12th Annual World Summit of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates

The city of Chicago hosted the 12th annual World Summit of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates from April 23-25, 2012.  More than a dozen prominent laureates attended the summit whose theme was to, "Speak Up, Speak Out for Freedom and Rights" through discussions and presentations over the three days of the event.  The aim of the summit was to help motivate the young, civic leaders and the general public concerning matters of peace and social justice.

A Meditation on Humanity

From the magical darkness

of the womb

into the abrupt light of

human contrivance.

 

In the dome of the implacable skull

the torch of consciousness

passed down through generations

and fashioned into

the protoplasmic wonder called human.

 

Dark, wild images implanted

in layers of distant memories

in the labrynth of brain.

 

Sleepless nights of

tumultous storms

tossing lightning through the skies

at the ground in haphazard folly,

trees snappig like helpless twigs,

rivers raging with their burdens of

relentless driving rain,

nights filled with utter darkness,

volcanic fury ripping the earth

as if it were paper,

sky overwhelmed by distant points of light and

moon, mysterious moon

casting pale shadows on the midnight earth,

howling beasts that break the silence

and impregnate the unsuspecting mind

with avenues of fear and deep distrust

of nature so capricious.

 

Lush rich beauty  of the world

enveloped by the seasons,

filled with wondrous creatures

gave pause to awakening spirit

to rest and meditate

upon the possibility of meaning,

to considere cause as well as effect.

 

Conflict between the inexplicable and the known,

horror of predation and joy of the kill,

fear and understanding,

health and disease,

plenty and the relentless pain of hunger,

harmony and upheaval,

rapture of sweet love and rage towards the enemy,

living and the end of life,

gave sustenance to the idea of the capricious gods

who hold creation in their playful hands

who can change the course of life

in an instant.

 

Born with the hunger to understand,

born with the relentless desire for harmony,

wrapped in mother's arms and

held sweetly at the breast,

we seek each other out

to enrich the joy,

to placate the suffering

that begins to unwind from first breath.

 

We are a vast tribe

grown from few to billions,

we carry the emotions

bundled in our minds like fire,

we have great capacity for

living fruitfully or

giving sway to ignorance

and a thirst for chaos and dissolution.

 

We are a vast tribe,

grown from few to billions,

we can continue to nurture hatred

sustain the idea of enemy,

need for mortal combat or

take the noble idea of equality

and give it true birth

in the human heart.

 

We are a vast tribe,

grown from few to billions,

we can hold on to pernicious ideas

that arose from a darker age

where ignorance resided or

embrace our capacity for wonder,

and enfold the whole of humanity

to our breast like the ancient mother that

gave birth to us all.

Jonathan Kozol

As In so many other areas of the economic and social life of American citizens, there is a large and growing disparity between the quality of education afforded to those who happen to grow up in households of significant means and those who are in families struggling to survive.  In spite of the mandate for public education, millions of children are deprived of the kind of quality education so vitally important in the twenty-first century.  Jonathan Kozol has been an outspoken critic of this grievous imbalance for decades.

 

Jonathan Kozol was born on September 5, 1936 in Boston Massachusetts.  He graduated from Harvard University in 1958 with a degree in English Literature.  He was subsequently awarded a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford.  He did not complete his studies at Rhodes, however, but journeyed on to Paris in search of his dream of becoming a novelist.  He ultimately published his one and only work of fiction entitled, The Fume of Poppies. 

Following his graduation from Harvard and on his return from Paris, he began to tutor children in Roxbury, an economically depressed and racially segregated area of Boston, and eventually began to teach in the Boston Public Schools.  He was profoundly impacted by his experience teaching in a segregated school.  As he describes, "I had begun to teach in 1964 in Boston in a segregated school so crowded and so poor that it could not provide my fourth grade class with a classroom.  In the spring I was shifted to another fourth grade class that had had a string of substitutes all year.  The thirty-five children in the class hadn't had a permanent teacher since they entered kindergarten.  That year I was their thirteenth teacher."

He was so appalled by these conditions that he attempted to introduce material to the children that might inspire their interest.   He awakened them to the poetry of Robert Frost and Langston Hughes.  He was fired on this account, for it was the school's determination that, "…the poets he chose were too advanced for children of that age…" for Hughes was considered to be too inflammatory.  He subsequently went on to teach at a prosperous school in the Boston suburbs.  He was impressed and appalled by the stark difference in the quality of education available to those children born into families of means as compared to their underprivileged counterparts.  This set of experiences made him acutely aware of the issues of civil rights and social justice.

 

Jonathan Kozol has been an unfaltering advocate for the education of poor and underprivileged children for over forty years.   He has written numerous books on this issue including, The Night is Dark and I am far from Home, Savage Inequalities, Ordinary Resurrections and Amazing Grace.

In the fall of 1988 through 1990 he visited students throughout the United States.  He was struck by the extent of racial segregation and the stark differences that existed regarding the quality of education provided that was wholly dependent upon the racial character of the neighborhood.  In his experience, most of the urban schools were predominantly non-white.  This was particularly troubling, since the historic Supreme Court decision regarding Brown versus Board of Education was made some thirty-five years previous in 1954.  In that decision, the Court proclaimed that the argument posed by segregationists that education should be "separate but equal" was untrue and, more importantly, unconstitutional. 

