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Martha Elizabeth Beall Mitchell (September 2, 1918 – May 31, 1976) was the wife of John N. Mitchell, United States Attorney General under President Richard Nixon. She became a controversial figure with her outspoken comments about the government at the time of the Watergate scandal. Early education and family life. Martha Elizabeth Beall Jennings Mitchell was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas on September 2, 1918. She grew up the only child of cotton broker George V. Beall and drama teacher Arie Beall (née Ferguson). Living in a rural area, Mitchell’s friends lived far away, and she recalled in a “Saturday Evening Post” interview that she mostly grew up playing with the children of her “mammy,” or African-American domestic worker, who lived with the family on the farm. As a little girl, she liked to sing, particularly as a member of her church choir. Her mother hoped she would become an opera singer. As a child, she studied singing around the country and, at Northwestern, she studied piano. For the first six years of her education, she attended a private school, switching to a public one during the Great Depression. She graduated from Pine Bluff High School in 1937. Under her high school yearbook picture was the quote, “Love its gentle warble, I love its gentle flow, I love to wind my tongue up, And I love to let it go.” Her biographer noted that she was dyslexic, and struggled to read aloud. She attended Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, with hopes of studying premed; she had wanted to be a pediatrician when she grew up, but blamed her Southern accent for difficulty with learning Greek and Latin. Instead, she became a Red Cross Nurse’s Aide in one of the organization’s very first chapters, and claimed that, at one time, she had given more hours to the service than anyone else in the country. She eventually transferred to the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and finally the University of Miami, At college, she joined Chi Omega and was president of Sigma Iota Chi. She was fascinated by the arts, and had dreams of becoming an actress, but her family would not allow it. She ultimately received a BA in history. After graduation, she worked for about a year as a seventh-grade teacher in Mobile, Alabama, before leaving the profession, saying she “despised” it. She returned to Pine Bluff in 1945 and, after World War II, she began work as a secretary at the Pine Bluff Arsenal. She was soon transferred (along with her boss, Brigadier General Augustin Mitchell Prentiss) to Washington, D.C.. In Washington, she met Clyde Jennings, Jr., a US Army officer from Lynchburg, Virginia. They married on October 5, 1946 in Pine Bluff and moved to Rye, New York. Soon after they wed, he was honorably discharged, and he took up work as a traveling handbag salesman. By Jennings, she had a son, Clyde Jay Jennings, on November 2, 1947. Jennings, however, spent a lot of time away from home, and (according to Mitchell) it led to the couple’s separation on May 18, 1956 and eventual divorce on August 1, 1957. She once said as soon as she met John N. Mitchell, she was “impressed with his suaveness and intellect,” and the couple married on December 30, 1957, settling in Rye, New York. John worked as a lawyer in Manhattan, earning a year, and the couple purchased a home on the grounds of the Apawamis Club. On January 10, 1961, the couple had a daughter, Martha Elizabeth, whom they nicknamed Marty. They enrolled their daughter in Stone Ridge Country Day School in Bethesda, Maryland, despite not being Roman Catholics, because of Mitchell’s belief that “the Roman Catholic schools are about the only ones that have discipline.” Move to Washington and the Watergate scandal. John Mitchell and Richard Nixon’s professional careers converged when, on New Year’s Eve 1966, their law offices combined to become Nixon Mudge Rose Guthrie Alexander and Mitchell. Although their status as friends is debated, when Nixon was elected president in 1968, he appointed John Mitchell as his Attorney General. The position necessitated that the family move to Washington DC, and their home in the “fashionable” Watergate complex, at the time, was estimated to be worth . Mitchell first came to national attention after she remarked to a television reporter that Washington DC peace demonstrations held in November 1969 reminded her husband of a Russian revolution. The statement, widely viewed as indiscreet, increased her notoriety and coverage in the media. She had the custom of having an evening drink, and then calling reporters with political gossip or information she had gleaned while rifling through her husband’s papers or eavesdropping on his conversations. During this time, Mitchell’s renown as an outspoken socialite grew, and she made regular appearances on talk shows and variety shows, such as “Laugh-In”. By the following year, in November 1970, a Gallup poll indicated that 76 percent of Americans recognized who she was, and she made the cover of “Time” in an issue about the most influential women of Washington. Her reputation for frank and uncensored talk, generally in support of Republican issues, led to her being nicknamed “Martha the Mouth” or “The Mouth of the South”. Nixon selected John to head the Committee to Re-Elect the President (commonly abbreviated to CRP, or deridingly, CREEP) for the 1972 campaign. During the campaign, however, Mitchell had begun to complain to her media contacts that the campaign had engaged in “dirty tricks” to win the election. A week before the 1972 burglary of the DNC headquarters in the Watergate office building, the Mitchells had traveled to Newport Beach, California to attend a series of fundraising events. While there, John received a phone call about the incident and immediately held a press conference denying any CRP involvement. John then returned to Washington DC, encouraging his wife to remain in California to enjoy the sunny weather. Meanwhile, however, he enlisted their security guard Steve King (a former FBI agent) to prevent her from learning about the break-in or contacting reporters. Despite these efforts, the following Monday, Martha acquired a copy of the “Los Angeles Times”. Martha learned that James W. McCord Jr., the security director of the CRP and her daughter’s bodyguard and driver, was among those arrested. This detail conflicted with the White House’s official story that the break-in was unrelated to the CRP, and raised her suspicion. Martha unsuccessfully made attempts to contact her husband by phone, eventually telling one of his aides that her next call would be to the press. June 1972 kidnapping, aftermath and vindication. The following Thursday, on June 22, Mitchell made a late-night phone call to Helen Thomas of the United Press, reportedly Mitchell’s favorite reporter. Mitchell informed Thomas of her intention to leave her husband until he resigned from the CRP. The phone call, however, abruptly ended. When Thomas called back, the hotel operator told her that Mitchell was “indisposed” and would not be able to talk. Thomas then called John, who seemed unconcerned and said, “[Martha] gets a little upset about politics, but she loves me and I love her and that’s what counts.” In her subsequent report of the incident, Thomas said that it was apparent someone had taken the phone from Mitchell’s hand and the woman could be heard saying “You just get away.” Thomas’s account was widely covered in the news, and many media outlets made efforts to find Mitchell for an interview. A few days later, Marcia Kramer, a veteran crime reporter of the “New York Daily News”, tracked Mitchell to the Westchester Country Club in Rye, New York. Kramer found “a beaten woman” who had “incredible” black and blue marks on her arms. In what turned out to be the first of many interviews, Mitchell related how in the week following the Watergate burglary, she had been held captive in that California hotel and that it was King that had pulled the phone cord from the wall. After several attempts to escape from the balcony, she was physically accosted by five men, which had left her needing stitches. Herb Kalmbach, Nixon’s personal lawyer, was summoned to the hotel and he decided to call for a doctor to inject her with a tranquilizer. The incident left her fearing for her life. Although the Watergate burglary was the leading story across all news formats, her reports were relegated to human-interest stories in major newspapers, including “The Times”, “The Washington Post”, and “The New York Daily News”. Nixon aides, in an effort to discredit Mitchell, told the press that she had a “drinking problem”, which was not entirely untrue. They also suggested that she was convalescing in Silver Hill Hospital, a psychiatric facility in Connecticut. Initially, Mitchell began contacting reporters when her husband’s role in the scandal became known in an effort to defend him. She believed him to be a “fall guy” and encouraged him to turn against the President. Soon after the burglary, John resigned, citing his desire to spend more time with his family as the reason. However, the Mitchells separated in September 1973, with