Global Forum on the Reinvention of Government

by Henry Lamb

On January 14, Al Gore convened the Global Forum on the Reinvention of Government, at the U.S. State Department. Representatives from 40 nations were present. The first speaker was the president of the Ford Foundation. Next, Secretary of State Albright introduced Al Gore by reciting the “leadership” Gore has exhibited in his reinvention of American government, boasting that the government has become more efficient, “user-friendly,” and with fewer bureaucrats. After a few half-hearted hints at humility, Gore began his all-too-familiar tirade about the horrors of the status quo, and the urgency to transform government into his vision of “global governance.”

Gore’s vision of global governance is not Al Gore’s; he is simply the leading salesman in the United States for a vision that has evolved over decades in the international community. The vision is articulated in Agenda 21, in Our Global Neighborhood, the report of the Commission on Global Governance, and throughout recent UN literature. He is the front man for global governance in America. He is the one person in the federal government who is passionately pushing for the transformation of American government into an administration agency for the United Nations.

The longer Mr. Gore spoke, the clearer it became that he has lost, or abandoned, the most basic principle of the American brand of self governance: namely, that government is empowered by the consent of the governed. The idea that government exists to implement the will of the governed, as expressed through their elected representatives, was nowhere to be found in his remarks. Instead, another vision of government was illuminated. His vision described a government with responsibility and power to care for its citizens, in whatever way the government decides that citizens need to be cared for.

The new system of governance is described as more democratic, more transparent, more efficient, more compassionate, more peaceful. Its objective is to ensure social and economic justice for all while also ensuring that the world’s natural resources are preserved for future generations. These objectives are to be achieved by governments that employ motivated professionals, dedicated to these high-sounding ideals. All governments everywhere are to be transformed into efficient administrative units of global governance in order to ensure the benefits to all mankind.

So what’s wrong with this utopian vision of the 21st century? This vision begins with the notion that government possesses the power to do whatever it believes to be best for the people; it should begin with the notion that all power resides with the people, who grant limited power to government through elected officials. The people, not professional government bureaucrats, should determine what is best for them, through the policies their elected officials adopt. Gore’s vision and practice, recognizes as valid, the views of only those people who agree with his vision. All the rest of the people are “right-wing conspirators” or worse. Dissenters are discredited as the first line of defense. The American brand of self-governance welcomes dissent because our Founders realized that dissent is nothing more than the competition of ideas. Public policy refined through public debate and disagreement of dissenters, often loses the sharp edges that are painful to those who must comply with the policy.

Gore is building a streamlined bureaucracy of professionals who, on the one hand, help shape global policy, and on the other hand, implement that policy with the full force and power of the federal government.

Where is Congress, while this transformation is taking place? Some members are actively pushing the transformation agenda forward, particularly those Congressmen known as the “Progressive Caucus.” A handful of Congressmen are actively trying to prevent the transformation, particularly those described by the White House spin machine as vindictive, partisan, right-wing zealots. Most Congressmen, by far, are not aware that there is an agenda to transform America into an administrative unit for global governance. Moreover, they do not want to hear about it. Far too many Congressmen immediately associate any criticism of the UN with right-wing, black-helicopter wackos. While this majority in the middle seeks solutions from ever deeper holes in the sand, Al Gore is completing the transformation of America, and is now reaching across the globe to accelerate the transformation of the planet.

Henry Lamb is one of the foremost experts on United Nations environmental programs including Agenda 21. He is the Executive Vice President of the Environmental Conservation Organization (ECO). For more information about the entire UN’s international environmental agenda visit ECO’s web site at www.freedom.org or contact ECO at P.O. Box 191, Hollow Rock, TN 38342

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Tom DeWeese
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Tom DeWeese is one of the nation’s leading advocates of individual liberty, free enterprise, private property rights, personal privacy, back-to-basics education and American sovereignty and independence.