 

In his book, Savage Inequalities, he describes his experiences visiting the public schools that serve poor and minority children in such diverse places as Illinois, New York, New Jersey and Texas.  He presents in vivid detail the environment of East St. Louis in Illinois.  At the time, this book was written (1991), the city was 98% black and in the author's words, "…has no obstetric services, no regular trash collection, and few jobs.  Nearly a third of the families live on less than $7,500 a year; 75 percent of its population lives on welfare of some form.  The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development describes it as, 'the most distressed small city in America.'  Nearby, Pfizer and Monsanto have chemical plants severely impacting air quality.  As a consequence, East St. Louis has one of the highest rates of child asthma in the country.  This city lies on the floodplain of the east side of the Mississippi River opposite St. Louis.  The concentration of black communities in lowland areas susceptible to flooding seems to represent a pattern within the United States."  As an example, Kozol compares East St. Louis to the Mississippi delta town of Tunica, Mississippi in the black community of Sugar Ditch where the residences live in close proximity to open sewers and incidences of liver tumors and abscesses found in children are remarkably high.  The devastating and disastrous impact of hurricane Katrina on the black communities living close to the Mississippi River also attests to this pattern.

Amid this backdrop of appalling social conditions, Kozol draws the reader's attention to the condition of the public schools.   The following are some examples of what he found –

"The science labs at East St. Louis High are 30 – 50 years out of date.  John McMillan, a soft-spoken man, teaches physics at the school.  He shows me his lab.  The six lab stations in the room have empty holes where pipes were once attached.  'It would be great if we had water,' says McMillan.

"The biology lab, which I visit next, has no laboratory tables.  Students work at regular desks.  'I need dissecting kits,' the teacher says.  'The few we have are incomplete.'  Chemical supplies she tells me, in a city poisoned by two chemical plants, are scarce.  'I need more microscopes,' she adds.

As part of Kozol's investigation, he also interviewed students to gauge their feelings and analysis regarding the environment in which they were expected to learn.  The following are comments made by such students:

"I don't go to physics class, because my lab has no equipment."

"The typewriters in my typing class don't work."

"The women's toilets…I'll be honest, I just don't use the toilets.  If I do, I come back into class and I feel dirty."

The following statements clearly show that the students are also very aware regarding the broader socio-economic issues that confront them.

"Well, the two things, race and money, go so close together – what's the difference?  I live here, they live there, and they don't want me in their school."

"On one side of us you have two chemical corporations.  One is Pfizer – that's out there.  They make paint and pigments.  The other is Monsanto.  On the other side are companies incinerating toxic waste.  So the trash is comin' at us this direction.  The chemicals is comin' from the other.  We right in the middle."

 

Even though these observations were made in 1991, the city of East St. Louis continues to suffer from the catastrophic hardships that are a direct consequence of severe economic devastation.

 

In his travels, Kozol discovered and reported on similar conditions in the inner-city and minority rural communities that he encountered.  He was profoundly touched by these stories and has devoted his life to bringing these situations to the widest possible audience through his books, lectures, speaking tours and conversations.  He has left an undeniable impact, but there is so much more that needs to be done.

The Legacy of Colonialism

There are many nations throughout the world that are plagued by internal conflict.  The underlying source of the social and economic instabilities that are responsible for these civil wars can often be traced to the disastrous effects of colonialism.  The following are a few examples of the deleterious consequences of the imposition of foreign rule on the future prospects of an occupied country.

 

The Nobel Peace Prize recipient Wangari Mathaai described her personal experiences growing up in Kenya.  She was born when Kenya was ruled by the British.  She watched as the beliefs and traditions of her people gradually died away as a result of the Western idea of progress.  The degradation of her local environment had a profound impact on her sensibilities.  Throughout the nineteenth century, western missionaries came to Africa followed by explorers, adventurers and fortune seekers in service of the European powers.  Missionaries came to Kenya towards the end of the nineteenth century.  They taught that God did not dwell on Mount Kenya, but in heaven.  The missionaries and the colonial administrators who followed them introduced new methods of exploiting natural resources such as logging, clear-cutting, creating plantations of imported trees, the commercial hunting of wildlife and commercial agriculture.  As a consequence of the implementation of these practices, hallowed landscapes were exploited.  In 1885, Britain and the other major colonialist European powers met in Berlin at the Berlin Conference to draft what came to be known as the "Scramble for Africa."  This conference formalized plans to achieve its ultimate goal - to lay claim to all of Africa within thirty years.

In Kenya, the British subdivided the country into different areas based upon the populations of different religious denominations who inhabited those regions.  In Maathai's region, there were Scottish Presbyterians and Italian Catholics.  In the 1910's, the British government encouraged British citizens to settle in Kenya, especially in the fertile highlands; these settlers received title deeds and the natives were relocated to the Rift Valley.  The British settlers introduced commercial agriculture and grew wheat, maze, coffee and tea.

As a result of colonial exploitation, the following changes in the natural environment took place:

·         Decimation of native plants for the purpose of growing so-called "cash crops" like tobacco

·         Importation of exotic plants for purely commercial purposes; this practice played havoc with the delicate ecological balance

·         Soil erosion as a result of extreme logging practices, especially clear-cutting

·         Imposition of agribusiness methods led to over cultivation and pollution of the soil and local environment with chemicals designed to improve crop production

·         Creation of commercial plantations supporting non-native trees i.e. Pine, Eucalyptus and Black Wattle, a species of Acacia normally found in Australia, for the timber and building industries - this had a profound impact on the natural ecosystem and its capacity to retain rainwater.

 

The impact of colonial rule on the native population was equally disastrous.  In the highlands, the area where Maathai was born, large British plantations usurped the native agriculture.  Although crops like tobacco brought in sizeable profits for the white settlers, native Kenyans were allowed to raise only pyrethrum as a cash crop.  In addition, the British imposed an income tax to be paid in money effectively transforming the livestock-based economy to a cash-based economy.  This kind of restriction imposed so much hardship; it was akin to slavery.

These practices imposed on the people of Kenya against their will solely for the purpose of exploiting the riches derived from the country's natural resources, had a destabilizing impact upon the nation's future.

 

As a nation, Nigeria was an artificial construct as a result of colonization by the British.  It was created from the remains of the Niger River Trading Company.  The Europeans helped themselves to vast territorial holdings in Africa as a result of the Treaty of Berlin as described above.

