Version
1.1 March 2012
|
Politics is a variety of practical action that involves working with communities. There can be local politics, in families, work places, community groups and so on. Politics in government and large corporations has a major impact on the world. Politicians are supposed to control business and the economy, through legislation and administrative regulation. How should they do this? Is unbridled capitalism best? Are modern democracies functional, or are they just dupes of big business – the rich? What are the alternatives to national democracies – could they ever be effective? We need to promote, defend and extend the ongoing development of local and global democracies to pursue our global obligations. |
Politics attempts to resolve differences by talking and compromise rather than fighting; our political goals and methods must be based on our personal values, so opposition to all oppression and inappropriate discrimination is fundamental, and science and history help us to work out what is most skilful in achieving our aims.
7.1 Conclusions on the Political
Process (Statement
36)
7.1.1 Politics
is based on the principle that it is better to talk than to fight. Politics arises in all groups of people, as
they work out the pecking order. Here we
are concerned about politics on a corporate, state, national or global level. The question is which way for us to go, to
put our effort. We need to clarify
● Political
goals: what we want to achieve – based on compassion, justice, mercy;
● Political
analysis: what is the current situation – threats from global warming etc as
per future gazing;
● Political
strategy: what is possible and effective – based on the science and history,
the truth, organisation, continuing the democratic tradition, law abiding;
● Political
motivation: what drives us to take the action – it threatens our live and those
of our children
● Political
commitment: what effort we are prepared to expend – will vary from one to
another, from dedicating our lives to the cause, to occasional activism to at
least verbal support. Stopping at the
point we become uncomfortable seems like a good measure.
● Global
scenarios, global problems, global goals, global strategies.
● The goal is more equality, prosperity and less
environmental impact. Nuclear risk,
terrorism, fortress, human rights.
● Also
regional problems, and within each country
● Politics
requires some integrity – honesty, openness, contracts etc. Diplomacy is said to be lying for you
country. Politicians often say what the
electorate wants to hear. In the
bargaining process that is practical politics there may be ambit claims, and
tactical use of the truth. But still we
should not blatantly lie – it is tactically bad if you get caught, practically
difficult in complex situations where many people are involved to maintain a
consistent lie (which si why there is such emphasis in ‘getting everyone on
board for a difficult line to push), and all the major problems we face are
complex ones for major organizations – big corporations, governments, global
NGOs. Overall, despite the skepticism,
politics requires a core of integrity.
Democracy has a special requirement for truth.
● The
choices we make are limited by our circumstances: it depend upon what we
know. If we are unaware of an option we
cannot choose it.
● This
does not always lead to greater happiness, when simply defined. It leads to greater contentment,
satisfaction, integration. I feel better
about myself. Perhaps I also feel connected
to the universal narrative of progress, truth, beauty, the spirit, life, love
etc.
History shows that mixed, managed economies are best: controlled capitalism, market
regulation, Keynesian and monetarist policies to maintain employment and a
stable currency, policies to avoid moral hazard and government and corporate
corruption, government control of natural monopolies and essential services.
7.2 Conclusions on Business and
Economics (Statement
37)
THESE ARE PRELIMINARY THOUGHTS
We
need to get the global economy right.
The history of exploitation and collapses, and the material success of
capitalism, guide our plans for the future.
A universal currency perhaps, or more varieties of currencies to
diminish the risks we have now.
Appropriate exchange rates, bank regulations, fair trade practices, and
so on. Mixed economies seem to work
best. Competition has its benefits as
well as disadvantages. Consumer
protection needs to be enhanced. We need
to develop products that have minimal impact on the environment – longer life
spans, more uses, more intangible products.
more (later)
Business
must address its responsibility to the environment, particularly as supplier,
and attend to the full product life cycle. more (later)
History shows democratic government promotes human happiness and well being, by supporting freedom of expression in a pluralist society, legal equality, the rule of law, accountability, and exhilarating diversity, and it must be spread to all countries and all attempts to improperly exploit or diminish democracy must be resisted.
Conclusions on Democracy: (Statement
37)
Democracy means elected
(representative) government, based on a constitution, with universal suffrage,
secret ballots, independent electoral commissions, the separation of
legislative, administrative and judicial powers, the rule of law (written law, independent
police, independent judiciary, equality before the law), freedom of religion,
opinion, expression and association, and mostly openness and transparency in
government.
Democracy is a key value because
a)
its
liberating effect on individuals, making us happier,
b)
its
practical effect of improving the lot of the whole population not just an
elite;
● History
has shown national democracies are more successful than dictatorships or
totalitarian regimes. more (later)
● History
also shows that democratically run corporations don’t last: managers must be
able to manage, but must be compelled to do so within humane controls. more (later)
Even the best working democracies
have limitations.
● Rulers
– the politicians – subject to popular election are often incapable of making
the necessary but unpopular decisions.
● We
need to raise the general education level so that voters select better
politicians and care about long term outcomes and strategic matters.
● We
must allow for ongoing scrutiny of the executive, though parliamentary
questions, freedom of information laws, ombudsmen, and judicial oversight over
all executive decisions.
Rule
of law involves representatives of the affected people. (Requirements refined over history, still
need to spread globally. Scared – eg of
social collapse- or selfish rulers still don’t want the rule of law –
Major
issue in democracy is the quality of the decision making.
The
major point is to have decisions made for the benefit of the people as a whole
rather than the benefit of the rulers.
History shows that path often has lead to social collapse (Diamond,
Communism, Dictatorships).
Hence
we have elected representatives, supposedly acting on our behalf. (Historically this works.)
