THE 2020 AGENDA MANIFESTO——for Inclusion in the 2016 Progressive Democratic Platform

 

Bernie vs. Hillary

Bernie vs. Hillary

 

THE 2020 AGENDA MANIFESTO ——for Inclusion in the 2016 Democratic Platform to Realize the Bernie Sanders “Political Revolution for Economic Democracy” and the Clintonian SuperGoal of: “It’s Saving the American Dream, Stupid!”—-Draft Demands, Goals and 17 Point Action Agenda of the Global Counterforce Alliance

 

We the 99% of the people of America and of the World, in conjunction with the Counterforce Alliance in pursuit of Economic Democracy and Social Justice, within America, the EU and globally, and in resistance to the abuses and exploitation of the predatory 1% financial and wealth owning elite which according to the Economist Thomas Piketty in conjunction with unbalanced globalization and technological change, erosion of the Social Safety Net, destruction of Labor Union power and unethical money-class dominated government and elections, have reduced the real income of the American and Western Middle and Working Class over the past forty years, join together in solidarity to declare and support the following values and goals in response to the continuing and, despite recent superficial improvements, structurally unresolved World Economic Crisis. While pessimistic about the immediate present, we join in both idealism and optimism mediated through realism with regard to the ultimate future of humanity, convinced in the ultimate strength and creative power of the human spirit against all odds and obstacles, and convinced that the world is blessed with immense opportunities masquerading as insoluble dilemmas. In solidarity we set forth the following Demands, Goals, and Proposed Measures, long and short-term, and call on all of you of the 99% to mobilize all our common energies in their initiation, support and fulfillment, and call on all governments and leaders to assist the People in their implementation, including the Democratic Party of the USA in the 2016 Election cycle, whomsoever its nominee shall prove:

Left Meets Right in Wealth Tax Proposal

Left Meets Right in Wealth Tax Proposal

  1. Implement a Wealth Tax (Originally Proposed by Donald Trump in 1999!): We call for the immediate consideration and implementation of a Comprehensive Solidarity Tax on Wealth on all persons, natural and possibly corporate, and on trusts with net worth of $10,000,000 or more at the rate of at least 15% during the economic crisis and at least 3% annually. This would be in addition to and adjusted in complement with the existing Income Tax. The income of the 1% is already outrageously out of proportion to that of the 99%, having grown from 10% to 20% since 1980 due to an inherently corrupted and unfair tax system The wealth of the 1% is even more outrageously maldistributed, with the top 1% holding 38% of the privately held wealth in the USA, and the bottom 90% holding 73% of all debt. Economic democracy calls for a shift of the burden of taxation from income, particularly earned income to taxation of wealth and unearned income. Revenues would be made available to insure the solvency of the Social Security system, reduce the national debt, for fiscal stimulus to create jobs during the World Financial Crisis, for funding education and retraining for all unemployed or underemployed and for mortgage relief, among all other public purposes. (The original Donald Trump proposal of 1999 proposed a modified one-time version of the above to attempt to pay off the national debt in a single year while stabilizing the Social Security System. See: http://www.taxprophet.com/archives/faq/991128.htm)

Models: France has a tried and tested system of taxation of individual wealth at a progressive scale of rates from 0% to 1.8%, which is called the “Solidarity Tax on Wealth,” which provides a good working model for implementation in the USA. In 1999 Donald Trump proposed a one-off Wealth Tax of 14.25% on the net worth of individuals and trusts in excess of ten million dollars which was calculated to produce 5.7 Trillion dollars in new revenues.

 

We've Got The Best Political System Money Can Buy!

We’ve Got The Best Political System Money Can Buy!

 

  1. Radical Reform of Campaign and Political Contributions System and Restoration of Economic Democracy: Immediate repeal of Citizen’s United by appointment of Supreme Court justices committed to such or by Constitutional Amendment of broader scope, embracing comprehensive Campaign Reform by legislation or by Constitutional Amendment. As an Interim Measure: ALL TELEVISION AND MEDIA PROVIDERS SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO PROVIDE FREE MEDIA TIME TO CANDIDATES, STATE, LOCAL AND NATIONAL AS A CONDITION OF THEIR LICENSURE DURING ELECTIONS AND EQUAL TIME TO ALL. COMPENSATION, IF NEEDED CONSTITUTIONALY, SHOULD BE MADE FROM THE PUBLIC TREASURY. THIS OBVIATES THE NEED FOR 90% OF CORRUPT CONTRIBUTIONS, EVEN IF COMPREHENSIVE CAMPAIGN REFORM LAWS ARE BLOCKED.

The present corrupted system of political financial contributions by financial interests has become toxic and deadly. It is not an exaggeration to say that present laws have substantially lost legitimacy as they are not the result of the will of the people but of legalized corruption financed by the 1%, calling into question the duty of the 99% to obey or respect them. All laws and public decisions are essentially corrupted by the illegitimate political power of the 1% to maldistribute social resources to the disadvantage of the 99%, especially its lower third. To democratically re-legitimize the governmental system it is necessary to enact immediate campaign contribution reform or move to a fully publically financed system in which private political contributions are made illegal or restricted. We need to move from the “One Buck One Vote” system of the present back to a “One Person One Vote” democratic system. Economic Democracy is only sustainable after the financial corruption of the political system has been thoroughly cleansed.

Too Big to Fail; Too Big to Jail.

Too Big to Fail;
Too Big to Jail.

 

  1. Strict Regulation of Dangerous, Predatory and Irresponsible Financial Practices/Breakup of Banks Too Big to Fail/Glass-Steagel Firewalls: We demand further and stricter regulation of dangerous financial practices beyond Dodd-Frank such as credit-default swaps, derivatives, predatory mortgages, and associated abuses which caused the still-unresolved World Financial Crisis. We demand prosecution of the principal abusers. When unresolved by regulation, if necessary, weaknesses and abuse in the financial sector may be addressed by nationalization in the public interest. Banks too big to fail should be broken up where they pose systemic risk to the financial system.

 

Make the Banks Pay Their Fair Share!

Make the Banks Pay Their Fair Share!

 

  1. Implement Financial Transactions Tax To Pay For Free Public University Education for All Qualified: We call for the immediate imposition of a transactions tax on all purchases and sales of stocks, bonds, equities, financial derivatives, and especially on speculative and dangerous transactions such as credit-default swaps at the heart of the World Financial Crisis. The 1% should be required to pay at least 1% for all such financial transactions. John Maynard Keynes proposed implementation of such a system following the 1929 Crash and Depression to curb disastrous speculation.

Models: Britain has had a Stamp Tax on financial transactions since 1694 on the London Stock Exchange and Sweden has a comprehensive 0.5% tax on equity securities and financial derivatives, with like legislation in Brazil and Peru.

