[GMW
#3752] Convene A Wisdom Summit For Creating A New Global
Dream
Idea Dream - Robert
Muller's Ideas 3001 to 4000
~
Idea 4147 ~
Letter to the Mayor of San Francisco - Dear Mr. Mayor, May I
recommend to you that the city of San Francisco, the
birthplace of the United Nations, convene at the beginning of
this new millennium a Wisdom Summit on Creating a New Global
Dream for the World, a title suggested by Mrs. Lola Kristof in
a conversation during the recent first San Francisco Peoples'
Assembly, on 29 June - 1 July 2001.
1. the heads of states General Assembly of the UN in 2000
which was supposed "to focus on means to solve our primary
global problems and to reform the means of global governance
in order to meet the challenges of the 21st century" did not
come up with any proposals or initiatives;
2. Maurice Strong who was Secretary General of the two UN
world conferences on the Environment in 1972 and 1992 is so
concerned that he has come out with a book Where on Earth Are
We Going, in which he predicts that within the next thirty
years planet Earth will go to pieces;
3. In a recent study 600,000 middle and high school students
across the US were asked if they thought the world would be a
better place thirty years from now. Only 1% replied yes. When
asked if they wanted it to be better thirty years from now,
almost all replied yes; Santa Barbara, 9 July 2001
4. Have a glance also at
the complaints of the Earth at the beginning of a speech of
mine, excerpts sent herewith.* There exists an avalanche of
similar views and preoccupations all around the world. Since
no hope, light, plans and dreams come from governments, it
would be wonderful if one of the great visionary cities of
the world, San Francisco, the birthplace of the United
Nations, would give the world reasons for hope by convening
a Wisdom Summit of the best brains, thinkers and dreamers of
your country. The US has given its dreams several times to
the world, with the plans for the League of Nations, the
Marshall Plan, the creation of the United Nations and
others. The world is expecting a great new dream from the US
for humanity and the whole world. That dream could come from
the great inspiring city of San Francisco. The first ideas
for such a Summit should come from you. If you desire I
would be happy to give you my views too after a lifetime of
service with the United Nations since the end of World War
II. I wish you a great meeting with inspiring Mrs. Lola
Kristof who is the mother of the idea of a World Wisdom
Summit. Mr. Willy Brown Mayor of the City of San Francisco
Yours very warmly, Robert Muller Former UN Assistant
Secretary General Life-long Honorary President of the Global
Peoples' Assembly *Pages 142-144 of Volume IV of 4000 Ideas
and Dreams for a Better World.
Robert's
The Miracle,
Joy and Art of
Living,
Volume III - The Seasons of Life
Chapter
6 - The
Rich Age
She listened attentively, remained silent for a
while, and then commented:
"My mind has been functioning at high gear while you spoke. I
believe your friend is right, and I will give you a proof of it.
Do you know when exactly I had my heart attack? It was on the
anniversary date of the death of my husband. I was sitting here
in the kitchen all day long alone, crying my soul out, and
lamenting about the beautiful bygone days. I just let go. Life had
no meaning for me anymore. It was worthless, purposeless. I had no
reason to go on living and fighting. Living for what? For me
alone? Well, at ten o'clock in the evening after several hours of
such treatment, I suffered my heart attack and was taken to the
hospital.
What happened to me proves the correctness of your friend's
theory."
ANNEX
An Example - My Friends Theory
In the 1970's, when we were stationed at the UN in New York I
learned from a friend who is a neurologist that the human brain is
the last organ of the body to age: It becomes apparently more
effective or 'younger' over most of a person's lifetime, as it
creates ever more diversified and finer chains of neurons. The
human brain is an admirable, incredibly complex computer capable
of branching out inwardly and of refining endlessly its capacity
to store information, synthesize, summarize, conclude, and give
with lightening speed instructions to the billions of cells and
parts which compose the human body But the brain 'grows' only as
long as it is stimulated by the will, imagination, drive, or
curiosity of the individual. Once the stimulus disappears,
neurons stop growing. They atrophy and the brain loses its
effectiveness as the central command unit of the human being.
Disruptions and malfunctions appear in the form of all kinds of
physical and psychological ills. Death not infrequently occurs
after an individual has lost his will for life or basic drive.
This often happens when a person retires from a very active life
and is confronted with idleness and a lack of objectives. Indeed,
why should a life continue if there is no will for it?
What I had learned might have subsided from my mind after a while,
had I not been given shortly thereafter a vivid illustration of
its truth.
We were visiting in Danbury, Connecticut, a cousin of mine from
Alsace-Lorraine, Marthe Bogen, who had immigrated after the war
with her husband and child to the United States. My cousin Marthe
is one of those extraordinary persons I have known in my life.
Few people in this world have gone through the amount of torment
and miseries she and her family have suffered. Her stories would
fill a sizable volume. Nevertheless, she has always remained the
happiest and most optimistic person on Earth. Her happiness
engenders a tonic aureole all around her and accounts for the
innumerable friends she has. One spends a few minutes with her
and life becomes beautiful, cheerful, bouncing, exciting, full of
interesting stories, and laughter. She irradiates a joie de
vivre that catches everyone who comes near her. And of course
people seek her friendship in order to benefit from this
tonicity. She is quite capable of stating in a great outburst of
laughter:
"Do you know the latest news? I have decided to donate my body to
a medical school so that scientists and students may figure out by
what miracle I have survived for more than seventy years with one
lung, one eye, one kidney, an artificial hip, several sectioned
nerves, and a host of other lesser defects. They are going to
have some fun with me on the dissecting table, believe me!"
We were therefore utterly dismayed when we learned one day that
she had suffered a heart attack. But she recovered soon and after
her release from the hospital she invited us to her house in order
to celebrate. At coffee time, I told her of my friend's theory,
for it seemed to me that her whole life was a living proof of it,
except for her recent heart attack.
*
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