John suddenly moving out of the family home with their daughter, Marty. On January 1, 1975, he was convicted of perjury, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy for his involvement in the Watergate break-in; he served 19 months in a federal prison. They never saw each other again. Martha was also outspoken about the corruption in the GOP. In May 1976, she provided sworn testimony in a deposition at the offices of attorney Henry B. Rothblatt in connection with the Democratic party’s million civil suit against the CRP. Because of her involvement in the scandal, she was discredited and abandoned by most of her family, except for her son Jay. It was not until February 1975 that McCord, after having been convicted for his role in the Watergate burglary, admitted that Mitchell was, in his words, “basically kidnapped”, and corroborated her story. He further asserted that H. R. Haldeman, as well as other top aides of President Nixon, had been “jealous” of her popularity in the media and had sought out ways to embarrass her. Nixon was later to tell interviewer David Frost in 1977 that Martha was a distraction to John Mitchell, such that no one was minding the store, and “If it hadn’t been for Martha Mitchell, there’d have been no Watergate.” Personal life. Mitchell was Presbyterian and, while in New York, attended Marble Collegiate Church. She began to write her memoirs in 1973, but fearing it would mean she would get no money from her husband, never signed a contract. In April 1974, she got a short-lived job as the guest host of the program “Panorama” on Washington’s WTTG; it only lasted a week. In 1975, Mitchell fell sick. As her health declined, she was called on by a small circle of friends that included her reporter friend, and eventual biographer, Winzola McLendon. McLendon reports that Mitchell was suicidal and without any income. Her lawyer, in an ongoing alimony dispute, described her as “desperately ill, without funds and without friends.” Even so, her son, who was working as a researcher for the Senate Subcommittee on internal security, was said to have cared for her and served as her occasional spokesperson. In her final days, she subsisted on donations sent by sympathetic supporters. On May 31, 1976, in the advanced stages of multiple myeloma, Mitchell slipped into a coma and died at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York City at age 57. Her son, Jay, and her estranged husband and daughter arrived at her funeral in Pine Bluff shortly after it began. The service was held at First Presbyterian Church. An anonymous supporter (a California admiral, according to the family) had sent a floral arrangement of white chrysanthemums that spelled “Martha was right.” She is buried in the Bellwood Cemetery in Pine Bluff with her mother and grandparents. Public image. A November 1970 Gallup poll placed the public’s opinion of her at 33-percent unfavorable to 43-percent favorable. She was known for her glamorous but “girly” fashion. Despite her fame as an outsized personality, those who knew her said she was often anxious before attending parties or public events, clutching her friend’s arm, trembling, or even weeping. She refused to curtsy to Queen Elizabeth II at a garden party in July 1971, saying, “I feel that an American citizen should not bow to foreign monarchs.” Scotland’s Earl of Lindsay, a member of the Queen’s Body Guard for Scotland, wrote Mitchell a letter of reprimand, and in a statement to the press said, “There is always hope she may learn some manners. She is a stupid woman. If she is going to shout her mouth off like that, she is bound to get shouted at.” Legacy. Three years after her death, Washington newswoman and Mitchell-collaborator Winzola McLendon released a book called “Martha”. The birthplace and childhood home of Martha Beall Mitchell, now the Martha Beall Mitchell Home and Museum, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in January 1978. On the second anniversary of her death, Martha Mitchell Expressway in Pine Bluff was named for her. Three years later to the day, a bust was erected in her honor at the Pine Bluff Civic Center with a plaque that reads “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” Martha Mitchell was portrayed in the 1995 film “Nixon” by actress Madeline Kahn who, like Mitchell, died at the age of 57 of cancer. In 2004, a three-act play, “This is Martha Speaking…”, by Thomas Doran premiered in Pine Bluff, Arkansas starring Lee Anne Moore as Martha Mitchell and Michael Childers as John Mitchell. That same year, a one-woman play about Mitchell, “Dirty Tricks” by John Jeter, appeared off-Broadway. The first episode of the podcast “Slow Burn”, entitled “Martha”, chronicled her role in the Watergate scandal. Mitchell was portrayed by Vanessa Bayer in the July 16, 2019 episode of the Comedy Central show “Drunk History”. The “Martha Mitchell effect”, in which a psychiatrist mistakenly or willfully identifies a patient’s true but extraordinary claims as delusions, was named after her. |
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An intercity bus service (North American English) or intercity coach service (British English and Commonwealth English), also called a long-distance, express, over-the-road, commercial, long-haul, or highway bus or coach service, is a public transport service using coaches to carry passengers significant distances between different cities, towns, or other populated areas. Unlike a transit bus service, which has frequent stops throughout a city or town, an intercity bus service generally has a single stop at one location in or near a city, and travels long distances without stopping at all. Intercity bus services may be operated by government agencies or private industry, for profit and not for profit. Intercity coach travel can serve areas or countries with no train services, or may be set up to compete with trains by providing a more flexible or cheaper alternative. Intercity bus services are of prime importance in lightly populated rural areas that often have little or no public transportation. Intercity bus services are one of four common transport methods between cities, not all of which are available in all places. The others are by airliner, train, and private automobile. History. Stagecoaches. The first intercity scheduled transport service was called the stagecoach and originated in the 17th century. Crude coaches were being built from the 16th century in England, but without suspension, these coaches achieved very low speeds on the poor quality rutted roads of the time. By the mid 17th century, a basic stagecoach infrastructure was being put in place. The first stagecoach route started in 1610 and ran from Edinburgh to Leith. This was followed by a steady proliferation of other routes around the country. A string of coaching inns operated as stopping points for travellers on the route between London and Liverpool by the mid 17th century. The coach would depart every Monday and Thursday and took roughly ten days to make the journey during the summer months. They also became widely adopted for travel in and around London by mid-century and generally travelled at a few miles per hour. Shakespeare’s first plays were staged at coaching inns such as The George Inn, Southwark. The speed of travel remained constant until the mid-18th century. Reforms of the turnpike trusts, new methods of road building and the improved construction of coaches all led to a sustained rise in the comfort and speed of the average journey—from an average journey length of 2 days for the Cambridge-London route in 1750 to a length of under 7 hours in 1820. Robert Hooke helped in the construction of some of the first spring-suspended coaches in the 1660s and spoked wheels with iron rim brakes were introduced, improving the characteristics of the coach. In 1754, a Manchester-based company began a new service called the “Flying Coach”. It was advertised with the following announcement: “However incredible it may appear, this coach will actually (barring accidents) arrive in London in four days and a half after leaving Manchester.” A similar service was begun from Liverpool three years later, using coaches with steel spring suspension. This coach took an unprecedented three days to reach London with an average speed of eight miles per hour. Even more dramatic improvements to coach speed were made by John Palmer at the British Post Office, who commissioned a fleet of mail coaches to deliver the post across the country. His experimental coach left Bristol at 4 pm on 2 August 1784 and arrived in London just 16 hours later. The golden age of the stagecoach was during the Regency period, from 1800 to 1830. The era saw great improvements in the design of the coaches, notably by John Besant in 1792 and 1795. His coach had a greatly improved turning capacity and braking system, and a novel feature that prevented the wheels from falling off while the coach was in motion. Obadiah Elliott registered the first patent for a spring-suspension vehicle. Each wheel had two durable steel leaf springs on each side and the body of the carriage was fixed directly to the springs attached to the axles. Steady improvements in road