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Message from Benjamin R. Barber, Founder and Chair of Interdependence Day and the CivWorld Citizens Campaign for Democracy
To the inaugural Interdependence Day in Budapest
Read on Interdependence Day 2003 in Budapest, Hungary by the Honorable Ivan Vitanyi
As we gather this September 12 in Philadelphia and on many university campuses around America to celebrate this first Interdependence Day, we are gratified to know that our fellow citizens in Budapest under the leadership of Ivan Vitanyi and with the participation of President Goencz are also gathering to acknowledge the interdependence which is our common world's common destiny.
It is especially significant that the two nations that are inaugurating this day of international cooperation and understanding we call Interdependence Day have a special relationship to independence. America proclaimed its independence 228 years ago in the belief that liberty and independence went hand in hand. The Hungarian nation re-secured its true independence by separating itself from Soviet hegemony a little less than fifteen years ago.
Yet though both nations have cherished their independence, both now understand that there is neither freedom nor equality nor safety from tyranny nor security from terror on the basis of independence alone. That in a world in which ecology, public health, markets, technology and war affect everyone equally, interdependence is a stark reality upon which the survival of the human race depends. That where fears rules, and terrorism is met by "shock and awe" only, neither peace nor democracy can ensue.
As once we depended on our sovereignties alone to secure our destinies, today we must depend on each other - Hungary in Europe, America and Europe in the world. We must strengthen our capacity for cooperative common work together to remain safe and free one by one.
In these two old cities of vibrant young nations - though a world apart -- we gather together to embrace our common destiny and, in the words of the Declaration of Interdependence:
"to pledge ourselves citizens of one CivWorld, civic, civil
and civilized… recognizing our responsibilities to the
common goods and liberties of humankind as a whole."
As you are with us today in Philadelphia, we are with you in Budapest - incarnating in our gatherings the possibilities of constructive interdependence.
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