Northern Nigeria was populated by Muslims – the Hausa Fulani ethnic group ruled by emirs.  The people of northern Nigeria were relatively easy to control on account of the hierarchical nature of their social structure. The peoples of southern Nigeria, on the other hand, were more difficult to subjugate – they were fiercely democratic.  In order to subdue them, the British used religion, bribery, the influence of missionaries, and the power of the military.  It was British administration driven by economic considerations that carved out the Nigerian borders.  It was through the clever application of divide and conquer that the colonialists used the differences between the Hausa-Fulani in the north, the Yoruba peoples in the west and the Ibo in the east to control the country and extract the economic resources of the region.

When the country won independence from the British in 1960, the bureaucratic and administrative organization of government remained in place allowing for future problems.  Oil was discovered in Nigeria in 1958.  For over 30 years oil has provided over 30 billion dollars to the Nigerian economy.  However, this revenue fed corruption and enriched a small and well-connected minority of the nation's population.  The Ogoni people received no real benefit from their oil-rich land.  Quite to the contrary, they had no reliable electricity, no pipe-born water and they were not the beneficiaries of any significant social or economic projects.  In addition, their language was disappearing and they were effectively pushed into slavery as their environment became increasingly assaulted by irresponsible practices on the part of the oil industry.  The famed Nigerian author and activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa was executed for his attempt to mobilize opposition to the economic and environmental devastation wrought by oil production in his country.  Nigeria remains plagued by problems that had their roots in the practices established and employed by their previous colonial masters.

 

The examples cited above share numerous aspects in common with many other troubled spots throughout the world.  The excesses of colonialism have effectively outlived the colonial powers such as Great Britain, Portugal and Spain whose empires are no longer extant.  

President Jimmy Carter

James Earl Carter Jr. was born on October 1, 1924 in the provincial southern farming town of Plains Georgia.  His father was a farmer and businessman and his mother was a nurse.  As a young child he moved with his family to a farm in the neighboring town of Archery.  Carter grew up in a rural community; their home was without electricity and his neighbors were predominantly African-American. 

Although at the time of his birth the highly segregationlist and prejudicial cultural and legal climate that collectively was referred to as Jim Crow was everywhere in evidence, his mother, Lilian, volunteered her nursing services as a midwife and health care provider to her black neighbors.  Her generous and caring nature had a profound influence on the young Carter.  His father was an astute businessman and expanded his farm to include 4,000 acres; he subsequently became a peanut broker and a retailer of farm supplies and equipment.

Carter was educated in the public schools and went to the Georgia Institute of Technology before he enrolled in the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis Maryland.  His professional interest initially gravitated towards science and technology.  He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree and ultimately pursued graduate studies in nuclear physics.  It was shortly after his graduation from the Academy that he married Rosalynn Smith of Plains, Georgia.  After earning his doctorate in nuclear physics, Carter was chosen as an engineering officer on the Sea Wolf – the second nuclear submarine commissioned by the U.S. Navy.

Carter's military and professional career was suddenly cut short by the sudden death of his father in 1953.  In response to this tragedy, he resigned his post and returned to Plains with his family - that now included three sons – to assume the responsibilities of his father's various family businesses including the family farm.  His father had served in the Georgia state government as a House Representative.  Carter, like his father, felt a responsibility to serve his community and consequentially ran for a seat in the Georgia Senate.  At first, it appeared that he had lost the election, but a transparent fraud was uncovered in which his opponent had registered fictitious voters some of whom had died.  Once the fraud was exposed, Carter became a member of the Georgia State Senate and readily won reelection.

In 1966, Carter ran for governor of his state, but was defeated by the overt racist and segregationist Lestor Maddox.  Following this defeat, he was inspired by his sister Ruth Carter Stapleton to reevaluate his life and had undergone a spiritual reawakening that he later describe as being, "born again."   Four years later he became Georgia's governor and during his acceptance speech made the exceedingly controversial and unprecedented statement that, "the time for racial discrimination is over."

During his term as governor, he implements many reforms including:

·        Increasing the percentage of African-Americans in Georgia's civil service by 40%

·     Equalizing the public funding for rich and poor school districts in the state and, thereby, greatly enhancing educational opportunities for those most in need

·  Increasing educational opportunities for prisoners and the developmentally disabled

·         Streamlining government and eliminating wasteful project

·  Canceling construction projects that would be detrimental to the natural environment.

His progressive programs drew the attention of the Democratic Party and he was chosen to be the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Campaign Chairman for the 1974 congressional campaigns.  On account of the disastrous presidency of Richard Nixon of the Republican Party and the lack luster administration of President Gerald Ford, the democrats did well in the 1974 elections.  Since the constitution of the state of Georgia barred Carter from running for a second term as governor, he decided to run for the Presidency of the United States.  With highly focused energy and resolve, he campaigned rigorously in the democratic primaries throughout the country and did so well, that he won the nomination on the first ballot at the party's convention in Madison Square Garden, New York City.

Jimmy Carter became the President of the United States.  His effectiveness has been called into question by some who felt that he was not strong enough especially in regards to how he dealt with our adversaries.  Although he was instrumental in getting the leaders of Egypt and Israel, President Anwar El Sadat and Prime Minister Menachem Begin, respectively, to agree on a plan for peace – the so-called Camp David Accords (a peace that is still in existence) - he had the misfortune of being president during the successful Fundamentalist Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979 that led to the toppling of the Iranian monarchy under the Shah.  This ultimately led to the taking of American hostages.  The resulting standoff lasted for 444 days beginning on November 4, 1979 and lasting to Jan 20, 1981.  Coming under considerable domestic pressure, Carter authorized a rescue mission referred to as Operation Eagle Claw that took place on April 24, 1980.  This mission was an abysmal failure.  It should be noted, however, that all the hostages were ultimately returned safely and that no war ensued.  However, Carter lost the support of the American people and he failed in his reelection bid to Ronald Reagan in the 1980 election.  The hostages were released within minutes of Reagan's swearing-in ceremony.