construction were also made at this time, most importantly the widespread implementation of Macadam roads up and down the country. Coaches in this period travelled at around 12 miles per hour and greatly increased the level of mobility in the country, both for people and for mail. Each route had an average of four coaches operating on it at one time - two for both directions and a further two spares in case of a breakdown en route. Motorbuses. The development of railways in the 1830s spelt the end for the stagecoaches across Europe and America, with only a few companies surviving to provide services for short journeys and excursions until the early years of the 20th century. The first motor coaches were acquired by operators of those horse-drawn vehicles. W. C. Standerwick of Blackpool, England acquired its first motor charabanc in 1911, and Royal Blue from Bournemouth acquired its first motor charabanc in 1913. Motor coaches were initially used only for excursions. In 1919, Royal Blue took advantage of a rail strike to run a coach service from Bournemouth to London. The service was so successful that it expanded rapidly. In 1920 the Minister of Transport Eric Campbell Geddes was quoted in Punch magazine as saying “I think it would be a calamity if we did anything to prevent the economic use of charabancs” and expressed concern at the problems caused to small charabanc and omnibus operators in parliament. In America, Carl Eric Wickman began providing the first service in 1913. Frustrated about being unable to sell a seven-passenger automobile on the showroom floor of the dealership where he worked, he purchased the vehicle himself and started using it to transport miners between Hibbing and Alice, Minnesota. He began providing this service regularly in what would start a new company and industry. The company would one day be known as Greyhound. In 1914, Pennsylvania was the first state to pass regulations for bus service in order to prevent monopolies of the industry from forming. All remaining U.S. states would soon follow. The coach industry expanded rapidly in the 1920s, a period of intense competition. The Road Traffic Act 1930 in the UK introduced a national system of regulation of passenger road transport and authorised local authorities to operate transport services. It also imposed a speed limit of 30 mph for coaches whilst removing any speed limit for private cars. The 1930s to the 1950s saw the development of bus stations for intercity transport. Many expanded from simple stops into major architecturally designed terminals that included shopping and other businesses. Intercity bus transport increased in speed, efficiency and popularity until the 1950s and 1960s, when as the popularity of the private automobile has increased, the use of intercity bus service has declined. For example, in Canada in the 1950s, 120 million passengers boarded intercity bus service each year; in the 1960s, this number declined to 50 million. During the 1990s, it was down to 10 million. Characteristics of intercity buses/coaches. Intercity buses, as they hold passengers for significant periods of time on long journeys, are designed for comfort. A sleeper bus is an example of a vehicle with optimum amenity for the longest travel times. Route and operation. An intercity coach service may depart from a bus station with facilities for travellers or from a simple roadside bus stop. A coachway interchange is a term (in the United Kingdom) for a stopping place on the edge of a town, with connecting local transport. Park and ride facilities allow passengers to begin or complete their journeys by automobile. Intercity bus routes may follow a direct highway or freeway/motorway for shortest journey times, or travel via a scenic route for the enjoyment of passengers. Intercity buses may run less frequently and with fewer stops than a transit bus service. One common arrangement is to have several stops at the beginning of the trip, and several near the end, with the majority of the trip non-stop on a highway. Some stops may have service restrictions, such as “boarding only” (also called “pickup only”) and “discharge only” (also called “set-down only”). Routes aimed at commuters may have most or all scheduled trips in the morning heading to an urban central business district, with trips in the evening mainly heading toward suburbs. Intercity coaches may also be used to supplement or replace another transport service, for example when a train or airline route is not in service. Safety. Statistically, intercity bus service is considered to be a very safe mode of transportation. For example, in the United States there are about 0.5 fatalities per 100 million passenger miles traveled according to the National Safety Council. When accidents do occur, the large passenger capacity of buses means accidents are disastrous in their magnitude. For example, the Kempsey bus crash in Australia on 22 December 1989 involved two full tourist coaches, each travelling at 100 km/h, colliding head-on: 35 people died and 41 were injured. Intercity coach travel by country. Canada. Intercity coach service is the only public transit to reach many urban centres in Canada, and Via Rail services are very sporadic outside the Québec City–Windsor Corridor. Coach service is mostly privately owned and operated, and tends to be regionally focused. Greyhound Canada, once Canada’s biggest intercity carrier, ceased operations in 2021. Major operators are listed below. China. In relatively developed regions of China where the motorway network is extensive, intercity coach is a common mean of transport between cities. In some cities, for example Shenzhen, nearly every town / district has a coach station. Hong Kong. There are numerous inter-city coach services between Hong Kong and various cities of Guangdong Province, e.g. Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Zhongshan and Zhuhai. These kinds of coaches are legally classified as a kind of non-franchised public bus, as “International Passenger Service”. In addition, there are some coach services which just carry passengers between the city of Hong Kong and the border crossing at Shenzhen, without entering the city centre in Shenzhen or further. These services are termed ‘short-haul cross-boundary coach service’ by the Transport Department which nearly the whole journey is within the limits of Hong Kong, as opposed to ‘long-haul cross-boundary coach service’ which runs between cities. Germany. Intercity coach service in Germany became important in the decades following the Second World War, as the Deutsche Bundesbahn and the German federal post office operated numerous bus routes in major cities and metropolitan areas associated with each other. While rail was quicker and more convenient, the buses were a low-cost alternative. With the increasing prosperity of society and the growing use of the automobile, the demand fell significantly and most of these lines were abolished in the 1970s and 1980s. One exception was traffic from and to (West-)Berlin. A long-distance bus network linking Berlin with Hamburg and several other German locations was created at the time of German division because of the small number of train services between the cities. It still exists today. Until 2012 new long-distance bus lines could only be added in accordance with “Passenger Transportation Act” (PBefG), meaning if they did not compete with existing rail or bus lines. Since Germany - in contrast with many other European countries - has a well-developed rail network to all major cities and metropolitan areas, the domestic marketing of long-distance buses in Germany was much less significant than in many other countries. The existing lines were often international lines as exist in almost all European countries, and for the transportation within Germany, there was a ban. In 2012, the PBefG was amended, essentially allowing intercity bus services. Thus, since 1 January 2013 Coach services have been allowed if they are longer than 50 kilometers, which led to a fast-growing market with companies like Meinfernbus, Deinbus, Flixbus, ADAC Postbus, Berlin Linien Bus GmbH and City2City. Starting shortly after the establishment of the market a consolidation process occurred, which reduced the number of competing companies. ADAC Postbus became Postbus upon the ADAC leaving the cooperation. Meinfernbus and Flixbus fused to create a common company (currently the biggest operator of long-distance buses in Germany) while City2City folded operations. Deinbus came close to bankruptcy but secured an investor in time. Greece. Since Greece’s rail network was underdeveloped, intercity bus travel became important in the post-war years. The main bus operator in Greece is KTEL. It was founded in 1952. Ireland. Generally slower than rail travel with refreshment and toilet stops required on longer routes. The main operators in the country are the Bus Éireann and private operators, such as JJ Kavanagh and Sons. The bus service between Dublin and Belfast is provided by Bus Éireann and Ulsterbus providing frequent service, including direct connections to Dublin Airport. Some bus services run overnight. Israel. Because of the weak-developed