"Dr. Kamran Mofid is a visionary activist committed to the evolutionary transformation of social, ecological and spiritual values. His is a vision of a healing world, in which justice and peace are increased – rather than diminished – by the process of globalisation." -- Common Ground
http://www.cg.org/news_list.aspx
Alma and Clifford Pearson Distinguished Speakers Series
Location: Samuelson Chapel - California Lutheran University
"Kamran Mofid is founder of the Globalization for the Common Good Initiative and co-founder/editor of the Journal of Globalization for the Common Good. Born in Tehran, Iran, he received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics from the University of Windsor, Ontario, and his doctorate in economics from the University of Birmingham, U.K. In 2001 he received a Certificate in Education in Pastoral Studies at Plater College, Oxford..." http://www.callutheran.edu/calendar/event/1787
To listen to the lecture please click here: http://www.callutheran.edu/CLV/
"Outside ideas of right doing And wrong doing, There is a field I’ll meet you there." -- Rumi
You Have Sown the Seeds: Now is the Time to Prepare for a Rich Harvest
Dear Mr. Obama,
Congratulations on your election as the next president of the United Sates of America. Millions of Americans and indeed many more millions around the world are eagerly looking to you and your administration to address many pressing crises facing your country and the world over. These include climate change and ecology, banking, credit and subprime mortgage lending, soaring cost of energy and food, hunger and infectious disease, international relations and cooperation, peace and justice, terrorism and war, armaments and unprecedented violence, crime and insecurity. Other major problems include the fear of getting sick, old, homeless and jobless.
It is precisely in times like these – unstable and confusing though they may be – that people everywhere need to keep their eyes on the better side of human nature, the side of love and compassion, rather than hatred and injustice; the side of the common good, rather than selfishness, individualism and greed.
With your election a seed of hope has been sown. Now it’s the time to ensure this seed will grow into a most wonderful and rich harvest by insisting that the abundance that comes from God and earth and human effort must be shared, lest its concentration in the hands of the few become a blood-clot endangering our lives- as indeed has happened.
To do this, your government needs- as I am sure, it will- to adopt a new strategy of generosity toward all the people of America, as well as to all other people and nations around the world, by replacing the strategy of domination that has so long been the policy paradigm. Your administration needs to transform all institutions including the U.S. government to act not merely for economic benefits and the highest return to the shareholders, but also to encourage people’s natural inclination toward love, generosity, compassion, imagination, and wonder at the beauty of the planet Earth and the universe in which we live, by encouraging us all to know and serve the common good.
Those who may not have your best interest at heart may say this is too idealistic. But today, idealism is the new realism. So-called realism, through the strategy of domination, has only led to endless wars, needless suffering, and exploitation, seriously compromising the moral and spiritual standing of the U.S., both at home and abroad.
World Public Forum's Meeting in Vienna Theme:
The participants in the Vienna meeting of WPF have agreed to establish a working group of experts that is to research the problem of creating a new paradigm of the global society.
Kamran Mofid: Globalisation for the Common Good and the “Dialogue of Civilizations”
"The question of the scope and potential of dialogue among cultures and civilizations is achieving unprecedented significance, especially in the present international context. More than ever before, dialogue poses a fundamental challenge and must be based on the unity of mankind and commonly shared values, the recognition of the world’s cultural diversity and the equal dignity of each civilization, culture and individual. Why is it necessary to engage in a Dialogue of Civilizations? What can we learn from past dialogues? What effect could an increased dialogue have on the substance and process of international relations? Could there be any such thing as a global ethos, a common overarching human value system, a globalisation for the common good that transcends cultural and civilizational differences? In my presentation an attempt is made to show how the "Dialogue among Civilizations and Globalisation for the Common Good" can be a path towards building a world that is just, free and prosperous." -- Dr. Kamran Mofid, 11/14/08
Read the Text of the Speech by Kamran MofidDelivered at the First Summit of the World Public Forum (WPF)“Dialogue of Civilizations” November 09-11, 2008Hofburg Palace, Vienna, Austria
http://www.dialogueofcivilizations.org/
Kamran Mofid PhD (ECON)Founder, Globalisation for the Common Good Initiativewww.globalisationforthecommongood.infoCo-editor, Journal of Globalisation for the Common Goodwww.commongoodjournal.comGlobalisation for the Common Good, Chicago 2009http://www.gcgchicago2009.info/
Dr. Kamran Mofid, Economist and Founder of Globalisation for the Common Good Initiative:
Re: When it came to the crunch, MBAs didn't help
In an article in today's Observer (26 October 2008), Simon Caulkin, management editor, reflects on the MBA programmes, teachings and their contributions to the current global financial crisis. Caulkin begins his reflection as follows: "It's not just in finance that the inquests have begun. What part have the business schools and business academics played in the implosion of the world's banking system? That was the question posed in a letter to the Financial Times last week by Nottingham University Business School's Professor Ken Starkey. Hedge funds, private equity, investment banking, venture capital and consulting - the high priesthood of financial capitalism - were overwhelmingly MBAs' preferred job destinations, he noted. Now the schools needed to 'reflect on the role of the MBA and MBAs in the carnage of Wall Street' and consider 'how management education has contributed to the mindset that has led to the excesses of the last two decades'".
Caulkin then follows his argument by highlighting a few more other professors from other business schools, notably Professor James Fleck, dean of The Open University Business School and Professor Martin Parker of Leicester School of Management who have questioned the spirit of their teachings in the face of the current crisis.