 

Tobin Tax on Foreign Exchange Transactions Makes the Globalized Economy Pay Its Fair Share

Tobin Tax on Foreign Exchange Transactions Makes the Globalized Economy Pay Its Fair Share

 

  1. Implement Tobin Tax or Tax on Foreign Exchange Transactions: With Globalization the international half of the economy must begin to pay its fair share of taxes, including those for the use of money abroad. Nobel Prize Laureate James Tobin proposed a tax on all spot conversions of one currency into another as a means of dampening speculation and “hot money,” In the post-Globalization era this has also been seen as a means of extending the fiscal tax base catchment area into the extra-national realm of the internationalized economy to generate resources for management of the abusive externalities of an irresponsible run-away global financial economy. The Tobin Tax of 0.5% to 1% should be levied on all conversions of one currency to another with the proceeds divided three ways: one-third to the nation of each currency and one-third to the United Nations and World Bank for purposes of global governance, international Keynesian fiscal stimulus and attainment of the Millennium 2000 goals. The division of the proceeds could also be divided on the basis of relative unemployment rates of the two nations or GDP per head. At present only international banks derive income from foreign exchange conversion, a privatized tax going to capital owners. The proceeds of the Tobin Tax should be used to COMPENSATE THOSE ADVERSELY AFFECTED BY GLOBALIZATION, including the long-term unemployed, underclasses, those in need of vocational re-training, relocation, and income guarantees or minimum income guarantees under a Social Safety Net or Social Contract.
  2. Implement Excise and Luxury Taxes on Luxury Goods and Property for Duration of Financial Crisis: During the time of Global Economic Crisis and mass unemployment, just as in times of war and national emergency, the 1% wealth owners should be required to make sacrifices proportionate to their means for the common good. All luxury items, especially Veblenesque goods designed to confer social status, including luxury cars and homes, luxury fashion goods and luxury services more than 100% in excess of the mean for common goods and unrelated to real needs should be heavily taxed for the benefit of the common good and to stimulate consumption by those in need. Even in the “Monopoly” game those who live on “Park Place,” “Get Out of Jail Free” and “Advance to Go” must take their turn at paying Luxury Tax.

 

Progressive Taxes Address Gross Exploitation of the 99% By the 1%

Progressive Taxes Address Gross Exploitation of the 99% By the 1%

7.  Progressive Income Tax Reform: Comprehensive reform of the existing Income Tax system must be undertaken to make it more progressive and reduce tax on the lower brackets and surcharging the upper brackets while protecting the middle-class and providing incentives for true entrepreneurship and job creation. Tax rates on the upper brackets should at least be reinstated to their pre-1980 levels. Faux deficits artificially created by lowering upper-bracket taxes and engaging in irresponsible and wasteful wars, followed by predatory demands for budget spending reductions, the favorite tactic of predatory capital, should be eliminated. Negative Income Tax, conditional on participation in retraining, education or public service work should provide a Social Safety Net for all persons. Unearned income from financial speculation or passive capital gains unrelated to innovation and growth in the real economy should be heavily taxed for the common good. The true creative capacity of the “free enterprise” system should be rewarded, nurtured and protected, whereas the unearned income from the parasitical and exploitative abuse of the real economy by the predatory financial economy should be severely restrained and taxed. Wherever possible the tax base should be shifted from income tax to wealth tax, and from payroll tax to progressive income tax and on to wealth tax. Regressive taxes, such as sales tax on necessities, payroll tax and others should be replaced or supplemented by progressive taxes on wealth and income.

8.  Inheritance, Estate and Trust Tax Reform: Inheritance, Estate and Trust Taxes should be radically increased for all estates above 10 million dollars as part of a wealth taxation program for the common good. Even Bill Gates and Warren Buffet do not leave their billions to their own children above a fair amount, and inherited wealth is the archetypal form of arbitrary, unfair and unearned misdistribution of wealth. Along with Gates and Buffet we believe the spoiled children of the wealthy elite should become entrepreneurial if they want to enjoy wealth, rather than taking a free ride on the gravy train. Evasions of Inheritance and Estate tax by abuse of trusts should also be eliminated and subject to recapture, unless true transfer beyond the control of the wealth holder occurs and the trust is monitored to make sure that decisions are in the interest of the beneficiaries and the public instead of a masked manipulation for the benefit of the wealth holder.

The Global Green New Deal

The Global Green New Deal

9.  Rebalancing Economic Globalization with a Global Green New Deal and Further Evolution of International Institutions and Global Governance Commensurate to the Newly Globalized World Economy: Much of the World Economic Crisis is the result of dangerously imbalanced Globalization in which limited nation-state economic institutions have not evolved to meet the realities of a globalized economy, creating dangerous and unsustainable global economic imbalances. Emergence from the Great Depression of the 1930’s required not just government action but also the empowerment of labor unions, civil society, Social Security and the Social Safety Net, Keynesian economic management, and the Social Contract and other checks and balances to the predatory and irresponsible power of financial capital. Globalization has eroded this balance of power, weakening the power of the nation-state, labor unions and civil society and thrusting us back to 1929 era stone-age predatory capitalism. If it is impossible to go back to the pre-Globalized world order with its national checks and balances against predatory capital, then it is necessary to move forward to a new globalized system of checks and balances on an internationalized basis of global governance. The Global Green New Deal seeks to evolve new internationalized institutions of global governance that can be socially, economically and environmentally sustainable, recasting the Social Contract and Social Safety Net in a new manner commensurate with the realities of a globalized economy. It is not anti-Globalization per se, but seeks a rebalanced Globalization with new and effective checks and balances against irresponsible and predatory international financial capital, through extension of global democracy, global governance and economic democracy.

 

Globalization of Industry Requires Globalization of Unions and Globalized Collective Bargaining Within Each Multinational Corporation

Globalization of Industry Requires Globalization of Unions and Globalized Collective Bargaining Within Each Multinational Corporation

 

10.  Globalization of Labor Unions and Collective Bargaining Initiative: We demand immediate amendment of Labor Law requiring multinationals to undertake globalized collective bargaining in good faith with unions representing all their international subsidiaries and affiliates and manufacturing sub-contractors. A key cause of the financial crisis in the stagnation of wage rates in the US and the EU, caused in principal part by the breaking of unions and de-unionization of the economy since WWII, of which imbalanced globalization is a key cause. Union Density rates have fallen to below 9% in the private sector in the US, rates of union membership not seen since 1929. Union power to collectively bargain on behalf of workers in the globalized sectors and services sectors is a necessary check and balance on predatory capital. Income maldistribution cannot be corrected only by governmental action but other forces such as labor unions and civil society and consumer and environmental activism must serve as additional checks and balances to irresponsible and predatory financial capital. The World Financial Crisis began with the Subprime Mortgage crisis, but this was caused primarily not by people buying homes beyond reasonable means, but rather by the failure of per capita earned income to increase for over thirty years. The housing crisis is really a household income crisis, and recovery in the US, the EU and beyond cannot occur until substantial sustainable increases in worker compensation and household income occur. Unions must be restored as a necessary non-governmental check and balance against the abuses of predatory capital. To do so Collective Bargaining and enterprise unionization must be Globalized. Collective Bargaining and Labor Standards must be included as key component of TPP and all future multinational trade agreements, and domestically a new initiative must be undertaken to Re-Unionize the Economy of the USA, both within the Private and Public Sectors and within the now dominant Service Sector, Internet Sector and “Gig” and Adjunct Sectors. Part-Time Workers must be given Proportionaity, or Access to Benefits on a Proportional Basis As Full-Time Workers, so that Employers such as Wal-Mart cannot deprive workers of benefits by the fiction of limiting their hours to 32 or 36 hours. By Law they should be forced to provide a proportional contribution to the Part-Time worker’s Health and Pension benefits on the same basis as the Full-Time Worker, regardless of hours worked. Multinationals as a condition of their goods being traded internationally must allow Global Unions in which all the workers of all of their international subsidiaries belong to a single union or alliance of unions and enterprises must have a legal duty to bargain in good faith globally with the united representatives of the unions of all their subsidiaries. Collective bargaining must be globalized to raise compensation both in the developed nations and in the developing and emerging economies. Only this will provide sustainable circulation of purchasing power to support sustainable economic recovery. Such a requirement should be made a mandatory condition of the WTO rules and supervised by a beefed up ILO. Multinationals with programs of union-busting or bad faith failure to engage in Globalized Collective bargaining should have their products banned from international trade. Unions must immediately undertake to organize all the workers of all the global subsidiaries of their companies and sectors in all nations in which they operate into a single collective bargaining unit, moving beyond the nation-based union model of the past. Raising the wages of workers in emerging economies through global collective bargaining is critical in boosting their purchasing power for American and EU goods and services.

