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  JUNE 2000 Newsletter

Educate yourself...

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We have reproduced the Jubilee 2000 Platform below:

PART OF A WORLDWIDE MOVEMENT TO CANCEL THE CRUSHING DEBT OF IMPOVERISHED COUNTRIES BEFORE THE NEW MILLENNIUM

The Biblical tradition calls for a Jubilee year, when slaves are set free and debts cancelled. As the new millennium approaches, we are faced with a particularly significant time for such a Jubilee. Many impoverished countries carry such high levels of debt that economic development is stifled and scarce resources are diverted from health care, education, and other socially beneficial programs to make debt service payments. Much of the debt they carry is the result of ill-conceived development, flawed policies that creditors required of recipient countries in exchange for assistance, and shortsighted decisions of their own leaders. Much of the borrowing benefited only elites in receiving countries, whereas the burden of paying the debt is falling upon the most impoverished members of society.

Recognizing that many of these debts are unpayable and exact a great social and environmental toll, the Jubilee 2000/USA Campaign calls for a time of Jubilee and cancellation of debt that includes:

1. definitive cancellation of the crushing international debt in situations where countries burdened with high levels of human need and environmental distress are unable to meet the basic needs of their people or achieve a level of sustainable development that ensures a decent quality of life;

2. definitive debt cancellation that benefits ordinary people and facilitates their participation in the process of determining the scope, timing and conditions of debt relief, as well as the future direction and priorities of their national and local economies;

3. definitive debt cancellation that is not conditioned on policy reforms that perpetuate or deepen poverty or environmental degradation;

4. acknowledgement of responsibility by both lenders and borrowers, and action to recover resources that were diverted to corrupt regimes, institutions, and individuals;

5. establishment of a transparent and participatory process to develop mechanisms to monitor international monetary flows and prevent recurring destructive cycles of indebtedness.

To find out more about this movement
and how you can help go to:

http://www.j2000usa.org/index.html

JUBILEE 2000 EVENT May 16, 2000  -  July 4, 2000 Washington, DC to Los Angeles, CA: May 16 July 4. Five bicyclists (and an 8 month old baby) from Britain travel across the US on their way to the Okinawa G8 Summit in Japan, in order to promote Jubilee 2000. Tour starts in Washington, DC and ends in Los Angeles, with stops in VA, WV, KY, IN, IL, MO, KS, OK, NM, AZ, and CA. More info TBA. Group includes three Anglican vicars. To help out (group is urgently seeking a support vehicle, ie a van) email: claire@nick28.freeserve.co.uk

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To learn more go to:

Co-op America's Website - www.coopamerica.org

Co-op America is a national nonprofit consumer and investor education organization. Co-op America provides practical tools and information for how people can live a saner, greener, and healthier lifestyle.

The International Forum on Globalization

The International Forum on Globalization advocates equitable, democratic, and ecologically sustainable economics. It is formed in response to the present worldwide drive toward a globalized economic system dominated by supranational corporate trade and banking institutions that are not accountable to democratic processes or national governments. These current trends toward globalization are neither historically inevitable nor desirable.

www.ifg.org

Use your money to make a difference...

Shop Consciously

Every time you buy a product or a service you are supporting a company and its actions.  How we SPEND our money makes a difference.  Are you supporting companies that are working in socially responsible ways?  One way to find out is by studying the material put out by groups like Co-op America.

Check out their website at www.coopamerica.org or read more about them in our listing for them in the Business groups section:

Or check out the list of resources at the Responsible Shopper section of the Working Assets website. Here is a brief listing of websites, compiled by Working Assets, where you can discover just how socially responsible the companies you support with your dollars are:

Corporation Watch
www.corpwatch.org

Environmental impacts of consumer purchasing decisions
www.ucsusa.org/less/rules.html
www.ucsusa.org/less/guide.top.htm

Problems of consumption and some solutions
www.newdream.org

List of consumer boycott
www.Coopamerica.org/boycotts/bancover.htm

Do Not Buy and Do Buy Lists of domestic labor unions
www.unionlabel.org

Companies with 1999 shareholder social actions
www.socialfunds.com/sa/index.cgi

Responsibility grades on 320 large companies
www.cepnyc.org/ratings.htm


Social descriptions of 300 large companies
www.citizensfunds.com/300_profiles/index.htm

Invest responsibly

The following firms were selected by Business Ethics magazine as models of socially responsible investing excellence.

The Social Investment Forum   www.socialinvest.org/

Calvert Foundation   www.calvertgroup.com

Citizens' Fund    www.citizensfunds.com

Domini Social Equity   www.domini.com

Pax World      www.paxfund.com

South Shore Bank      www.sbk.com

The bottom line is recognizing that we cannot separate the way we earn and spend and invest and give away our money from our spiritual lives. We must work each day toward "walking the talk". It takes effort and consciousness but is well worth the effort.

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