I salute all these and other academics for their courage and honesty in speaking out against the inhumanity and injustices of neo-classical economics and asking for new models and theories of teaching. This is all well and good. But this kind of self criticism, however welcomed and timely, is mostly done post-crisis. We should all note that there were many academics, economists, including myself and others who have been asking fundamental questions about these MBA programmes and courses. Sadly it seems that we were not listened to.
Global Communication Association Conference
Globalization and Media in the Middle EastMuscat, Sultanate of OMANOctober 20-21, 2008
Established in 2007 and inaugurated at the Shanghai Global Communication and Development Conference, GCA is intended to:
http://blogs.calumet.purdue.edu/gca/
Globalisation for the Common Good works closely with Global Communication Association.
www.globalisationforthecommongood.info
UNITED NATIONS DECADE (2011-2020) OF INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE AND COOPERATION FOR PEACE:
Advancing the Culture of Peace through dialogue and cooperation among individuals and communities of diverse religions and beliefs.
"The UN Decade of Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation for Peace 2011-2020 (or DECADE) is aimed at promoting partnership between UN Member States, UN Agencies, Religious and Spiritual Communities and Civil Society Organizations to advance the culture of peace."
Dr. Kamran Mofid, Founder GCGI
"Globalisation For the Common Good: An Inter-faith Perspective, began in Oxford in 2002, and now The UN proclaims this decade the decade of INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE AND COOPERATION FOR PEACE (the very subject of our Initiative, project, conferences, Journal, the forthcoming Istanbul book and more). This is a wonderful news."
"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."
Impunity is the exemption or freedom from punishment, harm, or loss. Human rights abuses, frequently committed with impunity, happen in every corner of the world.
The stories of atrocities may come and go from our daily awareness while genocide, torture, "disappearances," rape, poverty, enslavement, starvation, "displacement," and poisoning of the environment continues, spiraling out of control to the point that there seems no end to the insanity.
A review of Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org/ and Amnesty International http://www.amnesty.org/ illustrate the scope of human rights abuses.
Where do we begin? How do we decide where to focus our attention? What actions can we take?
April Fools Bowling Jokes from one candidate, a few days before that a heartless assessment of the subprime mortgage crisis, devoid of any plans, by another candidate: The Time Is NOW for CHANGE.
It is difficult to imagine how far removed two of the three presidential candidates must be from the reality of the rest of America to be so flippant and smug.
The hearts of so many are in shards -- shattered glass strewn in the crime scene of American politics. Think for one moment of the tragedy and injustice that has been the lives of ordinary people as this political campaign has been playing out:
Globalisation For The Common Good, founded by Kamran Mofid PhD (ECON) www.globalisationforthecommongood.info
Dr. Mofid is the author of books, articles and Co-editor, Journal of Globalisation for the Common Good www.commongoodjournal.com
In 2002 Dr. Mofid founded an international conference on An Inter-faith Perspective on Globalisation for the Common Good.
The Seventh Annual Globalization for the Common Good: An Inter-faith Perspective will take place at Trinity College, University of Melbourne, Australia June 30-July 4, 2008. "From the Middle East to Asia Pacific: Arc of Conflict or Dialogue of Cultures and Religions?" http://www.gcgmelbourne2008.info
The Inaugural Conference took place in Oxford and in 2003 it was held in St. Petersburg, Russia. The 2004 conference was held in Dubai. The 2005 Conference was held in Nairobi and Kericho, Kenya. The 2006 Conference was held at Chaminade University of Honolulu, Hawaii, and the 2007 Conference took place at Faith University, Istanbul, Turkey.
Post from Voices at the Crossroads: Author: M Lucas, Ph.D.
"Changing Already: A New Way of Being" By M Lucas, Ph.D. When Barack speaks of change he is talking about change at a very different level than we typically think of, and different from the word 'change' as used by other candidates. The assumptions behind comments such as, 'You haven't given any specifics, only generalities', or 'You haven't been in Washington long enough to prove you can bring change' demonstrate this difference in what is mean by this word 'change'. He is speaking of revolutionary changes in our way of thinking, our attitudes, our ways of relating, our expectations, and our way of being.
I find it intriguing that these comments are made without an awareness that Barack is demonstrating his ability to effect widescale change in a very short period of time. He is providing a lived example each day. Until recently, we assumed destructive changes occur much more quickly than positive ones. Through his own way of being, he showed us that profound positive changes can occur more quickly than we ever thought was possible.
The past few months he has stimulated deep and far reaching changes in our country. He has changed our attitudes, increased our sense of hope, and shown us the possibility of changes in a short time. We developed renewed energy, hope, passion, and involvement as we witnessed our country learn to embrace candidates regardless of gender or race, and based on the candidates values and their ability to lead our country.
Barack's way of being leads us away from a paradigm of hierarchical leadership based in and fostering duplicity, conflict, scarcity mentality, deficiency motivation, reactive decisions, judgment, discouragement, betrayal, and animosity ... Instead, Barack's way of being leads us towards a paradigm of leadership based in and fostering integrity, sincerity, reflective thinking and decision making, faith in ourselves, growth motivation, an abundance mentality, and trust in each other to work together for a common good.
This website, his rallies, and our country are filled with Voices at the Crossroads of Revolutionary Changes in our Country- changes in our Attitudes and in our Way of Being. ... which will affect our policies, decision making, and culture of tomorrow.