rail network and the small size of the country and the resulting low domestic air traffic, the long-distance bus cooperative Egged is the main public transport service in the country. Because of the widespread network, Egged is considered one of the largest bus companies in the world, in part because of the long-distance bus lines. However, in recent years Israel railways has expanded and upgraded its route network and other companies have taken over routes previously served by Egged. Netherlands. In the relatively small Netherlands there is a limited number of long-distance routes within the country. In 1994, the Interliner-network started with express buses on connections devoid of rail transport. Owing to high fares, a dense rail network and other reasons, the Interliner network fell apart into several different systems. In 2014, only a limited number of express buses existed as regular public transport usually under the name Qliner. Besides of regular public transport, a number of international bus companies serves Netherlands. Norway. Norway has long-distance bus routes within the country. They operate in barely inhabited areas, including mountains, and affect the construction of a comprehensive railway network. Except in the Oslo area, Norway has only a rather sparse rail network, which extends north of the Arctic Circle to Fauske and Bodø, and to the north of Narvik with a connection to the Swedish rail network. Many of the routes are based on random railways. In addition to this network, they provide public passenger transport by many more companies within Norway than airlines, shipping lines (including the Hurtigruten) and bus lines, including many long-distance bus lines. The buses used in the north of the country (especially in the county of Finnmark) have both a passenger compartment and a freight compartment in the rear: many remote villages are connected to the outside world only by these buses, thus achieving a large part of the cargo by bus to the city. Pakistan. Intercity bus transportation has risen dramatically in Pakistan due to the decline of Pakistan Railways and the unaffordable prices of airplanes for the average Pakistani. Numerous companies have started operating within the country such as Daewoo Express and Niazi Express, Manthar Bus Service and have gained considerable popularity due to their reliability, security and good service. Smaller vans are used for transportation in the mountainous north where narrow and dangerous roads make it impossible for the movement of larger buses. Former Yugoslavia. Intercity bus travel in Serbia, as well as in other countries of former Yugoslavia, is very popular in proportion to travel by rail and air. In some regions, data has shown that intercity bus routes have transported over ten times the number of passengers carried by intercity trains on the same competing routes. It has been a trend around Serbia and the Balkan region that small towns and some villages have their own flagship bus carrier, often branded with the last name of the family whose owner runs that bus company. Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, and Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, have very large central bus terminals that operate 24 hours a day. The largest intercity bus operator in the whole region is Lasta Beograd which operates from Serbia to many countries in Europe. Switzerland. Switzerland has an extremely dense network of interconnected rail, bus and ship lines, including some long-distance bus lines. Although Switzerland is a mountainous country, the rail network is denser than Germany’s. Switzerland is an exception to the rule that long-distance bus lines are established especially in countries with inadequate railway network, or in areas with low population density. Some of the railway and main bus routes on Italian territory also serve to shorten the distance between Swiss towns. From Germany lines run from Frankfurt am Main, Heidelberg, Karlsruhe to Basel and Lucerne. Long-distance bus services in Switzerland: Taiwan. Most of the time, coaches in Taiwan is driving on Controlled-access highway, so it is mainly called Highway Coach (Chinese name:國道客運). e.g. KBus（國光客運）, UBus（統聯客運）, HoHsin（和欣客運）. Turkey. Turkey has an extensive network of intercity buses. Every part of the country is served. The buses are popular, comfortable and frequent. For example, there are over 150 departures from Istanbul to Ankara each day. The level of onboard service is very high, with free drinks and snacks on long-distance routes. Notable operators including Pamukkale, Kâmil Koç, Metro, and Ulusoy. Tickets can be bought online from all of them. United Kingdom. There is an extensive network of scheduled coach transport in the United Kingdom. However, passenger numbers are a fraction of those travelling by rail. Coach travel companies often require passengers to purchase tickets in advance of travel, that is they may not be bought on board. The distinction between bus and coach services is not absolute, and some coach services, especially in Scotland, operate as local bus services over sections of route where there is no other bus service. National Express Coaches has operated services under that name since 1972. Megabus started in 2004 and Greyhound UK in 2009. There are many other operators. Receipts in 2004 were £1.8 billion (2008 prices) and grew significantly between 1980 and 2010. Ulsterbus connect places in Northern Ireland which are no longer on the railway network. United States. In the mid-1950s more than 2,000 buses operated by Greyhound Lines, Trailways, and other companies connected 15,000 cities and towns. Passenger volume decreased as a result of expanding road and air travel, and urban decay that caused many neighborhoods with bus depots to become more dangerous. In 1960, American intercity buses carried 140 million riders; the rate decreased to 40 million by 1990, and continued to decrease until 2006. By 1997, intercity bus transportation accounted for only 3.6% of travel in the United States. In the late 1990s, however, Chinatown bus lines that connected New York with Boston and Philadelphia’s Chinatowns began operating. They became popular with non-Chinese college students and others who wanted inexpensive transportation, and between 1997 and 2007 Greyhound lost 60% of its market share in the northeast United States to the Chinatown buses. During the following decade, new bus lines such as Megabus and BoltBus emulated the Chinatown buses’ practices of low prices and curbside stops on a much larger scale, both in the original Northeast Corridor and elsewhere, while introducing yield management techniques to the industry. By 2010 curbside buses’ annual passenger volume had risen by 33% and they accounted for more than 20% of all bus trips. One analyst estimated that curbside buses that year carried at least 2.4 billion passenger miles in the Northeast Corridor, compared to 1.7 billion passenger miles for Amtrak trains. Traditional depot-based bus lines also grew, benefiting from what the American Bus Association called “the Megabus effect”, akin to the Southwest Effect, and both Greyhound and its subsidiary Yo! Bus, which competed directly with the Chinatown buses, benefited after the federal government shut several Chinatown lines down in June 2012. Between 2006 and 2014, American intercity buses focused on medium-haul trips between 200 and 300 miles; airplanes performed the bulk of longer trips and automobiles shorter ones. For most medium-haul trips curbside bus fares were less than the cost of automobile gasoline, and one tenth that of Amtrak. Buses are also four times more fuel-efficient than automobiles. Their Wi-Fi service is also popular; one study estimated that 92% of Megabus and BoltBus passengers planned to use an electronic device. New lower fares introduced by Greyhound on traditional medium-distance routes and rising gasoline prices have increased ridership across the network and made bus travel cheaper than all alternatives. Effective June 25, 2014, Greyhound reintroduced many much longer bus routes, including New York–Los Angeles, Los Angeles–Vancouver, and others, while increasing frequencies on existing long-distance and ultra-long-distance buses routes. This turned back the tide of shortening bus routes and puts Greyhound back in the position of competing with long-distance road trips, airlines, and trains. Long-distance buses were to have Wi-Fi, power outlets, and extra legroom, sometimes extra recline, and were to be cleaned, refueled, and driver-changed at major stations along the way, coinciding with Greyhound’s eradication of overbooking. It also represented Greyhound’s traditional bus expansion over the expansion of curbside bus lines. Safety on U.S. intercity buses. On August 4, 1952, Greyhound Lines had its deadliest accident when two Greyhound buses collided head-on along then-U.S. Route 81 near Waco, Texas. The fuel tanks of both buses then ruptured, bursting into flames. Of the 56 persons aboard both coaches, 28 were killed, including both drivers. On May 9, 1980, a freight ship collided with the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, resulting in several vehicles, including