I don't want to die in the twentieth century.

(published in Dutch)

'I don't want to die in the twentieth century. Surviving in the twenty-first century' is a book that takes you on a trip along the numerous problems who afflict humankind today.
How can we preserve the earth? When erosion washes down farmland. When chain saws devastate the rain forest. When trawl nets destroy the ocean-floor. When global warming because of the greenhouse effect becomes a real plague.
Can humankind live? The air we breathe is most polluted, water and food become scarce. Poverty makes sick. We get lost in overcrowded mammoth cities.
May every human being live? The fifth of humankind living in the richest countries is 74 times richer than the fifth living in the poorest, and that inequality keeps on growing. The economy fails, politicians are too absent.
Can we live together? Or do we prefer weapons do the talking? From Kosovo to Colombia, Sudan and East-Timor? Can we live together as free and democratic world citizens? Or do extreme nationalism and fundamentalism have free play? How do we deal with massive streams of refugees and migration? And what's the fate of the many cultures in a globalising world?

There is still more, especially for those who don't want to die in the twentieth century. The author gives the keys to survive in the next century. Sometimes very original keys such as a basic income of a quarter of an euro a day for all six billion human beings.
These keys are the proposals of a realist who doesn't want to be a cynic. He knows human beings can do better… if they want. So, he shows no paradise but yet a more sustainable, more democratic and fairer world.

This book became also a journalistic and educational internet project www.ikwilniet.org

(I don't want to die in the twentieth century. Surviving in the twenty-first century, December 1999, 238 p., published by Globe, Meiboomlaan 33, B 8800 Roeselare, Belgium, roulartabooks@roularta.be)

I DON'T WANT TO DIE IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. Surviving in the twenty-first century
CONTENTS

  • How can we preserve the earth?
  • How can we preserve humankind?
  • How can we preserve flora and fauna?
  • Can humankind live?
  • The economy, transfer mechanism for our needs and our ambitions
  • (Very) rich and (very) poor – the issue of distribution of wealth
  • Can every human being live? Income and work for everyone – the issue of development
  • May every human being live?
  • Can we live together? About war and peace
  • Can we live together democratically? About democratisation as a guarantee for a free society
  • New and old threats for peace and democracy
  • Where is a human being at home? About streams of refugees and migration
  • Culture and globalisation
  • Knowledge for everyone? About education, science and technique

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