Unlike many presidents who have gone before him, Carter has devoted his post-presidential life to the causes of peace and social justice throughout the world.  He has accomplished this through the creation of the Carter Center.  He describes this work in the following way, "Our most dedicated investments of time and energy have been among the poorest and most forgotten people of Guyana, East Timor, Haiti, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Niger, Liberia, Cote d'lvoire, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Ghana and other communities throughout Africa, Latin America and the Middle East."

The Carter Center recruits experts for the purpose of dealing with following kinds of issues that plague many parts of the human world:

·         Conflict Resolution

·         Human Rights

·         Mental Health

·         Agriculture

·         Disease Control and Prevention

·         Promoting Democracy.

These experts analyze complex political relationships that underlie trouble spots around the globe and meet and exchange information through intelligence briefings.  The Center also employs interns from some 350 different universities worldwide.  The staff of the Center works closely with local governments and meets with those local homes and villages that are in need of assistance.  The Carter Center is a non-profit enterprise and depends upon individual and corporate donations in order to function.  Carter sold the remainder of the family businesses in order to help finance this monumental endeavor.  The site of the Center along with the Carter Presidential Library is located in Atlanta, Georgia.  As stated on the Carter Center website (cartercenter.org), the Center's mission is based on the following five principles –

·   "The Center emphasizes action and results. Based on careful research and analysis, it is prepared to take timely action on important and pressing issues.

·         The Center does not duplicate the effective efforts of others.

·         The Center addresses difficult problems and recognizes the possibility of failure   as an acceptable risk.

·         The Center is nonpartisan and acts as a neutral in dispute resolution activities.

·        The Center believes that people can improve their lives when provided with the necessary skills, knowledge, and access to resources."

It is not so much a think tank as it is an action agency.  Thanks to Carter's careful and judicious planning and conservative economic development, the Carter Center now has an endowment of over 250 million dollars, and programs do not proceed until the funding is assured.  Some of the programs that have been put into play through the Center include the fight against diseases endemic to the tropics, especially malaria, river blindness and trachoma and improving food grains in Africa. 

In addition, considerable efforts have been made towards conflict resolution.  For this purpose, the Center employs Dr. Doyle Powell a fellow in conflict resolution.  As a result of an analysis done regarding the nature of conflicts, it has been found that nearly all the thirty-four conflicts studied, involving battle deaths of at least 1000 individuals, are civil wars.  In order to help settle these conflicts nonviolently, the Center has often called upon some of its more influential members including Desmond Tutu, Oscar Aria, the former President of Costa Rica, and Elie Weisel, a Holocaust survivor.  In the course of its work, the Carter Center has monitored almost 70 elections throughout the world in the course of 18 years.

On account of these extraordinary efforts President Jimmy Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October of 2002.   The decision was based upon the following reasons as stated by the Norwegian Nobel Committee -

"The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2002 to Jimmy Carter, for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development."

During his presidency (1977-1981), Carter's mediation was a vital contribution to the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt, in itself a great enough achievement to qualify for the Nobel Peace Prize. At a time when the cold war between East and West was still predominant, he placed renewed emphasis on the place of human rights in international politics.

Through his Carter Center, which celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2002, Carter has undertaken very extensive and persistent efforts at conflict resolution on several continents. He has shown outstanding commitment to human rights, and has served as an observer at countless elections all over the world. He has worked hard on many fronts to fight tropical diseases and to bring about growth and progress in developing countries. Carter has thus been active in several of the problem areas that have figured prominently in the over one hundred years of Peace Prize history.

In a situation currently marked by threats of the use of power, Carter has stood by the principles that conflicts must as far as possible be resolved through mediation and international co-operation based on international law, respect for human rights, and economic development."

President Jimmy Carter's devotion to the causes of peace and social justice has certainly earned him such an honor.  His tenacity is so formidable that his efforts continue to this day.

Xiaobo Liu

In December of 2008, 303 Chinese activists, lawyers, intellectuals, academics, retired government officials, workers and peasants supported and signed a manifesto, Charter 08, that called for an end to autocratic rule and a move towards a constitutional government that would respect human rights and institute democratic reforms.  Despite the obvious threat this posed to the Chinese government and its continued repression of those holding disparate views, Charter 08 gained a nation-wide audience through the Internet.  The signatories to this charter reached ten thousand; the government's response was both swift and brutal.  Dozens, if not hundreds, were called in for questioning, and a handful of those regarded as the incipient movement's "ring leaders" were detained.  Promotions of professors were held up, research grants denied and travel abroad was curtailed for those who were considered to be the instigators.  Newspapers and publishing houses were ordered to blacklist any signatories.  Liu, a prominent writer, vociferous dissident and one of the important drafters of the Charter was arrested on December 2009 and was subsequently sentenced to eleven years in prison.

The following is an excerpt taken from the preamble of the Charter: "China, as a great nation of the world, one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, and a member of the Human Rights Council, ought to make its own contribution to peace for humankind and progress in human rights. Regrettably, however, of all the great nations of the world today, China alone still clings to an authoritarian way of life and has, as a result, created an unbroken chain of human rights disasters and social crises, held back the development of the Chinese people, and hindered the progress of human civilization. This situation must change! We cannot put off political democratization reforms any longer. Therefore, in the civic spirit of daring to take action, we are issuing Charter 08. We hope that all Chinese citizens who share this sense of crisis, responsibility, and mission, whether officials or common people and regardless of social background, will put aside our differences to seek common ground and come to take an active part in this citizens' movement, to promote the great transformation of Chinese society together, so that we can soon establish a free, democratic, and constitutional nation, fulfilling the aspirations and dreams that our countrymen have been pursuing tirelessly for more than a hundred years."