a Greyhound bus, falling into the Tampa Bay. All 26 people on the bus perished, along with nine others. This is the largest loss of life on a single Greyhound coach to date. On March 5, 2010, a bus operated by Tierra Santa Inc. crashed on Interstate 10 in Arizona, killing six and injuring sixteen passengers. The bus was not carrying insurance, and had also been operating illegally because the company had applied for authority to operate an interstate bus service, but had failed to respond to requests for additional information. Security on U.S. intercity buses. Though generally rare, various incidents have occurred over time involving both drivers and passengers on intercity buses. Security became a concern following the September 11 attacks. Less than a month later, on October 3, 2001, Damir Igric, a passenger on a Greyhound bus, slit the throat of the driver (who later survived his injuries and was hospitalized) as he tries to take control of the bus, resulting in a crash that killed 7 passengers, including Igric, and injuring six other passengers. It was determined there was no connection between the September 11 attacks and this incident. Nevertheless, this raised concern. On September 30, 2002, another Greyhound driver was assaulted near Fresno, California, resulting in two passenger deaths after the bus then rolled off an embankment and crashed. Following this attack, driver shields were installed on most Greyhound buses that now prevent passengers from directly having contact with the driver while the bus is in motion, even if the shield is forced open. On buses which do not have the shield, the seats directly behind the driver are generally off limits. The growing popularity in the United States of new bus lines such as Megabus and BoltBus that pick up and drop off passengers on the street instead of bus depots has led to a rise in the perceived security of intercity buses. Megabus states that a quarter of its passengers are unaccompanied women. Urban-suburban bus line. Urban-suburban bus line is generally categorized as public transit, especially for large metropolitan transit networks. Usually these routes cover a long distance compared to most transit bus routes, but still short—usually 40 miles in one direction. An urban-suburban bus line generally connects a suburban area to the downtown core. The vehicle can be something as simple as a merely refitted school bus (which sometimes already contains overhead storage racks) or a minibus. Often a suburban coach may be used, which is a standard transit bus modified to have some of the functionality of an interstate coach. An example would be the Suburban line employed by TransLink (Vancouver), typically going from the downtown core of Vancouver to suburban cities such as Delta and White Rock. In such case, the vehicles are modified standard transit bus, but with only one door and air conditioning. The vehicles provide accommodation for the disabled (through a lift or ramp at the front), and thus has a few high-back seats, usually in the front, that can be folded up for wheelchairs. The rest of the seats are reclining upholstered seats and have individual lights and overhead storage bins. Because it is a commuter bus, it has some (but not much) standing room, stop-request devices, and a farebox. This model also has a bike rack at the front to accommodate two bicycles. Some lines use a full-size interstate coach with on board toilet, such as the “TrainBus” service of Vancouver’s West Coast Express commuter rail system. Suburban models in the United States are often used in Park-and-Ride services, and are very common in the New York City area, where New Jersey Transit Bus Operations is a major operator serving widespread bedroom communities. |
structure to hold bikes |
bike rack |
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The Domestic Purposes Benefit (DPB) is a social welfare payment in New Zealand’s social security system, primarily given to single parents with dependent children. It, along with all other benefit payments, was managed by Work and Income, under the Ministry of Social Development. Since the Fifth National Government of New Zealand’s welfare reforms in July 2013, the main Domestic Purposes Benefit Sole Parent was renamed Sole Parent Support, with the two other DPB benefits, Care of Sick or Infirm and Women Alone, absorbed into other benefits. History. The Domestic Purposes Benefit, or DPB, was first introduced in New Zealand in 1973 by the country’s Third Labour Government led by Prime Minister Norman Kirk. The Destitute Persons Act 1910 and the Domestic Proceedings Act 1968 had previously created a statutory means by which a woman could seek a maintenance order against the father of her children. The court could, at its discretion, set the rate that it thought appropriate for the father to pay the mother in respect of the child. This maintenance continued until the child reached the age of sixteen; maintenance would continue to be payable in respect of a child over the age of sixteen if the child was engaged in full-time education. These statutes provided a means by which women could seek maintenance from the putative father, but in the event of any difficulties, women had to resort to the court in order to enforce the maintenance agreement or order. There were also further difficulties; an unmarried mother had to obtain an acknowledgement of paternity from the father or a declaration of paternity from the court in order to be entitled to seek maintenance. The DPB, introduced in statutory form in 1973, mitigated these difficulties. The Act provided State financial support for single mothers, irrespective of whether the father was contributing to maintenance payments. The introduction of the DPB was blamed for “creating a shortage of babies for adoption”. However, the extent to which the DPB contributed to the shortage of babies available for adoption is unclear. The number of births outside of marriage fell between 1971 and 1976. The numbers of ex nuptial children being adopted had started to fall in 1962, before the introduction of State financial support. Else notes that a number of other factors were at work, such as a “softening” of attitudes towards illegitimate children and their mothers, the removal of the stigma of illegitimacy by the Status of Children Act 1969, the increasing availability of contraception and delays in the placement of babies. In the 2011 New Zealand general election, the ruling centre-right National Party campaigned on, among other policies, welfare reform. National’s Welfare Reform plan, called for the streamlining of the existing 11 benefit categories into three, with extra work obligations and focusing on reducing long-term welfare dependency. Upon winning power in 2011, National’s Minister for Social Development and Employment Paula Bennett started implementing the policies. The changes to the welfare system came into effect in July 2013. 7 of the 11 existing benefit categories were replaced with three broad groups - Jobseeker Support (for people who can usually work full-time, only work part-time or can’t work at the moment), Sole Parent Support (for solo parents caring for children under 14) and the Supported Living Payment (for those who are unable to work and those caring for someone needing significant care). Response to the reforms have been mixed. A New Zealand Herald article on the reforms states under the heading ‘The rationale’ that ‘New Zealand has among the world’s highest rates of sole parenthood, especially among low-income groups for whom the DPB may seem a viable option.’ But under the heading ‘The risks’, it says that ‘…the risk (of reform) is that it will also cause unintended harm to the majority of women who end up on the DPB through no fault of their own.’ Details. Domestic Purposes Benefit - Sole Parent. The Domestic Purposes Benefit - Sole Parent is the main DPB benefit. It is a weekly payment to sole parents with one or more dependent children. It is primarily awarded to a parent who is 19 years old or over, has a dependent child under 18 and who does not have a partner or has lost the support of their partner. A parent whose youngest child is under five years old needs to take practical steps to get ready for work. If their youngest child is aged between five and 13 (five being the earliest age a child can attend school, although it is not compulsory until the child turns six) they are expected to be in, or be actively seeking part-time work of at least 15 hours per week. If their youngest child is aged 14 or older (14 being the minimum legal age which children can be left unattended) they are expected to be in, or be actively seeking full-time work of at least 30 hours per week. If they don’t meet these work obligations and do not have an exemption, their benefit may be reduced or stopped. The benefit is a fixed amount for parents who earn $100 or less in other income per week, which as of 15 July 2013 is $335.18 before tax per week. The benefit amount is reduced by 30c per dollar earned between $100 and $200, and 70c per dollar earned over $200. The gross income cut-out point is $577 per week. As of April 2014, this benefit has been mainly replaced by