 

The 99% Needs A Raise!

The 99% Needs A Raise!

11.  Conversion of Financial Capital into Human Capital—-Globalization No Worker Left Behind Initiative—$15 p/hr Fed. Minimum Wage & the 25 Million Futures Initiative: In education we have embraced the “No Child Left Behind” concept. In economic globalization we must embrace the “No Worker Left Behind” concept in response to Globalization and it economic restructuring. The financial resources generated by the Wealth Tax and the above tax initiatives should be utilized to provide a CONDITIONAL GUARANTEED MINIMUM INCOME through a negative income tax or other means. 25 Million Persons should be given subsidized living allowances and educational and retraining allowances continuing during their participation in retraining and rehabilitation, further education or public service and environmental work. The concept of any able person being “unemployed” should be decisively and permanently eliminated. If any person is not traditionally employed in the private or public sectors that person and his or her family should be given a guaranteed minimum income, conditional on their daily participation in further education, retraining or continuing daily public interest and environmental employment. All able persons shall be either employed full-time in work or full-time in education, retraining or preparation for work and guaranteed a survival income via the Social Safety Net as a condition of the Social Contract. The above taxes should provide for the radical expansion of the human resources and educational infrastructure to permanently absorb the displaced worker population, with the goal of returning them to the labor marketplace with greater productivity skills on economic recovery. The Tobin Tax on Foreign Currency Exchange shall be used to finance such measures.

12.  Implementation of Labor and Environmental Protection Requirements at the WTO: We demand the incorporation of Global Collective Bargaining and Environmental Standards, certified by ISO type inspection and verification as a mandatory condition of the WTO and trade of goods in the international marketplace.

13.  Partial Shift of Social Security Funding from Regressive and Demographically Unsustainable Payroll Taxes to Financial and Wealth Based Taxes: The partial unsustainability of the Social Security system results from its outmoded tax base. Reliance on payroll taxes, while having some advantage in insuring the contractual inviolability and apparent fairness of the system, is unnecessarily regressive and demographically unsustainable. There is no reason why only workers and employers pay for retirement benefits of those who have sustained the economy over their lifetimes while the financial sector pays nothing. The financial sector has grown at near-cancerous rates and makes no contribution to Social Security while the ever lessening number of active workers is called on to shoulder the burden of supporting the old and infirm. The Wealth Tax and revitalized Progressive Income Tax should partially replace and reduce the payroll tax system to reflect the demographic changes and growth of the financial sector as a percentage of GDP from the initiation of the Social Security system in the 1930’s. The Tax Base reflecting Globalization, namely the Tobin Tax on Foreign Currency Exchanges and the Financial Transactions Tax on both Domestic and Foreign enterprises traded on our capital markets should let the burden of retirement be equally shared by the globalized and internationalized sectors of the economy which have taken so much profit from the work of the workers over their lifetimes.

 

A United Nations Parliamentary Assembly for Global Democracy

A United Nations Parliamentary Assembly for Global Democracy

 

14.  Implementation of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly within the United Nations: We demand the Creation of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, based on the successful model of the EU European Parliament as a new third organ of the United Nations alongside the Security Council and the General Assembly for Global Democracy in Global Governance, as was proposed by UN former Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, as a Plank in the National Democratic Platform of 2016. The Occupy Wall Street movement as well as the Bernie Sanders “Economic Democracy Political Revolution” or “Democratic Socialism Political Revolution” should immediately march on the United Nations in New York and demand the adoption by the General Assembly of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, which is a proposal for the creation of a European Parliament-style international consultative assembly as a permanent organ of the United Nations alongside the Security Council and General Assembly. Article 22 of the UN charter allows the General Assembly to do so by a majority vote not subject to great power veto. Economic Democracy in the era of a globalized economy requires the extension of democratic processes to the system of global governance and the progressive evolution of international institutions such as the United Nations commensurate with the problems of the newly globalized economy and the globalization of all aspects of human life and of the environment. Eliminating the democratic deficit in our global international institutions will also help to address the maldistribution of wealth and income nationally and internationally. Modernly, almost all problems have become globalized and are beyond the power of single nation-states to solve on behalf of their peoples, from the World Economic Crisis, to Global Warming, terrorism, drugs and epidemics. The institutions of global governance must evolve commensurately, and as they evolve democratic checks and balances must evolve along with them. See: http://en.unpacampaign.org/index.php for more details.

Former United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali ----Prime Exponent of a UN Parliamentary Assembly

Former United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali —-Prime Exponent of a UN Parliamentary Assembly

 

15.  Globalization of Corporate Tax, Ending of Corporate Inversions, and Outsourcing Readjustment Tax: Run-away irresponsible capital takes all the resources of domestic enterprise and discards the workers, replacing them with cheaper foreign labor and operating through international subsidiaries and affiliates and expropriating existing workers and stakeholders of their stakeholder equity. To better balance the advantages and burdens of globalization and to preserve the earnings of the global entity within the catchment area of national taxation the Corporate Tax should be levied on global earnings of all subsidiaries and affiliates. Payments for Outsourcing and import substitution should be subject to a Restructuring Tax sufficient to support the retraining of displaced workers and in transition to new employment, and to deal with the uncompensated externalities of such practices, though such taxes should not be abused to the degree to amount to absolute or unjustifiable protectionism. Abuse of H1B Visas to improperly replace qualified American workers and defraud immigrants with fraudulently low wages must be stopped and abusers must be prosecuted. Hoardes of offshore capital and earnings of US companies must be taxed on an equal basis with domestic earnings regardless of shells or subsidiaries. Tax avoidance shells and schemes must be exposed and broken to assure the predatory 1% does not avoid paying its fair share through cheap tricks of Caymen incorporations, inversions and other quasi-criminal schemes and elitist conspiracies against the public.

 

16.  Shift of Keynesian Fiscal Stimulus and Public Debt from Sovereign National Debt to Internationalized Systems such as Eurobonds in the EU, G20 Initiatives and World Bank Instruments such as SDR WorldBonds: The principal reason for Sovereign Debt crises around the world is the necessity of fiscal deficits financed by borrowing as a means of stimulating growth of any economy in recession associated with John Maynard Keynes. However, we live in a globalized economy and where EU nations or the US or other nations borrow and run deficits much of the growth stimulated is in other export-oriented nations rather than in the catchment basin of the national tax systems used to finance this Keynesian debt. This is the root of the EU Sovereign Debt Crisis and much of the US fiscal deficit. When no domestic growth results, the stimulating nation is left with the complete debt but the GDP growth is unsustainably outside its tax revenue catchment area. Thus, much of the World Economic Crisis is the result of dangerously imbalanced Globalization in which limited nation-state economic institutions have not evolved to meet the realities of a globalized economy.