 

Before we examine Liu's life in greater detail, we will embark on a cursory examination of recent Chinese political history.  China is a vast country that has the longest continual history for any human civilization.  We will, however, restrict our attention to the era encompassing the latter part of the ninteenth century to the present. 

Between the years 1894-1895 China was involved in a war with Japan – the first Sino-Japanese War, in which it suffered defeat.  At that time the Qing Court was ruling the country and it was involved in a brutal suppression of all attempts at reform.  The Xinhai Revolution (1911) supplanted the imperial system that had been extant for over 2000 years and established Asia's first republic.   Attempts at democratization and political reform were curtailed, however, by foreign invasion and civil conflict. 

China ultimately became victorious in the War of Resistance against Japan (1937–1945), and the People's Republic of China was formed in 1949 after the Communist defeat of nationalist forces under the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek, whose efforts were supported by the United States.  Mao Zsetung was instrumental in leading the communists to victory and became the country's chairman.

Once in power, Chairman Mao instituted a number of radical national policies that proved horribly disastrous.  One was the so-called, Great Leap Forward (1958-1963) and the other was the Cultural Revolution (1965-1968).

The Great Leap Forward was instituted in order to develop China's agriculture and industrial base.  To implement this ambitious goal, China was restructured into a series of communes according to Mao's vision.   

The size of the communes were not fixed, but most consisted of about 5000 families.  Within these communities, tools, agricultural equipment, farm animals were all shared.  Everyone worked for the commune - the life of the individual was thoroughly constrained and controlled.  Families were divided into teams – each team consisting of twelve families and twelve teams made up a brigade.  Every aspect of living was under the direct management of the party.

By the end of 1958, 700 million individuals had been placed in 26,578 communes.  In the beginning, the progress towards the goals of agricultural and industrial development seemed impressive.  However, the pragmatic aspirations of this radical approach eventually became subsumed by an extremist political agenda that placed an emphasis on reaching impossible goals rather than on real and reliable production.  This reality was exacerbated by poor growing seasons in 1959 and 1960.  As a result, it has been estimated that some nine million people died of starvation by 1960.  This number had risen to twenty million deaths by 1962.  Ultimately, Chairman Mao admitted that the Great Leap Forward had been a failure.

The other notable failure of the Communist Party under the direction of Chairman Mao was the Cultural Revolution that occurred between the years of 1965 and 1968.  It is believed that Mao instituted this policy in an attempt to reassert his absolute authority that was beginning to dissipate.  The movement was initiated with a speech by Lin Piao, the Chinese Communist military commander (1907-1971), who encouraged students from schools and colleges to actualize the basic precepts of the revolutionary movement.  These students were also encouraged to openly criticize liberal elements of the Party. 

Beneath the rhetoric was the underlying fear that intellectuals, academics and the professional class were accruing too much power.  Mao was concerned that a new class of Mandarins was beginning to emerge in the new China.  The propaganda that was promulgated as an essential aspect of the Cultural Revolution inspired the creation of so-called "Red Guards."  Members of the Red Guards were encouraged to openly attack those who were suspected of having a superior and condescending attitude.  Chief among these was Mao's rival, Liu Shao-chi. 

The supposed rationale for this movement was the desire to create a truly classless society.  However, the movement rapidly got out of hand and the social climate became dangerously chaotic.  It was then that Zhou Enlai, the first Premier of the People's Republic of China until his death in 1976, urged a return to normal conditions.  Finally, in October of 1968 Liu Shao-chi was removed from the party.  Once Mao's main rival was no longer a threat, he saw no need to continue the Cultural Revolution.

Mao died on September 9, 1976.  After his death, there were major social, economic, and political reforms instituted.  The era dominated by the cult of personality finally came to a close.  In regards to the post-Mao Zedong era in China, Liu addresses it this way:

"The "Reform and Opening Up" of the late 20th century extricated China from the pervasive poverty and absolute totalitarianism of the Mao Zedong era, and substantially increased private wealth and the standard of living of the common people. Individual economic freedom and social privileges were partially restored, a civil society began to grow, and calls for human rights and political freedom among the people increased by the day. Those in power, while implementing economic reforms aimed at marketization and privatization, also began to shift from a position of rejecting human rights to one of gradually recognizing them. In 1997 and 1998, the Chinese government signed two important international human rights treaties.² In 2004, the National People's Congress amended the Constitution to add that "[the State] respects and guarantees human rights." And this year, the government has promised to formulate and implement a "National Human Rights Action Plan." But so far, this political progress has largely remained on paper: there are laws, but there is no rule of law; there is a constitution, but no constitutional government; this is still the political reality that is obvious to all."

 

 Liu was born in December of 1955 in Changchun, Jilin and grew up during this tumultuous era.  He was born into a family of intellectuals.  As a matter of fact, his father took him to Inner Mongolia in the rural countryside – a move that was mandated as a part of the Cultural Revolution as discussed earlier.  As a young man Liu was accepted into Julin University and graduated with a B.A. in literature.  From there, he received in M.A. degree in literature from Beijing Normal University in 1984 and became a teacher.  It was during this time that Liu began to openly express in writing his criticism of Chinese culture and especially the authoritarian nature of the Chinese political system as he had begun to understand it.  In June of 1988, he received his PhD in literature, and published his thesis entitled, Aesthetic and Human Freedom.  He subsequently travelled to Columbia University in New York and the Universities of Hawaii and Oslo where he was guest lecturer.