Sole Parent Support if the child is aged under 14 (a maximum net weekly payment of NZ$299.45 for those earning less than NZ$5200 a year - as well as NZ$20 extra per week if childcare costs are needed - and the gross income cut-out point is NZ$585 a week) or Jobseeker Support if the child is aged over 14 (a maximum net weekly payment of NZ$299.45 for sole parents). Both statistics are as of April 1, 2014. Domestic Purposes Benefit - Care of Sick or Infirm. Domestic Purposes Benefit - Care of Sick or Infirm is a weekly payment which helps people who are caring for someone at home who needs full-time care. As of April 1, 2014, the Domestic Purposes Benefit - Care of Sick or Infirm, has been replaced by the Supported Living Payment. The Supported Living Payment goes from a minimum weekly net payment of NZ$211.46 for single 16- and 17-year-olds to a maximum payment of NZ$435.50 for a married couple, de facto couple or a civil union couple. The maximum gross income cut-off point is NZ$780 per week for couples. Domestic Purposes Benefit - Woman Alone. Domestic Purposes Benefit – Woman Alone is a weekly payment which helps women aged 50 or over (but under the age of New Zealand Superannuation, i.e. 65) who have lost the support of their partner or finished caring for a child or sick relative. As of April 1, 2014, the Domestic Purposes Benefit has been replaced by Jobseeker Support. The maximum net weekly payment for those who was receiving the old DPB before 15 July 2013 is NZ$217.75 with a gross weekly income cut-off point of NZ$469. There is no dedicated category now for single women over 50: those applying after 15 July 2013 will receive the Jobseeker Support payment for those aged 25+, together with the obligations to find work that brings. The net weekly benefit is NZ$209.06 with a gross weekly income cut-off point of NZ$379. Benefit numbers. At the end of December 2012, 109,000 working-age people (aged 18–64 years) were receiving a Domestic Purposes Benefit. This represents around 4% of the working age population of New Zealand. |
territory fiscal help |
State financial support |
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Albani Bryggerierne A/S (Eng. : “Albani Breweries”) is a brewery located in Odense, Denmark, and the vast majority of its customers live on the island of Funen. The brewery was founded by MPharm Theodor Schiøtz in 1859. In 2000, the brewery merged with “Bryggerigruppen” with the Brewery group (now known as Royal Unibrew), a group of Danish regional breweries. Albani is most known for two of its beers, Odense Pilsner and Odense Classic. Beers. Odense Pilsner. Odense Pilsner is a pilsener. The taste is balanced between malt and fruit. Two different varieties of hops are used, both come from Hallertau in Germany. It has been brewed since 1934 and was originally not part of the Albani Brewery’s portfolio, but was introduced to the product line with the acquisition of “Bryggeriet Odense”. Alcohol by volume: 4.6% Odense Classic. Odense Classic is a pilsener, though it has a more dark colour than ordinary beers of the same type. The beer has a more rounded, but still powerful taste of malt and hops. It was introduced at the brewery’s 140th anniversary in 1999. Alcohol by volume: 4.6% Odense Rød Classic. Odense Rød Classic (Danish for “Odense Red Classic”) is a Vienna lager. A mixture of dark caramel malt and Münchener malt is used. The result is a dark beer with a somewhat rounded taste. The colour is dark golden red, which might be the source of the name. Alcohol by volume: 4.6% Giraf Beer. Giraf Beer is a strong pilsener. It was first brewed in 1962, when Odense Zoo’s giraffe (Danish: “giraf”) Kalle was found dead, as the Albani Breweries had previously used this giraffe in its advertisement, it decided to create a special beer, the profits of which would be spent on purchasing a new giraffe for the zoo. The first year’s production raised enough funds to buy two giraffes for the zoo. Alcohol by volume: 7.2% HC Andersen. HC Andersen is a strong ale-type beer, first brewed in 1988 when the Albani Breweries decided to create a special beer to celebrate Odense’s 1,000th anniversary. The beer became so popular that Albani decided to keep it as a part of its product range. In 1989, it was marketed under its current name, honouring Hans Christian Andersen. A small batch of HC Andersen is brewed every year, and released on Andersen’s birthday, April 2. Each year’s labels depict a different paper cutting by Hans Christian Andersen. The bottles are also serial numbered. As a result, the beer has become a collector’s item. The beer is bottom fermented and is matured longer than ordinary beer. The result is a beer with a light taste, considering its high alcohol content. Alcohol by volume: 9% Christmas Beers. Albani produces two Christmas beers Blålys (Danish for “Blue light”) and Rødhætte (Danish for “Red Riding Hood”). Blålys was introduced in 1960, although it was not Denmark’s first Christmas beer, “Blålys” effectively started the tradition of Danish Christmas beers. Denmark’s first Christmas beer was produced by the “Carlsminde” brewery and had been introduced the previous year. Albani acquired Carlsminde in 1972. Both “Blålys” and “Rødhætte” are dark lagers. The label depicts the church-like “Gallery Tower” of the brewery cover covered in snow. This is the reason why many people originally referred to the Christmas beer as the “church beer” . This only lasted a few years until other breweries introduced their own Christmas beers. Blålys: Alcohol by volume: 7% Rødhætte: Alcohol by volume: 5.6% Easter beer. Påskebryg (Danish for Easter Brew), is a strong pilsener, and the Albani Breweries’ traditional beer for the Easter season. Easter beers were Denmark’s first seasonal beers in Denmark, and were introduced by Carlsberg in 1905. The Påskebryg was introduced in the 1950s and is brewed from a mixture of dark and light malt. Alcohol by volume: 5,6% Light beers. Albani also produces two light beers, Odense Light and Odense Extra Light, as light alternatives to its original pilsener. These beers are brewed using light pilsener malt, Münchner malt, and caramel malt. Odense Light: Alcohol by volume: 2.6% Odense Extra Light: Alcohol by volume: 0.05% Mergers and acquisitions. At the turn of the twentieth century there was a large consolidation in the Danish brewing industry, where the larger city breweries typically bought the smaller countryside breweries. Albani was part of this development, buying smaller breweries in Odense and around the island of Funen. Later, when Albani had a near monopoly on beer distribution on Funen, Albani started acquiring breweries in other parts of the country; Sønderborg Bryghus, Bryggeriet Slotsmøllen, Baldur, and Maribo Bryghus, in each case, Albani taking control of the other company. Albani Breweries A/S merged with the Royal Unibrew group in 2000. Other names used by the group are: Hans Christian Andersen. Denmark’s best known poet and author, Hans Christian Andersen, was very fond of Albani beers. In a letter to a friend he described Albani beer as: “Jeg kan ikke rose denne øl højt nok. Den er forfriskende, delikat og stærk. Prøv den!” (Danish for “I cannot recommend this beer enough. It is refreshing, savoury and strong. Try it!”) This quote is occasionally used in the company’s marketing. |
pale lagers |
two light beers |
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Global citizenship is the idea that one’s identity transcends geography or political borders and that responsibilities or rights are derived from membership in a broader class: “humanity”. This does not mean that such a person denounces or waives their nationality or other, more local identities, but that such identities are given “second place” to their membership in a global community. Extended, the idea leads to questions about the state of global society in the age of globalization. In general usage, the term may have much the same meaning as “world citizen” or cosmopolitan, but it also has additional, specialized meanings in differing contexts. Various organizations, such as the World Service Authority, have advocated global citizenship. Usage. Education. In education, the term is most often used to describe a worldview or a set of values toward which education is oriented (see, for example, the priorities of the “Global Education First Initiative” led by the Secretary-General of the United Nations). The term “global society” is sometimes used to indicate a global studies set of learning objectives for students to prepare them for global citizenship (see, for example, the Global Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh). Global citizenship education. Within the educational system, the concept of global citizenship education (GCED) is beginning to supersede or overarch movements such as multicultural education, peace education, human rights education, Education for Sustainable Development, and international education. Additionally, GCED rapidly incorporates references to the aforementioned movements. The concept of global citizenship has been linked with awards offered for helping humanity. Teachers are being given the responsibility of being social change