 

17.  Further Evolution of the “Occupy Movement “into the “Bernie Revolution” then into “Sustainable Economic Democracy” : Previosly to date the “Occupy” program has attained immense success in conscious building amid mobilizing human resources around the world to fight economic injustice and exploitation of the 99% by the 1% and fostering communication regarding the plight of the victims of the World Economic Crisis. As time goes on, however, the movement must evolve and mature, transitioning from consciousness raising to an action program, or interest and support will likely evaporate or be wasted. This evolution should result from open and democratic deliberation and debate, inclusive of both on-site activists and Internet-based contributors. To evolve beyond the “Primal Scream” of injustice cited by Al Gore towards solutions to the systemic problems requires first a process of analysis and possible solution design, then consciousness raising and support-building in aid of the proposals, followed by political struggle within the democratic processes and resistance to illegitimate suppression by either governments or opponents. To these ends the “Occupy” sites should evolve from protest encampments to staging areas for political organization, and then to mobilization centers for mass action. Analysis needs to be made, values and goals agreed upon, demands made as a tool for mobilizing support, and then concerted and sustained pressuring and lobbying of governments needs to be undertaken and completed, using bottom-up support as a vital base of action. To date the “Bernie Revolution” has taken the “Occupy Movement” to Stage Two of its process of maturation, giving it a focus on real world politics and real world policy goals to strive for. Seemingly out of nowhere he has achieved the seemingly impossible, bringing “democratic socialism’ to center stage as a major alternative in presidential and major party politics. As we have observed before, however, this is less miraculous than it seems, as more than half of the American middle and working class feels it is in danger of permanently losing its economic position, security and that which is commonly referred to as “The American Dream.” It is in this context that there is a great flexibility in examining new alternatives, rationally and emotionally, both of the left and the right, as there was in the 1920’s. It is not to be expected that existing power-holders will voluntarily adopt these proposals, and many of them will be met either with overt or covert hostility, or with ridicule, incomprehension or resistance. Therefore, consciousness raising and conceptual development must continue apace, and most likely within the democratic nations the electoral process must be entered into, endorsing candidates in sympathy, opposing opponents and rallying support until the composition of the legislatures and governments has changed to support these concepts. Strategies of political action will have to be worked out, including all options such as endorsement and support or opposition of existing political leaders, entering candidates in primaries of existing parties based around these principles, or formation of new political parties. In the long run, the Occupy Wall Street movement reincarnated at the Bernie Revolution will fail, unless it reaches out within the electoral process and entrenches its true believers at the local, state and federal levels in the councils, statehouses, Congress and Party positions beyond the high-prestige Presidential race, and furthermore mobilizes workers in the workplace, through established labor unions and newer unions and workers associations, and also the churches, that traditional alternative seat of conscience and consciousness independent of the state and the corporate economy. It must reach beyond its initial base of disaffected intellectuals, students, the unemployed and the underclass, and rally to its cause the broad working class, the “Senior Citizens,” AARP, endangered lower middle class and the progressive and mainstream wings of the religious community. Corporations must be occupied, but not from the outside by protesters, but rather from the inside by resurgent and revitalized unions ready to both strike and to demand co-determination of company decisions vital to their interests and survival, as in the German model of “Co-Determination” Union representation on the Boards of Directors of every corporation by law. And the union action must be global and not just national. In all of this it must be remembered that we live in a globalized economy within a globalized world, however much some candidates might fantasize about “building walls” around their countries, and the solutions must be found in close cooperation with all the other nations on earth. Therefore we must intensify our fight for the rights and security of the American middle and working class across the world, not withdraw from it or from the world economy. To that end we must find better international trade arrangements not simply withdraw into a pretended “Fortress Amerika.” To that end also we must strengthen the international order, including creating and entering the United Nations Parliamentary Assembly within the United Nations dreamed of by Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali prior to his death in February. Preference must always be given to peaceful, rational and democratic processes of change where appropriate. In case of illegitimate, violent, unlawful and unjustifiable government repression, the right of the people to resist by other means is enshrined in the American Declaration of Independence, the American Constitution and its Bill of Rights, and the French and UN Declarations of the Universal Rights of Man.

 

Restore the American Dream

 

Source: The Agenda 2020 Manifesto is adapted from the Occupy Earth Manifesto originally published in the original “Occupy Wall Street Novel” “Spiritus Mundi” by Robert Sheppard:

WILL WWIII RESULT FROM A RUSSIAN INVASION OF THE UKRAINE OR A JOINT RUSSIAN-IRANIAN-CHINA SNEAK ATTACK ON THE MIDDLE-EAST OIL RESERVES?——MI6′S NEW SUPERSPY ETIENNE DEARLOVE IS THE NEW JAMES BOND!——-FREE!——-GET THE SNOWDEN-CLANCY-ORWELLIAN CYBERSPY THRILLER NOVEL THAT DEFINES OUR ERA!—-NSA/CIA/MI6/WWIII CYBERTHRILLER EPIC SPIRITUS MUNDI BY ROBERT SHEPPARD FREE TO YOU DURING THE PUSHCART PRIZE GIVEAWAY CELEBRATION!

WILL WWIII RESULT FROM A RUSSIAN INVASION OF THE UKRAINE OR A JOINT RUSSIAN-IRANIAN-CHINA SNEAK ATTACK ON THE MIDDLE-EAST OIL RESERVES?——MI6′S NEW SUPERSPY ETIENNE DEARLOVE IS THE NEW JAMES BOND!——-FREE!——-GET THE SNOWDEN-CLANCY-ORWELLIAN CYBERSPY THRILLER NOVEL THAT DEFINES OUR ERA!—-NSA/CIA/MI6/WWIII CYBERTHRILLER EPIC SPIRITUS MUNDI BY ROBERT SHEPPARD FREE TO YOU DURING THE PUSHCART PRIZE GIVEAWAY CELEBRATION