He returned to China abruptly in 1989 when the now famous protests at Tiananmen Square began in earnest.  He was unabashedly pro-West in his political views and sentiments to the extent that he was quoted as saying, "…Westernization is not a choice of a nation, but a choice for the human race."  As part of the protest movement, Liu began a three day hunger strike along with three others.  He encouraged dialog between representatives of the government and students.  Although his efforts could not prevent the massacre that occurred on the night of June 3, he did manage to facilitate negotiations between the army and students that allowed several thousand students to peacefully withdraw.  On June 6, Liu was arrested and held in Qincheng Prison and subsequently expelled from Beijing Normal University; all his publications were also banned.

In January 1991, some nineteen months following his original arrest, he was convicted of, counter-revolutionary propaganda and incitement."  He was not jailed, however, on account of the fact that the judiciary recognized the actions that he took at Tiananmen Square that helped avoid significant bloodshed.  After his release, he returned to writing; although, he was not allowed to publish on mainland China.  This did not deter him; he published his first book, The Monologues of a Doomsday Survivor in Taiwan.

Liu was considered such a serious threat to the government that he was subject to constant police harassment and within the space of the next fourteen years he was arrested twice, put under house arrest and at one point a police sentry post was constructed next to his residence.  In spite of all of these attempts to suppress his influence in regards to the pro-democracy movement, Liu never relented or altered his resolve to encourage reform.

As mentioned earlier Liu played an instrumental role in the inception and writing of Charter 08 which was released on December 10, 2008 – a date that purposefully coincided with the 60^th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  This document called for greater individual freedoms, an end to human rights abuses, more democratic elections and Western-style economic reform.  This document was met with such popular approval that 10,000 signatures were collected by September prior to its release.  As a consequence, Liu was arrested for his participation.  On December 25, 2009, he was sentenced to eleven years of imprisonment.  The charge was, "Inciting subversion of state power."

 

 

Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2010 "for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China".  Being in prison, he was unable to attend the award ceremony.  In his absence, the following is an excerpt of what was read on his behalf:

"…For hatred is corrosive of a person's wisdom and conscience; the mentality of enmity can poison a nation's spirit, instigate brutal life and death struggles, destroy a society's tolerance and humanity, and block a nation's progress to freedom and democracy.  I hope therefore to be able to transcend my personal vicissitudes in understanding the development of the state and changes in society, to counter the hostility of the regime with best of intentions and defuse hate with love…"

Although Liu may currently be incarcerated, the ideas he has fostered and encouraged among his own people cannot be as easily silenced.  Over the long term, his efforts will prove to be of significant value, for the human thirst for liberation will eventually be heard.

Frances Perkins

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) became the 32nd President of the United States in the midst of the so-called Great Depression.  He served for four terms – following his presidency the United States Constitution was amended to limit the Presidency to two consecutive terms.  During the latter part of his time in office, FDR presided over a nation at war – World War II.

In response to the horrendous economic conditions that were a direct result of the economic collapse of the Great Depression, FDR implemented a satellite of policies collectively referred to as the New Deal.  The New Deal had three goals – relief, recovery and reform.  Relief represented the implementation of policies that would bring immediate relief to those who were suffering.  The recovery was directed at assisting those facets of the economy that needed improvement, especially within the realm of economic production, and reform was directed at establishing regulatory controls that would help prevent a repeat of the conditions that caused the Depression in the first place.

The individual on FDR's staff that played a significant role in formulating and helping to implement many of these policies was Frances Perkins who was FDR's choice for Secretary of Labor – the first woman ever to serve on the Federal Cabinet.  She was an extraordinary woman whose singular contribution to the nation at a time of serious crisis has been terribly under-reported.

 

Before we begin to explore the life of Frances Perkins, we will examine Great Depression in greater detail so as to arrive at a fuller understanding of the nature of the times in which Perkins lived.

The economic depression of 1929 catapulted the national economy into a devastating tailspin from the seeming prosperity of the 1920s.  The rapid decline occurred as a direct result of many factors that were all interconnected.  The so-called Great Depression lasted from 1929 through 1938.

The precipitous decline that so defined the Great Depression began on what is referred to as Black Tuesday – October 29 1929 - when 16 million shares were traded and the industrial stock index dropped 43 points negating all the gains made over the previous twelve months.  By the middle of November of that year, the market had lost a third of its entire value or 40% of all the stock that was traded on the Exchange.  The reasons for this sudden and calamitous event were multi-faceted.

The seeming prosperity that was a hallmark of the 1920s was, in fact, not representative of the majority of Americans.  Following the hard times imposed by World War I, economic production markedly increased, especially in regards to automobiles, home appliances and construction.  In addition, overseas investment doubled to 7.5 billion dollars by 1929.  Although consumer spending increased markedly during this period, individuals were buying beyond their means, placing themselves in a precarious position regarding personal indebtedness.

In addition, the distribution of wealth was skewed markedly to the wealthy.  In 1929, the top 0.1% of American households collectively had as much wealth as 42% of the population and possessed one-third of all the savings.  As a matter of fact, it has been estimated that 80% of the population had no savings at all.

By 1929, investments in the stock market increased far more than any other indicator, and, more to the point, outstripped actual production or sales of manufactured goods.  One aspect of this marked increase in transactions on the stock exchange was the practice of "buying on margin."  Using this approach, an investor determined to purchase $1,000 worth of stock valued at $10 per share, was legally enabled to pay his broker as little as 10% of the actual worth of the stock or $100.  This practice was common in the 1920s; because, the value of stock seemed to be always increasing.  With this in mind, the investor could then wait until the value of the stock rose, sell it at a significant profit, pay his broker and pocket the difference.  This kind of gambling persisted; until, the inevitable happened – the bubble burst.  To some extent, the unraveling began in Great Britain when the country raised its interest rates to lure back domestic investors.  Aware of the significance of this policy change, foreign and U.S. investors began dumping U.S. stocks.

