The Global Citizen movement – utopia or nightmare?

Source: blacklognz

Owners and leaders of big corporate businesses have been worried for some time. Very worried. For years, outspoken leaders in the corporate world like Richard Branson have been warning about the rising tide of public anger directed at crooked governments and greedy, powerful companies. "These are very trying times", Branson explained to his audience somewhat nervously, "2016 has been a year of seismic shifts and tremors. Brexit and the UK and the US elections have created greater uncertainties than most of us have ever known in our lifetimes. And not for the first time, we've got aggressive nationalism and divisive populism - they're rearing their ugly heads around the world". Big business leaders can sense the shadow of the guillotines hanging over their heads. So who or what can they turn to who has the authority and influence to successfully deal with the revolution of public discontent that is brewing wherever they look?

An answer form heaven
The answer to their prayers seemed to come straight from heaven when last December, a group of these sleepless CEOs gathered together in an opulent and stately hall at the Vatican. It was the conclusion of the Global Forum, an annual event for major international corporations like Monsanto, Bayer, Google, Microsoft and many more. While bankers have their annual get-together at Davos, the world's economists attend the St Petersburg International Forum and governments go to their World Government Summit, the Global Forum is where illustrious companies address issues that could have an impact on their ability to do business in the global community. But this 2016 Time + Fortune Global Forum was different. Because they had been invited by none other than Pope Francis himself.

The "noble vocation" of business
So here, at the heart of this ancient religious centre they listened to the Pope's call to use their "noble vocation" of business to help create "a more inclusive and humane economy", Francis reiterated Branson's fears: "the two great trends of the last half century - globalisation and digitization - have created unprecedented growth and lifted billions of people out of poverty, but have also created a backlash. Inequality within nations is on the rise, and dissatisfaction with a system that too often showers its riches on a privileged few is growing. Populism and protectionism are rearing their heads around the world, and trust in business - as well as other institutions - has plummeted". And in measured tones, he went on to stroke their egos, thanking them for their work promoting "the centrality and the dignity of the human person within our institutions and our economic models, and to draw attention to the plight of the poor and refugees, who are so often forgotten by society".

Pope Francis at the Global Forum 2016

It was a glorious culmination of two days of intense work to add more detail to a bold project that had been years in the making. The public result of this collaboration was a document entitled Working Group Solutions which was presented to the Pope for his blessing which he gladly gave. (Unfortunately, a number of private meetings was not documented) The reason for this: this project, if and when fully implemented, will give full control of the world's citizens to a handful of people. The various facets of this project goes by a number of names, but can be summed up in one: Global Citizen.

What does Global Citizen claim to be?
In 2008, the Global Poverty Project (GPP) was founded with grants from the United Nations. By 2012,  a showcase Global Citizen website and its accompanying Global Citizen Festival was added. These well thought out platforms were designed to stir up young people to tackle social issues around the globe. This Global Citizen drive is presented as a utopian force for good: to eradicate poverty, promote health, provide clean water and access to other resources and to safeguard the human rights of every person on the planet. Who could be against such initiatives? But their language is so deceiving. Do they want to eradicate poverty by eradicating the poor? Whose health do they want to promote: that of the elite of the world's population as a whole?  What is behind their language? So much is left unsaid while the Global Citizen initiative is steaming ahead.

Who is behind the Global Citizen initiative?
The big corporations with their own objectives - the very organisations who have blotted their copybooks in the view of ordinary citizens - have wasted no time to jump on this bandwagon. Some familiar names from the Global Citizen website are: Johnson & Johnson, Hewlett Packard, Ericsson, Caterpillar, Microsoft and more. A quick look at Global Citizen's board members reveals even more, and if we add the Global Forum 2016 delegates to the mix, the list becomes very impressive: Monsanto, Siemens, Virgin Group, Novartis and many more. The Global Citizen corporations find themselves in good company here: we can find other well known organisations like the Gates foundation, George Soros and Tony and Cherie Blair's initiatives.

What do the corporate partners of Global Citizens want for themselves?

London banker Stephen Green once said in A 2009 interview: "Making a profit and promoting a social concept are not mutually exclusive". Global Citizen: "Our unique ability to mobilise mass audiences allows us to achieve demonstrable policy success", which to big businesses translates as: promotion, profit and branding (improving a company's public perception). However, that still doesn't address the main fears these CEOs have: losing potential profits, losing their businesses and perhaps even losing their heads on the chopping block if a revolution of public discontent were to sweep through their precious markets. The Global Citizen organisation may look profitable for immediate business pay-offs, but there is a thought behind the plan which is far more wide reaching in scope. And that is the challenge to bring the world's citizens under firm control: to harvest their data, to maximise their production, to regulate their lives in such a way that big business can reap maximum rewards from their lives. By joining hands with the Vatican, the CEOs are persuaded that they have gained a powerful patron to safeguard their financial futures and personal wellbeing.

What will the life of a Global Citizen look like?
The basic plan is for each human being on the planet to receive a digital financial identity. This will be the foundation for all future aspects of our lives: where we will work and live, how we will eat, sleep, travel and communicate and even how we will think and pray. In short, everything will be connected through the internet of things, the internet of value and the internet of moving things. Groundbreaking new technology will be used to make Global Citizen a reality, while social engineering techniques will persuade us that we all need to sacrifice something for the common good of mankind and for our beloved planet earth.

Future posts on this blog will explore the technologies that are being developed and tested right now. One such invention will lay the groundwork for a new development intended to persuade us to accept this new system. Because, if the current scheme comes to fruition, the coming proposal to us will be both diabolical and very compelling, and very difficult to resist.

Cardinal Peter Turkson

Siren call to business leaders
Meanwhile, our business leaders are being wooed by the siren call of the Vatican. They are persuaded to use their talents and influence in a divine call from heaven: to step into their "transformative role... as co-creators and partners with God... to serve the good of humanity" as Cardinal Peter Turkson appealed to his rapt audience during the global Forum at the Vatican.

In reality, life in this system of global finance, global government and a global identity will be one of severe limitations. This promised utopia of the Global Citizen may well turn out to be a nightmare rather than peace in our time.

Links:
Fortune + Time Global Forum 2016 overview
Pope Francis concludes Global Forum 2016
Working Group Solutions presented to Pope Francis
Pope Francis calls for creative business models
Vocation of a business leader
Technocracy Rising - the hidden philosophy behind Global Citizen

Update November 2017:
Was a covenant signed on this occasion?  The answer is: yes. And the implications are ominous.
The Global Covenant