Spiritus Mundi by R

Spiritus Mundi by R

#EtinneDearlove, #Dearlove, #MI6, #CIA, #Ukraine,#Crimea, #JamesBond, #TheNewJamesBond, #WWIII,#TheNewFleming,#‎TheNewJackRyan‬, ‪#‎TheNewClancy‬,‪#‎Clancy‬, ‪#‎JackRyan‬,‪#‎SpyThriller‬,‪#‎JackSartorius‬, ‪#‎SpiritusMundi‬,‪#‎RobertSheppard‬, ‪#‎Snowden‬ Follow the spellbinding Thriller Scenario of a threatened Russian-Iranian-Chinese Pearl Harbor-like sneak attack on the Middle-East Oil Reserves to permanently take away the dominance of the West with a New Eurasian Axis!———-Follow the exploits of MI6′s newest Superspy Etienne Dearlove—The New James Bond—-as he penetrates the closed world of the Chinese Politburo in Beijing to uncover the Secret Geopolitical Conspiracy to fatally change the world’s Balance of Power!——-How will it all end? —-Find out now in the Thriller Geopolitical WWIII Thriller Spiritus Mundi by Robert Sheppard! World Literature Forum is honored to announce that Spiritus Mundi, the acclaimed Cyberthriller Action Novel by Robert Sheppard, the defining work of our Snowden-Orwellian Era, has been included in the nominations for the presitigious 2014 Pushcart Prize. The thriller action of the novel follows a NSA/CIA/MI6 Counterterrorism team’s cat and mouse cyber-pursuit of nuclear terrorists bent on infiltrating a group of global idealists campaigning for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly for global democcracy, then unearthing a much bigger Apocalyptic conspiracy to start WWIII between a secretly allied China, Russia and Iran to make a Pearl Harbor-like sneak attack on the Middle-East’s oil reserves, severing the energy jugular of the vulnerable declining West. Cutting edge MI6/NSA Cyber-techno-penetration of the top-secret communications network of the Chinese Politburo through the tech-avvy and sexual wiles of neo-Bondian 21st Century MI6 Superspy Etienne Dearlove gives the West its last chance to head off Armageddon. Find out the final fate of the world by reading Spiritus Mundi now! ________________________________________________________________ ACT NOW TO DISCOVER THE WORLD’S FATE! GET YOUR FREE e-COPY OF PUSHCART PRIZE NOMINATED CYBERTHRILLER SPIRITUS MUNDI BY ROBERT SHEPPARD (BOOK I) NOW BY FOLLOWING THIS SMASHWORDS LINK TO DOWNLOAD: Spiritus Mundi Book I, The Novel (5.0 Stars on Smashwords) https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/303856 _______________________________________________________________ In celebration of the Pushcart Prize Nomination for Spiritus Mundi a Pushcart Prize Giveaway Celebration has been declared as an introductory offer in which Spiritus Mundi, Book I will be made available free on Smashwords and affiliated outlets, including Barnes & Noble and many others. It is hoped that readers will be inspired by Book I to purchase Book II, Spiritus Mundi the Romance, either later or at the same time at the discount price of $3.99 (Remember you have to read Book II to find out how the story of Book I ends!). The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize by Pushcart Press that honors the best “poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot”published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are invited to nominate up to six works they have featured. Anthologies of the selected works have been published annually since 1976. The founding editors are Anaïs Nin, Buckminster Fuller, Charles Newman, Daniel Halpern, Gordon Lish, Harry Smith, Hugh Fox, Ishmael Reed, Joyce Carol Oates, Len Fulton, Leonard Randolph, Leslie Fiedler, Nona Balakian, Paul Bowles, Paul Engle, Ralph Ellison, Reynolds Price, Rhoda Schwartz, Richard Morris, Ted Wilentz, Tom Montag, and William Phillips. Among the writers who previously received early recognition in Pushcart Prize anthologies were: Kathy Acker, Steven Barthelme, Rick Bass, Charles Baxter, Bruce Boston, Raymond Carver, Joshua Clover, Junot Diaz, Andre Dubus, William H. Gass, Seán Mac Falls, William Monahan, Paul Muldoon, Joyce Carol Oates, Tim O’Brien, Lance Olsen,Peter Orner, Kevin Prufer, Kay Ryan, Mona Simpson, Ana Menéndez, and Wells Tower. Included in the Pushcart 2014 Nominations were several of well-known author Robert Sheppard’s “Poems from Spiritus Mundi” including “Moby Dick” and “Zeno’s Paradox” which were published in and nominated for the Pushcart Prize by Poetry Pacific and available here and on their website: https://robertalexandersheppard.wordpress.com/2013/04/11/poetry-pacific-3-poems-by-robert-sheppard/ INTRODUCING PUSHCART PRIZE NOMINEE ROBERT SHEPPARD’S EPIC NOVEL SPIRITUS MUNDI Spiritus Mundi Book Cover.80 Author’s E-mail: rsheppard99_2000@yahoo.com ON SPIRITUS MUNDI “Read Robert Sheppard’s sprawling, supple novel, Spiritus Mundi, an epic story of global intrigue and sexual and spiritual revelation. Compelling characters, wisdom, insight, and beautiful depictions of locations all over the world will power you through the book. You’ll exit wishing the story lines would go on and on.” May 13, 2012 Robert McDowell, Editor, Writer, Marketer, Editorial Cra, The Nature of Words ______________________________________________________ “Robert Sheppard’s novel, “Spiritus Mundi,” has everything. “Spiritus Mundi” is Latin, meaning “spirit” or “soul of the world.” According to the Norton Anthology of English Literature, the phrase refers to “the spirit or soul of the universe” with which all individual souls are connected through the “Great Memory.” This amazing novel is all inclusive and unceasingly riveting. If you are interested in politics, philosophy, human relationships, sex, intrigue, betrayal, poetry and even philosophy — buy and read “Spiritus Mundi”!”November 18, 2012 Raymond P. Keen, School Psychologist, Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DODDS) —————————————————————- “Robert Sheppard’s new novel “Spiritus Mundi” is a new twist on a well-loved genre. Robert leaves no stone unturned in this compelling page turner you’ll experience mystery, suspense, thrills, and excitement. Robert touches on sexuality and spirituality in such a way that the reader is compelled to ask themselves “what would you do if faced with these trials?” Robert is a master at taking the reader out of their own lives and into the world he created. If you’re looking for a “can’t put down” read pick up Spiritus Mundi!” May 20, 2012 Nicole Breanne, Content Coordinator, Ranker.com _____________________________________________________ “Longing for a thrilling experience of the sexual and spiritual world? Expecting a thorough summoning of your inner heart? Aspiring to find an extraordinary voice to enlighten your understanding heart? Then you can’t miss this extraordinary novel, Spiritus Mundi by Robert Sheppard. The author will spirit you into a exciting world filled with fantasy, myth, conflicts and wisdom from a fresh perspective. Don’t hesitate, just turn to the 1st page and start out enjoying this marvellous journey.”November 17, 2012 Alina Mu Liu, Official Interpreter, Editor & Translator, HM Courts & Tribunal Service, London UK & the United Nations —————————————————————————— “Robert Sheppard’s Spiritus Mundi is a literary novel for those with an extensive vocabulary, and who believe how you tell a story is as important as what occurs in it. It is as current as today’s headlines. Jaime Martinez-Tolentino, Writer” November 19, 2012 ————————————————————————– “Robert Sheppard’s exciting new novel, Spiritus Mundi, is an unforgettable read and epic journey of high adventure and self-discovery across the scarred landscape of the modern world and into the mysteries beyond. Its compelling saga reveals the sexual and spiritual lives of struggling global protesters and idealists overcoming despair, nuclear terrorism, espionage and a threatened World War III to bring the world together from the brink of destruction with a revolutionary United Nations Parliamentary Assembly and spiritual rebirth. This modern epic is a must read and compelling vision of the future for all Citizens of the Modern World and a beacon of hope pointing us all towards a better world struggling against all odds to be born.” May 19, 2012 Lara Biyuts, Reviewer and Blogger at Goodreads.com and Revue Blanche ________________________________________________________ “Robert Sheppard’s “Spiritus Mundi” is a book of major importance and depth. A must read for any thinking, compassionate human being living in these perilous times. I highly recommend this powerful testament of the current course of our so-called life on his planet. April 25, 2012 Doug Draime Writer, Freelance ___________________________________________________ “This new novel ‘Spiritus Mundi’ brings together history, politics, future society, and blends with a plausible World War Three scenario. I have read it and find it over the top fascinating. I am very glad to see Robert share his creativity with the world through this work of fiction, and know it will be a huge hit.” April 28, 2012 Jim Rogers, Owner and Director, AXL ______________________________________________ “Robert Sheppard is an exceptional thinker! His work should be read and made the subject of critical study.”May 26, 2012 Georgia Banks-Martin, Editor, New Mirage Journal —————————————————————————— “This novel rocks the reader with its supple strength. You want to say “No, No,” and you end up saying, “Maybe.” Political science fiction at its highest, most memorable level.”November 17, 2012 Carl Macki, Owner, Carl Macki Social Media —————————————————————————— “Robert Sheppard’s Novel Spiritus Mundi confronts politics and philosophies of the world. He’s examined multiple layers of personality in his characters; male, female, Chinese, Arab, English, and American melding them into a story of possible outcomes. How else can I convey the intelligent presentation of fiction woven with sensitivity to our world’s governments, religious influences and sectarian principles? We must not forget the influence of a largely secular world. Robert tirelessly checked, rechecked and triple checked his resources in order to bring a fiction of occurrence, and psychological impact as set forth in his novel Spiritus Mundi.”November 18, 2012 Glenda Fralin, Author, Organization NWG __________________________________________________________ “Robert was one of my best guests. His novel is as wide ranging as are his interests and expertise. He can explain his various ideas with great clarity and he does this with compassion. Novel is worthwhile reading.”November 18, 2012 Dr. Robert Rose, Radio Show Host, http://www.blogtalkradio.com/icdrrose ________________________________________________________________ Related Links and Websites: Spiritus Mundi, Novel by Robert Sheppard For