Following Black Tuesday, the economic situation worsened as the nation inexorably slid into depression.  Within three years, the so-called industrial index – a quantitative measure of the performance of shares in major industries such as automobiles – dropped from 452 in September of 1929 to 58 by July of 1932.  At the height of the Depression, one-third of the work force was unemployed and those who were fortunate enough to be employed saw their wages plummeting, tens of thousands were homeless and millions faced foreclosure on their houses.   It must be remembered that it has been estimated that only 2.5% of the entire population actually invested in the stock market; therefore the reason for the depression must have resided elsewhere.  The underlying causes for the Depression itself can be explained by the following factors:

 

Decline in Industrial Production – Much of the economic growth during this era can be directly related to two major industries, the production of automobiles and construction.  By the end of the 20s, both of these facets of the economy were in decline.

Poverty and Personal Indebtedness – Poverty was, in fact, widespread and personal debt was high as well.  The wages of individual workers had only increased by 8%; whereas, the productivity of the individual worker increased by an estimated 32%.  These data translated into the economic reality that individuals could not afford to purchase the products of industrial output.  This convergence of factors inevitably led to mass unemployment.

Bank Failures - Since banks were heavily engaged in speculation on the stock market and since the banks were using the savings of their customers for these questionable investments, they were unable to effectively deal with rush on the banks when people wished to withdraw their savings en masse.  As a result, thousands of banks failed and many individuals lost their life savings.

 

Adding to the economic deterioration as outlined above, the Dust Bowl of the 1930's had a devastating impact on farmers of the Great Plains.  After years of farming without adequate rotation of crops, an unusual period of extreme drought together with harsh weather conditions resulted in the topsoil being literally blown away.  Between 1933 and 1938, three to four inches of topsoil were lost to the winds and created what was referred to as "Black Blizzards."  As a result, 500,000 residents of the Great Plains became homeless and 2.5 million moved out of the region by 1940.

 

The government's response to this deepening crisis was inadequate.  Although President Herbert Hoover felt compassion for the millions who were suffering and although he attempted to use some of the government's resources to address the issue – he requested 2.25 billion dollars from the Congress for public works progress - his political philosophy constrained his efforts in this regard.  He felt strongly that the government should not be involved in direct relief by providing resources to those or were poor, starving and unemployed.  He felt that, "It is not the function of the government to relieve individuals of their responsibilities to their neighbors, or to relieve private institutions of their responsibilities to the public."  In the general election of 1932, the people chose Franklin Delano Roosevelt as their next president, who promised a New Deal.  The fundamental focus of the New Deal was threefold – the so-called 3 Rs – relief, recovery and reform, as mentioned earlier.  In order to accomplish these ambitious goals, fifteen major pieces of legislation were submitted to Congress from spring to early summer.

In spite of all these efforts, it was the onset of World War II that effectively brought the country out of the Great Depression. 

 

Fannie Coralie Perkins was born on April 10, 1880 in Beacon Hill in Boston, Massachusetts.   As a young girl she had spend her summers in New Castle, Maine on one hundred acres that was the homestead established by her great-great grandfather in 1770; she had fond memories of that experience.  The family once had a brick-making business called, "Perkins Bricks" that enjoyed the economic boom of the 1840s but failed a decade later.

Perkins parents, Frederick and Susan were farmers; the family moved to Boston when she was born.   Frederick took a job as a retail clerk in Worcester and ultimately opened a stationary and office supply store.  Perkins' ethnicity was Scotch-English.  Her ancestors arrived in America in 1680 and were members of a Pilgrim settlement in Maine.  One of her ancestors was James Otis, a revolutionary war patriot and another founded Harvard University.  The family members were Congregationalist and philosophically were proponents of the concepts of self-reliance, tenacity and endurance.  In terms of their politics, they were staunch believers in democratic principles. 

Frederick lavished his attention on Perkins.  He taught her to read Greek by the time she was eight years old and groomed her for college; this was an unusual choice since in that era the roles of women were quite limited and circumscribed.   They were not encouraged to enter into public life.

Although the residents of Worchester were well-to-do, highly conservative in social outlook and Republican in terms of political affiliation, Perkins mother encouraged her to be mindful of the plight of the poor and befriend them.  The era in which Perkins grew up was marked by social unrest and turmoil.   The United States was in the midst of a destabilizing transition from an agricultural-based economy to one based on industry.  On account of the need for workers in the new industries, the country attracted many from overseas.  For example, in 1900 there were approximately 450,000 immigrants that came to America while in seven short years the number jumped to 1.3 million.  

The working conditions for the vast majority of workers in the nation's cities were horrendously bad.  Perkins was deeply influenced by the Jacob Riis' non-fiction work entitled, "How the Other Half Lives."  Life in New York's Lower East Side was representative of these conditions.  It was reported that there were 100,000 shabby dwellings, unsanitary living conditions, abysmal public health facilities and homeless children.  These realities shocked Perkins' sensibilities.  She recognized the growing gap between the rich and poor and vowed to expend her energies trying to make a difference.  She was developing an acute sense of social responsibility.

Inspired by these revelations, Perkins enrolled in Holyoke College near her home town.    Mary Lyons, the school's founder, had a deeply spiritual mission – the goal was to prepare women to accomplish great things in all aspects of social endeavor.  Perkins majored at first in chemistry and physics.  As part of curriculum, she took a course in economic history and, as a result, visited factories where she had a first-hand look at real working conditions.  She was profoundly affected by what she witnessed.  In addition, she was influenced by Florence Kelly – executive secretary of the National Consumers League.  Kelly became a close friend.  Kelly was divorced, raised three children on her own, was energetic, idealistic and pragmatic.  Kelly was highly successful, yet totally unconventional.  She was a Quaker and a Marxist in regards to her political persuasion. Perkins found an ally and mentor in Kelley, who was instrumental in spearheading municipal institutional reforms.  Kelley focused her attention on long working hours, inadequate wages and child labor.  Employers were urged to limit workdays to 12 hours.  Many employers proved intransigent in this regard.  One of Kelley's main goals was the elimination of child labor.  At that time children were employed in factories, offices and even coal mines often working 12 hour days.    Although Kelley was adamant in regards to these issues, she was also an avowed pacifist.  She felt that the answer to these fundamental issues was unionization in order to give laborers the power of collective action.  Kelly made a lasting impression upon Perkins, for she embodied the idea that as a woman she was certainly capable of fulfilling her own destiny.  

