations around the world remain rather weak vis-à-vis  existing need, which stems from the following reasons: Civilizations are based on four fundamental values;

• principle of justice emerging from love (rule of law, potential justice),
• principle of fairness (kinetic justice),
• principle of honesty (loyalty and fidelity),
• principle of sincerity.

We should come to a mutual agreement on finding a shared notion of civilization which takes into account all of these principles.  Civilization is like a river.  It is not static, it continues to flow from the past to the future, and that’s the reason why we cannot really talk about a Western or an Eastern civilization as well as civilizations based on certain religions.  It is important for cultures to understand and respect one another’s differences without causing unnecessary polarization.  All cultures should be preserved to ensure the sustainability of diversity.

The very essence of wisdom/reason is to acknowledge the true nature of things.  Such an acknowledgement perceives the earth as a divine asset which is to be respected and not to beharmed. To be able to revive our capability to protect and restore the balance that we have lost, there is a great need for an effective and sincere effort starting at the individual level, further extending and reaching out to countries and the United Nations.

Since such an effort is not yet in place, it has become more frequent for the world crisis to centre around the economy.  Taking into account the recent monetary crises, we should not ignore the imperative need to structurally reform the economic system. Exiting such crises can only be possible by changing our perspective.  The world crisis can be overcome through such a production concept which is respectful of the world’s resources and is in harmony with the ecosystem.  While doing so, we need to pick up and focus on specific sectors within each country which will yield productive employment and quality products, innovation and innovative discoveries, patents, world-class companies and brands.

Thanks to the new technologies the trends within the labour market will be subject to change and in this way fewer people may prefer to live in cities.  Labour-intensive employment areas are increasing day by day including the emerging  branches of labour in the field of  advanced technologies,  in the field of education-training, home care or institutional care for the elderly and patients.

Financial systems should be perceived merely as one of the inputs of the economy amongst others. Unless  more  people earn their  income primarily through  production thenunemployment will increase. There is  surely an exit from each crisis. In order to secure astructural recovery such an exit should be accompanied by production based on the basic needs of human beings,  sustainable development, investments made to educate people throughout the lifecourse for more efficient employment, skills based  and vocational/professional training, and on-the-job training.

Greater importance should be attached to the development of employment friendly policies and the principles of decent work which include:

• proportionately charging lower taxes and lower premiums from lower wage earners,
• wage policies based on productivity and efficiency,
• flexible working hours,
• encouraging the employment of women,
• encouraging the employment of senior citizens,
• targeting the employment of more than one member in each family, making the necessary arrangements in agriculture and husbandry policies to address the hidden unemployment in agriculture.
  
  

It should be noted that as the labour markets become more rigid, unemployed people’s hope to find new jobs is fading. Social security should have a balanced distribution in the society.  Public pension systems should cover the fundamental pension rights of individuals, whereas people should exert additional effort to win further pension rights, and should also benefit from private insurance schemes.

It is necessary for all societies to benefit from the social capital offered by the elderly. As senior citizens, our main duties in achieving global recovery are as follows:

• promote the culture of coexistence,
• interconnect cultures without letting them segregate from one another,
• protect our similarities and differences without causing too much polarization,
• create an atmosphere of love in the world,
• make sure that love and mutual understanding is being spread especially among youth
• and children through our face-to-face encounters,
• enable  dialogues that will not only  bridge  different cultures  but also different
• generations,
• make sure that our words do translate into sincere actions.

It is very important and very much needed that young people work hand in hand with the elderly for the future world.  As we are able to utilize the wisdom, the experience, the energy and creativity  of senior citizens  and youth together, then we can definitely come up with effective and wholesome solutions to all kinds of problems of the world.