Introduction and Overview of the Novel: https://spiritusmundinovel.wordpress.com/ For Updates on the Upcoming Movie Version of the Novel, Spiritus Mundi & Casting of Actors and Actresses for Leading Roles See: https://robertalexandersheppard.wordpress.com/ To Read Abut the Occupy Wall Street Movement in Spiritus Mundi: http://occupywallstreetnovel.wordpress.com/ For Author’s Blog: https://robertalexandersheppard.wordpress.com/ To Read a Sample Chapter from Spiritus Mundi: https://spiritusmundisamplechapters.wordpress.com/ To Read Fantasy, Myth and Magical Realism Excerpts from Spiritus Mundi: https://spiritusmundifantasymythandmagicalrealism.wordpress.com/ To Read Sexual Excerpts from Spiritus Mundi: The Varieties of Sexul Experience: https://spiritusmundivarietiesofsexualexperience.wordpress.com/ To Read Spy, Espionage and Counter-terrorism Thriller Excerpts from Spiritus Mundi: http://spiritusmundispyespionagecounterterrorism.wordpress.com/ To Read Geopolitical and World War Three Excerpts from Spiritus Mundi: https://spiritusmundigeopoliticalworldwar3.wordpress.com/ To Read Spiritual and Religious Excerpts from Spiritus Mundi: https://spiritusmundionspiritualityandreligion.wordpress.com/ To Read about the Global Campaign for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly in Spiritus Mundi: https://spiritusmundiunitednationsparliamentaryassembly.wordpress.com/ To Read Poetry from Spiritus Mundi:https://spiritusmundipoetry.wordpress.com/ For Discussions on World Literature and Literary Criticism in Spiritus Mundi: http://worldliteratureandliterarycriticism.wordpress.com/ For Discussions of World History and World Civilization in Spiritus Mundi: https://worldhistoryandcivilizationspiritusmundi.wordpress.com/ To Read the Blog of Eva Strong from Spiritus Mundi: https://evasblogfromspiritusmundi.wordpress.com/ To Read the Blog of Andreas Sarkozy from Spiritus Mundi: http://andreasblogfromspiritusmundi.wordpress.com/ To Read the Blog of Yoriko Oe from Spiritus Mundi: http://yorikosblogfromspiritusmundi.wordpress.com/ To Read the Blog of Robert Sartorius from Spiritus Mundi: http://sartoriusblogfromspiritusmundi.wordpress.com/ I write to introduce to your attention my double novel Spiritus Mundi, consisting of Spiritus Mundi, the Novel—Book I, and Spiritus Mundi, the Romance—Book II. Book I’s espionage-terror-political-religious thriller-action criss-crosses the globe from Beijing to New York London to Washington, Mexico City and Jerusalem presenting a vast panorama of the contemporary international world, including compelling action from the Occupy Wall Street Movement to espionage and a threatened World War Three, deep and realistic characters and surreal adventures, while Book II dialates the setting and scope into a fantasy (though still rooted in the real) adventure where the protagonists embark on a quest to the realms of Middle Earth and its Crystal Bead Game and through a wormhole to the Council of the Immortals in the Amphitheater in the center of the Milky Way Galaxy in search of the crucial Silmaril Crystal, and to plead for the continuance of the human race in the face of threatened extinction from a nuclear World War III, all followed by a triple-somersault thriller ending in which a common garden-variety terrorist attack is first uncovered by MI6 and the CIA as the opening gambit a Greatpower Game of States threatening World War III and then, incredibly, as the nexus of a Time Travel conspiracy involving an attempt by fascist forces of the 23rd Century to alter a benign World History by a time-travelling raid on their past and our present to provoke that World War III, foiled by the heroic efforts of the democratic 23rd Century world government, the Senate of the United States of Earth, to hunt down the fascist interlopers before their history is irrevocably altered for evil. When activist Robert Sartorius, leading a global campaign to create a European Parliament-style world-wide United Nations Parliamentary Assembly presses the proposal in New York on his old friend the UN Secretary-General and is rebuffed due to the hostile pressure of the conservative American administration, his Committee resolves to fight back by launching a celebrity-driven Bono-Geldof-Band Aid/Live 8-style “People Power” media campaign and telethon, allied to the Occupy Wall Street movement and spearheaded by rock superstars Isis and Osiris and former UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali to mobilize global public support and pressure. The Blogs of Sartorius, activist Eva Strong and Committee Chairman Andreas Sarkozy reveal the campaign’s working struggle, their tangled love affairs, a loss of faith, attempted suicide, reconciliation of father and son after divorce, and recovery of personal love and faith. Things fall apart as the idealists’ global crusade is infiltrated by a cell of jihadist terrorists using it as a cover, then counter-infiltrated by CIA agent Jack McKinsey and British MI6 agent Etienne Dearlove. A cat-and-mouse game of espionage and intrigue ensues pitting them against the Chinese MSS espionage network allied with the Iranian Quds Force crossing Beijing, London, Moscow, Washington and Jerusalem unleashing an uncontrollable series of events which sees the American Olympic Track and Field Team bombed on an airplane in London, uncovers a secret conspiracy of China, Russia and Iran to jointly seize the oil reserves of the Middle-East, and witnesses Presidents Clinton and Carter taken hostage with Sartorius, McKinsey, Eva and other activists at a Jerusalem telethon rally cut short by the explosion of a concealed atomic device in a loaned Chinese Terracotta Warrior, then flown by capturing terrorists to Qom, Iran as “human shields” to deter a retaliatory nuclear attack. In Book II, Spiritus Mundi, the Romance they encounter Iran’s Supreme Leader in Qom as the world teeters on the brink of nuclear confrontation and World War III, while mysterious events unfold leading Sartorius and McKinsey from their captivity in the underground nuclear facilities of Qom into a hidden neo-mythic dimension that takes them to a vast ocean and land at the center of the world, Middle Earth, Inner Shambhala, and to involvement in a mysterious Castalian “Crystal Bead Game” linked to the destiny of the human race on earth. They then embark on a quest for the Silmaril, or Missing Seed Crystal to the central island of Omphalos in the Great Central Sea in the middle of the globe, aided by Goethe, the Chinese Monkey King, Captain Nemo, the African God-Hero Ogun, and a Sufi mystic they traverse a ‘wormhole’ at the center of the earth guarded by ‘The Mothers’ and the fallen angel tribe of the Grigori (Genesis 6:1-4) which leads the way to critical meeting of the “Council of the Immortals” at the Black Hole in the center of the Milky Way Galaxy to determine the final fate of the human species. The heroes battle and overcome the treacherous opposition of Mephisto and his satanic subaltern Mundus through their Underworld and Otherworld adventures and successfully plead the cause of the continuation of the human species before the Immortals, returning with the critical Silmaril Crystal. resolving the Crystal Bead Game and thereby inspiring through the Archangel Gabriel a dream in the mind of Iran’s Supreme Leader which brings a new Revelation causing him to release the hostages and an end the crisis. China and Russia stand down from aiding Iran in seizing the Mid-East oil reserves, but in a treacherous blow the Chinese instead utilize their forward-positioned armies to attack their former ally Russia and seize Siberia with its large oil and gas reserves instead. President Barret Osama, America’s newly-elected first black President then invites Russia, Japan and South Korea to join NATO and together they succeed in expelling the Chinese from Siberia and usher in a new Eurasian and global balance of power and a New World Order. Rock Superstar Osiris meanwhile, after undertaking a narcissistic Messianic mission in the wake of the Jerusalem atomic blast is dramatically assassinated on live world-wide television on Jerusalem’s Via Dolorosa by a disillusioned follower. His wife and rock-star partner Isis then leads a spiritual movement to reconcile and unite the clashing religions and catalyze a common global spiritual Renaissance through a Global Progressive Spiritual Alliance which seeks to construct an Inter-faith Temple on the ruins of the atomic blast in Jerusalem. In counter-reaction to the cataclysmic events the world finally implements Sartorius’ crusade for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, but not before Sartorius has himself has died, Moses-like of a heart attack while helping to foil a metaconspiracy mediated by Time Travel in which a fascist agent from the 23rd Century who has time-transited back to our time to alter a benign history by causing WWIII and thus preventing the evolution of a democratic world government, the United States of Earth, which follows him through time and nabs him just in the “nick of time” to prevent Aramgeddon. The book ends with the opening ceremony of the UN Parliamentary Assembly which is attended in Sartorius’ name by his widow Eva Strong, whom Sartorius had fallen in love with and married in the course of the novel, and by their son Euphy, newborn after Sartorius’ death. They are joined in cinematic climax at the ceremony by newly chosen UN Secretary-General Clinton, President Osama and UN Parliamentary Assembly Committee Chairman Andreas Sarkozy who have just received the Nobel Peace Prize for their work in creation of the world’s first world parliamentary assembly within the United Nations, bringing together the representative voices of the peoples of the world in face-to-face assembly and dialogue for the first time in world history. Highlights: All the Highlights of the novel cannot be contained in such a short Introduction, but a few of them would include: 1. Spiritus Mundi is the first novel in world history to portray the creation of a United Nations Parliamentary Assemblyon the working model, inter alia, of the European Parliament; 2. Spiritus Mundi is a prophetic geo-political WWIII novel of the near future forseeing a conflict and conspiratorial surprise attack by a resurgent “Axis” of China, Russia and Iran seeking by a decisive blow in jointly seizing the Middle-East oil fields to radically alter the global balance of power vis-a-vis the West in the world and Eurasia. Like Clancy’s The Bear and the Dragon, it forsees the inclusion of Russia in NATO, and goes far beyond in forseeing the inclusion of South Korea and Japan, following a joint Chinese-Russian occupation of