agents. Audrey Osler, director of the “Centre for Citizenship and Human Rights Education”, the University of Leeds, affirms that “Education for living together in an interdependent world is not an optional extra, but an essential foundation”. With GCED gaining attention, scholars are investigating the field and developing perspectives. The following are a few of the more common perspectives: Philosophy. Global citizenship, in some contexts, may refer to a brand of ethics or political philosophy in which it is proposed that the core social, political, economic, and environmental realities of the world today should be addressed at all levels—by individuals, civil society organizations, communities, and nation states—through a global lens. It refers to a broad, culturally and environmentally inclusive worldview that accepts the fundamental interconnectedness of all things. Political, geographic borders become irrelevant and solutions to today’s challenges are seen to be beyond the narrow vision of national interests. Proponents of this philosophy often point to Diogenes of Sinope (c. 412 B.C.) as an example, given his reported declaration that “I am a citizen of the world (κοσμοπολίτης, “cosmopolites”)” in response to a question about his place of origin. A Tamil term, “Yadhum oore yaavarum kelir”, has the meaning of “the world is one family”. The statement is not just about peace and harmony among the societies in the world, but also about a truth that somehow the whole world has to live together like a family. Psychological studies. Global pollsters and psychologists have studied individual differences in the sense of global citizenship. Beginning in 2005, the World Values Survey (WVS), administered across almost 100 countries, included the statement, “I see myself as a world citizen”. In the WVS Wave 6, conducted from 2010 to 2014, across the globe 29.5% “strongly agreed” and another 41% “agreed” with this statement. However, there were wide national variations, as 71% of citizens of Qatar, 21% of U.S. citizens, 16% of Chinese, and just 11% of Palestinians “strongly agreed.” Interpreting these differences is difficult, however, as survey methods varied for different countries, and the connotations of “world citizen” differ in different languages and cultures. For smaller studies, several multi-item scales have been developed, including Sam McFarland and colleagues’ Identification with All Humanity scale (e.g., “How much do you identify with (that is, feel a part of, feel love toward, have concern for) . . . all humans everywhere?”), Anna Malsch and Alan Omoto’s Psychological Sense of Global Community (e.g., “I feel a sense of connection to people all over the world, even if I don’t know them personally”), Gerhard Reese and colleagues’ Global Social Identity scale (e.g. “I feel strongly connected to the world community as a whole”), and Stephen Reysen and Katzarska-Miller’s global citizenship identification scale (e.g., “I strongly identify with global citizens”). These measures are strongly related to one another, but they are not fully identical. Studies of the psychological roots of global citizenship have found that persons high in global citizenship are also high on the personality traits of openness to experience and agreeableness from the Big Five personality traits and high in empathy and caring. Oppositely, the authoritarian personality, the social dominance orientation, and psychopathy are all associated with less global human identification. Some of these traits are influenced by heredity as well as by early experiences, which, in turn, likely influence individuals’ receptiveness to global human identification. Research has found that those who are high in global human identification are less prejudiced toward many groups, care more about international human rights, worldwide inequality, global poverty and human suffering. They attend more actively to global concerns, value the lives of all human beings more equally, and give more in time and money to international humanitarian causes. They tend to be more politically liberal on both domestic and international issues. They want their countries to do more to alleviate global suffering. Following a social identity approach, Reysen and Katzarska-Miller tested a model showing the antecedents and outcomes of global citizenship identification (i.e., degree of psychological connection with global citizens). Individuals’ normative environment (the cultural environment in which one is embedded contains people, artifacts, cultural patterns that promote viewing the self as a global citizen) and global awareness (perceiving oneself as aware, knowledgeable, and connected to others in the world) predict global citizenship identification. Global citizenship identification then predicts six broad categories of prosocial behaviors and values, including: intergroup empathy, valuing diversity, social justice, environmental sustainability, intergroup helping, and a felt responsibility to act. Subsequent research has examined variables that influence the model such as: participation in a college course with global components, perception of one’s global knowledge, college professors’ attitudes toward global citizenship, belief in an intentional worlds view of culture, participation in a fan group that promotes the identity, use of global citizen related words when describing one’s values, possible self as a global citizen, religiosity and religious orientation, threat to one’s nation, interdependent self-construal prime, perception of the university environment, and social media usage. In 2019, a review of all studies of the psychology of global human identification and citizenship through 2018 was published. Aspects. Geography, sovereignty, and citizenship. At the same time that globalization is reducing the importance of nation-states, the idea of global citizenship may require a redefinition of ties between civic engagement and geography. Face-to-face town hall meetings seem increasingly supplanted by electronic “town halls” not limited by space and time. Absentee ballots opened the way for expatriates to vote while living in another country; the Internet may carry this several steps further. Another interpretation given by several scholars of the changing configurations of citizenship due to globalization is the possibility that citizenship becomes a changed institution; even if situated within territorial boundaries that are national, if the meaning of the national itself has changed, then the meaning of being a citizen of that nation changes. Human rights. The lack of a universally recognized world body can put the initiative upon global citizens themselves to create rights and obligations. Rights and obligations as they arose at the formation of nation-states (e.g. the right to vote and obligation to serve in time of war) are being expanded. Thus, new concepts that accord certain “human rights” which arose in the 20th century are increasingly being universalized across nations and governments. This is the result of many factors, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations in 1948, the aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust and growing sentiments towards legitimizing marginalized peoples (e.g., pre-industrialized peoples found in the jungles of Brazil and Borneo). Couple this with growing awareness of our impact on the environment, and there is the rising feeling that citizen rights may extend to include the right to dignity and self-determination. If national citizenship does not foster these new rights, then global citizenship may seem more accessible. Global citizenship advocates may confer specific rights and obligations of human beings trapped in conflicts, those incarcerated as part of ethnic cleansing, and pre-industrialized tribes newly discovered by scientists living in the depths of dense jungle UN General Assembly. On 10 December 1948, the UN General Assembly Adopted Resolution 217A (III), also known as “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” Article 1 states that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.” Article 2 states that “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinions, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.” Article 13(2) states that “Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.” As evidence in today’s modern world, events such as the Trial of Saddam Hussein have proven what British jurist A. V. Dicey said in 1885, when he popularized the phrase “rule of law” in 1885. Dicey emphasized three aspects of the rule of law : US Declaration of Independence. The opening of the United States Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, states as follows: “Global citizenship in the United States” was a term used by former U.S. President Barack Obama in 2008 in a speech in Berlin. Social movements. World citizen. In general, a world citizen is a person who places global citizenship above any nationalistic or local identities and relationships. An early expression of this value is found in Diogenes of Sinope (c. 412 B.C. ; mentioned above), a Cynic philosopher in Ancient Greece. Of Diogenes it is said: “Asked where he came from, he answered: ‘I am a citizen of the world (kosmopolitês)’”. This was a ground-breaking concept because the broadest basis of social identity in Greece at that time was either the individual city-state or the Greeks (Hellenes) as a group. The Tamil poet Kaniyan Poongundran wrote in “Purananuru”, “To us all towns are one, all men our kin.” In later years, political philosopher Thomas Paine would declare, “my country is the world, and my religion is to do good.” Today, the increase in worldwide globalization has led to the formation of a “world citizen” social movement under a proposed world government. In a non-political definition, it has been suggested that a world citizen may provide value to society by using knowledge acquired across cultural contexts. Many people also consider themselves world citizens, as they feel at home wherever they may go. Albert Einstein described himself as a world citizen and supported the idea throughout his life, famously saying “Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind.” World citizenship has been promoted by distinguished people including Garry Davis, who lived for 60 years as a citizen of no nation, only the world. Davis founded the World Service Authority in Washington, DC, which sells World Passports, a fantasy passport to world citizens. In 1956 Hugh J. Schonfield founded the Commonwealth of World Citizens, later known by its Esperanto name “Mondcivitana Respubliko”, which also issued a world passport; it declined after the 1980s. The Baháʼí Faith promotes the concept through its founder’s proclamation (in the late 19th century) that “The Earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.” As a term defined by the Baháʼí International Community in a concept paper shared at the 1st session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, New York, U.S.A. on 14–25 June 1993. “World citizenship begins with an acceptance of the oneness of the human family and the interconnectedness of the nations of ‘the earth, our home.’ While it encourages a sane and legitimate patriotism, it also insists upon a wider loyalty, a love of humanity as a whole. It does not, however, imply abandonment of legitimate loyalties, the suppression of cultural diversity, the abolition of national autonomy, nor the imposition of uniformity. Its hallmark is ‘unity in diversity.’ World citizenship encompasses the principles of social and economic justice, both within and between nations; non-adversarial decision making at all levels of society; equality of the sexes; racial, ethnic, national and religious harmony; and the willingness to sacrifice for the common good. Other facets of world citizenship—including the promotion of human honour and dignity, understanding, amity, co-operation, trustworthiness, compassion and the desire to serve—can be deduced from those already mentioned.” Mundialization. Philosophically, mundialization (French, “mondialisation”) is seen as a response to globalization’s “dehumanisation through [despatialised] planetarisation” (Teilhard de Chardin quoted in Capdepuy 2011). An early use of “mondialisation” was to refer to the act of a city or a local authority declaring itself a “world citizen” city, by voting a charter stating its awareness of global problems and its sense of shared responsibility. The concept was promoted by the self-declared World Citizen Garry Davis in 1949, as a logical extension of the idea of individuals declaring themselves world citizens, and promoted by Robert Sarrazac, a former leader of the French Resistance who created the Human Front of World Citizens in 1945. The first city to be officially mundialised was the small French city of Cahors (only 20,000 in 2006), the capital city of the Département of Lot in central France, on 20 July 1949. Hundreds of cities mundialised themselves over a few years, most of them in France, and then it spread internationally, including to many German cities and to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In less than a year, 10 General Councils (the elected councils of the French “Départements”), and hundreds of cities in France covering 3.4 million inhabitants voted mundialisation charters. One of the goals was to elect one delegate per million inhabitants to a People’s World Constitutional Convention given the already then historical failure of the United Nations in creating a global institution able to negotiate a final world peace. To date, more than 1000 cities and towns have declared themselves World cities, including Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Toronto, Hiroshima, Tokyo, Nivelles, and Königswinter. As a social movement, mundialization expresses the solidarity of populations of the globe and aims to establish institutions and supranational laws of a federative structure common to them, while respecting the diversity of cultures and peoples. The movement advocates for a new political organization governing all humanity, involving the transfer of certain parts of national sovereignty to a Federal World Authority, Federal World Government and Federal World Court. Basing its authority on the will of the people, supporters hope it could develop new systems to draw on the highest and best wisdom of all humanity, and solve major planetary problems like hunger, access to water, war, peace-keeping, pollution and energy. The mundialization movement includes the declaration of specified territory – a city, town, or state, for example – as world territory, with responsibilities and rights on a world scale. Currently, the nation-state system and the United Nations offer no way for the people of the world to vote for world officials or participate in governing our world. International treaties or agreements lack the force of law. Mundialization seeks to address this lack by presenting a way to build, one city at a time, such a system of true World Law based upon the sovereignty of the whole. Earth Anthem. Author-politician Shashi Tharoor feels that an Earth Anthem sung by people across the world can inspire planetary consciousness and global citizenship among people. Criticisms. Not all interpretations of global citizenship are positive. For example, Bhikhu Chotalal Parekh advocates what he calls globally oriented citizenship, and states, “If global citizenship means being a citizen of the world, it is neither practicable nor desirable.” He argues that global citizenship, defined as an actual membership of a type of worldwide government system, is impractical and dislocated from one’s immediate community. He also notes that such a world state would inevitably be “remote, bureaucratic, oppressive, and culturally bland.” Parekh presents his alternative option with the statement: “Since the conditions of life of our fellow human beings in distant parts of the world should be a matter of deep moral and political concern to us, our citizenship has an inescapable global dimension, and we should aim to become what I might call a globally oriented citizen.” Parekh’s concept of globally oriented citizenship consists of identifying with and strengthening ties towards one’s political regional community (whether in its current state or an improved, revised form), while recognizing and acting upon obligations towards others in the rest of the world. Michael Byers, a professor in Political Science at the University of British Columbia, questions the assumption that there is one definition of global citizenship, and unpacks aspects of potential definitions. In the introduction to his public lecture, the UBC Internalization website states, “‘Global citizenship’ remains undefined. What, if anything, does it really mean? Is global citizenship just the latest buzzword?” Byers notes the existence of stateless persons, whom he remarks ought to be the primary candidates for global citizenship, yet continue to live without access to basic freedoms and citizenship rights. Byers does not oppose the concept of global citizenship, however, he criticizes potential implications of the term depending on one’s definition of it, such as ones that provide support for the “ruthlessly capitalist economic system that now dominates the planet.” Byers states that global citizenship is a “powerful term” because “people that invoke it do so to provoke and justify action,” and encourages the attendees of his lecture to re-appropriate it in order for its meaning to have a positive purpose, based on idealistic values. Neither criticism of global citizenship is anything new. Gouverneur Morris, a delegate to the Constitutional Convention (United States), criticized “citizens of the world” while he was on the floor of the convention; 9 August 1787. “As to those philosophical gentlemen, those Citizens of the World as they call themselves, He owned he did not wish to see any of them in our public Councils. He would not trust them. The men who can shake off their attachments to their own Country can never love any other. These attachments are the wholesome prejudices which uphold all Governments, Admit a Frenchman into your Senate, and he will study to increase the commerce of France: an Englishman, and he will feel an equal bias in favor of that of England.” |
elementary articulation |
early expression |