Following her graduation from Holyoke and armed with a degree, Perkins moved to Chicago in the 1904.  At that time, Chicago was the home base for Hull House founded by Jane Addams.  Hull House was a focal point for social activism.  Perkins evolved a strategy for social reform in which she operated successfully in two apparently disparate worlds.  On account of her upbringing, she learned to be connected with the elite and, at the same time, was a staunch and relentless advocate for the poor.  At that time in her life she changed her name from Fannie Coralie to Frances, her faith from Congregationalist to Episcopalian and her political affiliation.  She secured a position as a science teacher at Fery Hall, a woman's college in Lake Forest Illinois for those with an affluent background.  The code of conduct Perkins was required to follow was representative of the constrained role placed on women i.e. she was expected to live on campus, obey a strict curfew and attend prayer services.   

Perkins became an occasional resident of Hull House.  Hull House was a settlement house where the residents ate communally; they were, in fact, a large extended family connected to each other through a dedication to social reform.  Hull House inspired a national movement.  Her experiences there moved her inexorably towards her desire to make a difference; to help improve the lives of the least fortunate.  There she was introduced to an entire galaxy of new ideas including the concept of trade unions and collective bargaining.  It was then that she decided to dedicate herself entirely to social reform.

In 1907, Perkins was General Secretary of the Philadelphia Research and Protection Association.  In this role she became aware of the plight of women in the inner city.  At that time European immigrants and black women were lured to cities like Philadelphia where they were promised good jobs.  Instead, they found themselves victimized by the slave trade.  Perkins became convinced that the way out of these horrific predicaments was the availability of good paying jobs.  She grew more convinced that social work was the kind of work for her.

In 1909, Perkins went to New York City, moved into a settlement house and studied at Columbia University focusing on the problems of the poor.  There she received a degree in Political Science in June of 1910 and cultivated connections and friendships with the affluent including the Astors and the Vanderbilts.  She became involved in the Greenwich Village community that she enjoyed and found intellectually stimulating.   There she met John Reed, a journalist who became enamored of Communism and traveled to the Russia during the period of the Soviet Revolution.  There she became involved in the family limitation movement and supported birth control - a revolutionary idea at the time.  Perkins also established relationships with Robert Moses, who would later be a key player in the urban transformation of New York City, and Sinclair Lewis – the well renowned writer, who became so enamored of Perkins that he proposed marriage.  He was rebuffed, but they remained close friends, nonetheless.

Perkins became involved in the women's right to vote movement and emerged as one of its leaders.  According to Perkins, "Feminism means revolution, and I am a revolutionist.  I believe in revolution as a principle.  It does good to everybody." 

A horrific event that galvanized the reform movement was the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire that occurred on March 25, 1911.  As a result of the fire that occurred on that day, 146 workers at the factory, mostly young Jewish and Italian women, perished – many of them jumping to their death.  This event helped focus attention on the horrific working conditions that many people endured; it was a galvanizing event.

Eventually, Perkins became involved in promoting the so-called 54 hour bill out of the New York State legislature that would mandate that the work week not exceed 54 hours.   She became allied with John Adams Kingsbury, a progressive member of the Republican Party.   In order to successfully pass this proposed legislation, Kingsbury enlisted the help of the former President Teddy Roosevelt – winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in ending the Russo-Japanese War.   At that time Teddy Roosevelt became deeply concerned about the immense disparity of wealth in the United States – 2% of the population controlled 60% of the wealth.   Eventually, Perkins was introduced to the former president.  As a result, he became so impressed with her intelligence, perseverance, conviction and ability that he suggested that she be made director of the Committee on Safety that was focused on improving working conditions, the cleanup of unsanitary work places and the creation of new fire safety standards.

 

In regards to her personal life, over the next twenty years Perkins was married and became a mother.  She assisted in Al Smith's campaign for governor of New York in 1918.  Smith had developed a deep regard for Perkins.  She briefly met FDR in 1910 when he was in his late 20s.  At that time he was a New York State Senator; he was lukewarm in his support for the 54 hour bill.  Later, FDR was chosen by President Wilson as Assistant Secretary of the Navy.  Early in his career, FDR suffered a major setback – he contracted polio in 1921 that left him severely disabled.  This did not dissuade him from his political career and in 1928 he became Governor of New York.  After his victory, FDR invited Perkins to run the State's Labor Department.

The onslaught of the Great Depression – as described previously – led to FDR's political ascendency to the presidency.  Once in office, FDR surprisingly chose a woman to be the Secretary of Labor – that woman was Frances Perkins.  He chose her for this post; because, he was well aware of her concern for the plight of ordinary workers and her ability to institute meaningful reform.  Perkins took the job provided that she was allowed to pursue the following labor- related policies:

·         40 hour work week

·         Minimum wage

·         Worker's compensation

·         Unemployment compensation

·         Federal law banning child labor

·         Direct federal aid for unemployment relief

·         Social security

·         Revitalized public employment service

·         Health insurance.

This list was revolutionary in scope.  FDR was aware of the political risks involved in embarking on this course of action.  He realized, however, the crisis that the country was enduring and agreed to her terms.  The rest of course is history.

 

Perkins died on May 14, 1965 at the age of eighty-five.  She has left a remarkable legacy that is in many regards has been unrecognized until relatively recently.