a collapsing North Korea and the Axis strike at the Middle-Eastern oil fields; 3. Spiritus Mundi is an exciting espionage thriller involving the American CIA. British MI6, the Chinese MSS, or Ministry of State Security and the Russian SVR contending in a deul of intrigue and espionage; 4. Spiritus Mundi is a Spellbinding Terrorism/Counterterrorism novel involving a global plot to conceal an atomic bomb in a Chinese Teracotta Warrior to be detonated in Jerusalem; 5. Features the romantic and sexual searching and encounters of dozens of idealist activists, rock-stars, CIA and MI6 agents, public-relations spinmeisters and billionaires with a detour into the bi-sexual and gay scenes of Beijing, New York, California, London and Tokyo: 6. Establishes and grounds the new genre of the Global Novel written in Global English, the international language of the world, 7. Spiritus Mundi is a novel of Spiritual Searching featuring the religious searching of Sufi mystic Mohammad ala Rushdie, as well as the loss of faith, depression, attempted suicide and recovery of faith in life of protagonist Sartorius. Follows bogus religious cult leaders and the Messiah-Complex megalomanic-narcissistic mission of rock superstar Osiris that leads to his dramatic assassination on worldwide television in Jerusalem, followed by the religious conversion of his wife and rock-star parner Isis; 8. Features the search for love and sexual fulfillment of Eva Strong, a deeply and realistically portrayed divorced single mother involved in the United Nations campaign, who reveals her tortured heart and soul in her Blog throughout several disastrous sexual affairs and ultimately through her final attainment of love and marriage to Sartorius; 9. Features Sartorius’ experience of a bitter divorce, alienation and reconciliation with his son, his loss of faith and attempted suicide, his battle against drugs and alcoholism, his surreal and sexual adventures in Mexico City, and his subsequent redeeming love and marriage to Eva Strong; 10. Contains the in–depth literary conversations of Sartorius and his best friend, Literature Nobel Laureate Günther Gross, as they conduct worldwide interviews and research for at book they are jointly writing on the emergence of the new institution of World Literature, building on Goethe’s original concept of “Weltliteratur” and its foundations and contributions from all the world’s traditions and cultures; 11. Predicts the emergence of the institution and quest of “The Great Global Novel” as a successor to the prior quest after “The Great American Novel” in the newer age of the globalization of literature in Global English and generally; 12. Features the cross-cultural experiences and search for roots, sexual and spiritual fulfillment and authenticity of Asian-American character Jennie Zheng, and Pari Kasiwar of India; 13. For the first time incorporates in the dramatic narrative flow of action the mythic traditions of all the cultures and literatures of the world, including such figures as Goethe, The Chinese Monkey King, the African God-Hero Ogun, surreal adventures in the ‘Theatro Magico’ in Mexico City bringing to life figures from the Mayan-Aztec Popul Vuh, Hanuman from the Indian classic the Ramayana, and many more; 14. Book Two, Spiritus Mundi, the Romance is a fantastic Fantasy, Myth and Magical Realism Rollercoaster Ride: The more mythic Book Two utilizes a Wellsian motif of Time Travel to explore the making of history and its attempted unmaking (a la Terminator) by a hositile raid from the future on the past, our present, and the foiling of the fascist attempt by an alliance of men and women of goodwill and courage from past, present and future generations united in a Commonwealth of Human Destiny; Like Thomas Pynchon’s Against the Day and Welles’ Journey to the Center of the Earth it involves a journey to an interior realm of the “Middle Earth;” it also contains a futuristic travel through a wormhole to the center of our Milky Way Galaxy for a meeting with the “Council of the Immortals” where the fate of the human race will be decided; 15. Is a fantastic read on a roller-coaster ride of high adventure and self-exploration! C Copyright 2014 Robert Sheppard All Rights Reserved NEW BOOK RELEASE: SPIRITUS MUNDI BY ROBERT SHEPPARD NOW AVAILABLE ON AMAZON! Spiritus Mundi Book Cover.80.1 PUSHCART PRIZE NOMINEE ROBERT SHEPPARD’S SPIRITUS MUNDI NOW AVAILABLE ON AMAZON! —–INVITATION TO LISTEN TO MAY 17 BLOGTALKRADIO INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR 10:00 AM PST _______________________________________________________________________ We are pleased to announce the launch of SPIRITUS MUNDI on AMAZON , including both Spiritus Mundi, Book I: The Novel (5.0-Star Amazon Rating Average), and Spiritus Mundi, Book II:The Romance (5.0-Star Amazon Rating Average). You can browse and sample both onlline for free now, then purchase immediaetly by clicking on the following Amazon sites: Spiritus Mundi, Book I: The Novel: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CIGJFGO Spiritus Mundi, Book II: The Romance http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CGM8BZG CHECK OUT SPIRITUS MUNDI’S 5.O-STAR GOODREADS RATING AVERAGE & REVIEWS ON GOODREADS: Book I (5.0-Stars on Goodreads) http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17857619-spiritus-mundi-book-i Book II (5.0-Stars on Goodreads) http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17857704-spiritus-mundi-book-ii-the-romance CHECK OUT A FULL SUMMARY OF SPIRITUS MUNDI ON SHELFARI before purchasing at: http://www.shelfari.com/books/36123188/Spiritus-Mundi—Book-I-The-Novel http://www.shelfari.com/books/36123187/Spiritus-Mundi—Book-II-The-Romance Spiritus Mundi is also available on SMASHWORDS in ALL FORMATS: Book I (5.0 Stars on Smashwords) https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/303856 Book II (5.0 Stars on Smashwords) https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/303798 Spiritus Mundi is also now available at the following sites: Spiritus Mundi: Book I: The Novel https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/303856 http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/spiritus-mundi-robert-sheppard/1115113181?ean=2940044432598&itm=1&usri=2940044432598 http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Spiritus-Mundi-Book-The-Novel/book-vYffC7MUUEyN0wJTQSpgFQ/page1.html https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/spiritus-mundi/id634577546?mt=11 http://www.diesel-ebooks.com/item/SW00000303856/Sheppard-Robert-Spiritus-Mundi-Book-I-The-Novel/1.html Spiritus Mundi – Book II: The Romance https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/303798 http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/spiritus-mundi-robert-sheppard/1115113152?ean=2940044433182&itm=1&usri=2940044433182 http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Spiritus-Mundi-Book-II-The/book-PlMhvFBI5USTGkLFnO1TQA/page1.html https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/spiritus-mundi-book-ii-romance/id634586781?mt=11 http://www.diesel-ebooks.com/item/SW00000303798/Sheppard-Robert-Spiritus-Mundi-Book-II-The-Romance/1.html CELEBRATING SPIRITUS MUNDI’S AMAZON RELEASE DAY WITH MAY 17 BLOGTALKRADIO AUTHOR INTERVIEW WITH DR. ROBERT ROSE 10:00 AM PST __________________________________________________________________________ We also invite you to listen in to the BlogTalkRadio Interview with Dr. Robert Rose interviewing Robert Sheppard on the topic of “World Consciousness and the Emergencer of World Literature” pre-recorded May 17, 10:00 AM, PST: How to Tune In: ============ You can tune in by clicking on the following BlogTalkRadio link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/icdrrose/2013/05/17/robert-sheppard-global-consciousness or you can listen in anytime to the recorded Podcasts of the May 17 Interview, or past Interviews: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/icdrrose http://www.blogtalkradio.com/icdrrose/2012/08/01/robert-sheppard–spiritus-mundi-a-novel Spiritus Mundi, Novel by Robert Sheppard: Table of Contents Spiritus Mundi Contents Book One Spiritus Mundi: The Novel Chapters 1-33 1.Departure (Beijing) 2.A Failing Quest (New York) 3.War Council & Counteroffensive (Geneva) 4.New Beginnings (London) 5.Republic of Letters (Berlin) 6.Fathers and Sons (Washington,D.C.) 7.Ulysses: Blogo Ergo Sum (Beijing) 8.Frequently Asked Questions (London) 9.In the Middle Kingdom (Beijing) 10. Past and Present (London-South Africa) 11. Telemachus (Washington, D.C.) 12. The Everlasting Nay (Beijing) 13. My Brother’s Keeper (London) 14. In the Global Village (Beijing-Tokyo) 15. Deceits and Revelations (London) 16. Be Ready for Anything (Beijing) 17. The Obscure Object of Desire (London-Pyongyang) 18. Sufferings (Beijing) 19. Of the Yearnings of the Caged Spirit (London) 20. Cyclops (Washington, D.C.) 21. The Engines of Illusion (Beijing) 22. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (London) 23. The Temptation of the Sirens (Beijing) 24. Truth or Consequences (London) 25. Lazarus Laughed (Beijing) 26. Neptune’s Fury & The Perils of the Sea (The Maldive Islands) Naval Diaries and Ship’s Logs of Admiral Sir George Rose Sartorius (1780-1875) 27. Penelope (London) 28. The Volcano’s Underworld (Mexico City) Teatro Magico 29. The Everlasting Yea (London) 30. Paradise Regained (Little Gidding) 31. To the South of Eden (Kenya-to Midrand-Johannesburg South Africa) 32. In a Glass Darkly (London) 33. Spiritus Mundi Book Two Spiritus Mundi: The Romance Chapters 1-21 1.Gerusalemme Liberata & Orlando Furioso (Jerusalem) 2.In a Glass Darkly (London) 3.Great Expectations (Jerusalem) 4.The Parable of the Cave (Qom, Iran) 5.The Xth Day of the Crisis (London) 6.The Supreme Leader & The Three Messiahs (Qom) 7.Going for the Jugular (London) 8.The Night Journey, Goethe & The Monkey King (Qom) 9.The Central Sea, The Crystal Bead Game & The Quest 10. The Island of Omphalos & The Mothers 11. The Council of the Immortals & The Trial By Ordeal 12. Nemesis 13. Armageddon (London) 14. The Fever Breaks 15. High Noon & Showdown at the OK Corral (Washington, D.C.) 16. Ecce Homo (Jerusalem) 17. Deliverance (London/Lhasa) 18. For Every Action…. (Moscow/Beijing) 19. The Burial of the Dead (London/Little Gidding) 20. Spiritus Mundi (London/Jerusalem) 21. In My End is My Beginning —-The Convening of the First Meeting of the United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (New York) Appendix 1: A United Nations Parliamentary Assembly: Frequently Asked Questions Appendix 2: Spiritus Mundi: Index of Principal Characters C Copyright Robert Sheppard 2014 All Rights ReservedShare this:

Posted in Uncategorized|Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |1 Comment| Edit

About robertalexandersheppard

Robert Sheppard , Author, Poet & Novelist Pushcart Prize fof Literature 2014 Nominee Professor of World and Comparative Literature Professor of International Law Senior Associate, Committee for a Democratic United Nations (KDUN) E-mail: rsheppard99_2000@yahoo.com Robert Sheppard is the author of the acclaimed dual novel Spiritus Mundi, nominated for the prestigious 2014 Pushcart Prize for Literature in two parts, Spiritus Mundi the Novel, Book I and Spiritus Mundi the Romance, Book II. The acclaimed “global novel” features espionage-terror-political-religious-thriller action criss-crossing the contemporary world involving MI6, the CIA and Chinese MSS Intelligence as well as a "People Power" campaign to establish a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly on the model of the European Parliament, with action moving from Beijing to London to Washington, Mexico City and Jerusalem while presenting a vast panorama of the contemporary international world, including compelling action and surreal adventures. It also contains the unfolding sexual, romantic and family relationships of many of its principal and secondary characters, and a significant dimension of spiritual searching through "The Varieties of Religious Experience." It contains also significant discussions of World Literature, including Chinese, Indian, Western and American literature, and like Joyce's Ulysses, it incorposates a vast array of stylistic approaches as the story unfolds. Dr. Sheppard presently serves as a Professor of International Law and World Literature at Peking University, Northeastern University and the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) of China, and has previously served as a Professor of International Law and MBA professor at Tsinghua University, Renmin People’s University, the China University of Politics and Law and at the Law Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) in Beijing, China. Having studied Law, Comparative Literature and politics at the University of California, Berkeley (Ph. D.Program in Comparative Literature), Northridge, Tübingen, Heidelberg, the People’s College and San Francisco, (BA, MA, JD), he additionally has been active as professor of International Trade, Private International Law, and Public International Law from 1993 to 1998 at Xiamen University, Beijing Foreign Studies University, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Graduate School (CASS), and the China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing. In the US he serves as a Professor at Kean University, as well as having taught at Bergen Community College and Pillar College in NJ. Since 2000 he has served as a Senior Consultant to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Beijing and has authored numerous papers on the democratic reform of the United Nations system.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s