We
need to ensure that they are working in our interests. (Because we acknowledge the evolutionary
tendencies of altruism and selfishness).
Hence
we have corruption commissions, separation of powers, independent audits,
independent statistics.
We
need to ensure that the programs are effective.
(Because we acknowledge uncertainty, complexity, changes in technology,
culture, and recognize modern science and management methods).
Hence
we have rules of openness, transparency, FOI.
Hence
we need freedom of expression and communication
Hence
critical element is informed voting, by an informed electorate.
Hence
we need education, to be informed.
Acknowledge different degrees of concern etc in brain development.
Hence
we need accurate reporting – journalism, in all media.
The best democracies:
● are
based on a written constitution, which includes provisions for resolving
disputes about the interpretation or implementation of the constitution and
includes provisions for changing the constitution by a universal vote;
● have
universal or almost universal suffrage – anyone should be allowed to vote –
perhaps even criminals, and voting should be fairly easy, and done in secret;
● allow
almost anyone to stand for election – the government of the day should not have
the power to exclude many candidates, and perhaps should not exclude anyone,
even criminals, leaving the choice to the voters;
● conduct
elections independently of the government, allowing candidates (or their
representatives) to scrutinize the process of collecting and counting votes;
● have
independent police and independent judiciary (the rule of law), equality before
the law, freedom of opinion and expression, openness and transparency in
government.
Area governments are responsible within their borders for roles involving universal compliance and coercion – so they must be democratic and use minimal force – including preserving the environment, public health, law and order, financial stability, contracts, public utilities, communications, natural monopolies and basic rights.
Conclusions on Area Government: (Statement 39)
National, state and global
governments are responsible for particular areas – they are “area governments”. Their jurisdiction should remain the local
area. Everyone within the area is
subject to the local jurisdiction – whether they like it or not. The area government has the right to coerce
people – through democratically made laws, independent police forces and
investigative agencies and an independent judiciary. Because of their imposition on individuals,
area governments should take a (small l) liberal approach (as John Stuart Mill
said: that government which governs least governs best). So far as possible functions should be
devolved to lower levels.
Area governments naturally are
responsible for law and order within their borders, and for other roles that
involve coercion. These include
enforcing contracts, which includes “exchange” – money used to pay for goods
and services, and control of the monetary system.
Natural monopolies, or industries
where the entry hurdle is excessively high, including networks for roads,
canals, water distribution, electricity distribution, electronic and digital
communications, must be rigorously controlled if not owned and managed by the
appropriate area government.
A primary role of an area government
is also to look after their area – to protect and preserve the
environment.
To counteract the risk of abuse of
the states coercive powers we need internal checks and balances (constitutions,
bill of rights, ombudsmen, and so on).
All nations should also allow themselves to be subject to external
scrutiny, such as the
The global community must pressure
recalcitrant states (such as
The United Nations is a collection
of national governments covering the area of the whole world. It would be best to restrict itself to those
functions that involve coercion that cannot be devolved to nations or other
bodies. Its key functions should be
preventing war, preserving the global environment, monitoring elections in its
constituent countries according to their own constitutions, high level oversight
of human rights, and facilitation cooperative arrangements between
nations. The UN should address the risks
of a global collapse, due to climate change, environment destruction and
resource depletion. It has happened
before and it can happen again.
The International Monetary Fund and
World Bank should be arms of the UN, managing area government matters, as
identified above.
To avoid global governments
obtaining absolute power, and corrupting absolutely, the roles of any global
bodies should be strictly circumscribed to particular functions, and all global
bodies must be totally open and transparent.
The global environment must be protected to prevent a collapse of global society, by reducing the birth rate and hence the global population, reduce the environmental impact per person, most dramatically in the affluent nations, and provide a healthy and prosperous, but sustainable lifestyle for all peoples of the world.
Conclusions on Environmental Action (Statement
40)
The environment we live in – the
biosphere – is shared with all other people and all life as we currently know
it. Environmental action is based on:
● Our
compassion, for humans especially, but for all life, we are obliged to protect
the environment so that is can sustain humanity and life in general; more (later)
● Our
commitment to the truth. The results of
peer reviewed science lead us to accept that the global environment is under
threat from global over population, global destruction of the environment, massive
species extinction, global resource depletion and global climate change. The world is heading towards a collapse of
global society, affecting billions of people.
more (later)
Responsibility for environmental action is
based on:
● Environmental
impacts are by their very nature area based.
Many impacts on the environment are global issues, eg climate change,
migratory species, air and water pollution.
more (later)
● We
cannot allow protection of the environment to be a voluntary issue, for
individuals or organizations. The responsibility
for managing areas lies with nation states and they have the coercive power to
apply the law to all individuals and organizations acting in their jurisdictional
area. more (later)
● The
United Nations as the union of nation states must have the ultimate
responsibility for protecting the global environment. more (later)
● Individuals
have the responsibility through democratic processes to ensure nation states
accept their national responsibilities and states promote the United Nations’
global responsibility for the environment.
more (later)
● It
is the responsibility of all individuals and organizations to minimize their business
impact on the environment and to advocate for a level playing field: that all
other individuals and organizations are obliged to do so. more (later)
Action is required now:
● to
reduce the global population to sustainable levels, by reducing the birth rate (voluntarily),
by providing family planning and access to contraception, improving child
health support for the aged and infirm, widening education (especially for
girls), sustainable economic development, and promoting individualism and
freedom of choice; more (later)
● to
prevent the global destruction of the environment, by devising and enforcing laws
and regulations to protect the environment, preserving some natural areas, ensuring
polluters pay a realistic price for associated clean up costs and/or as a
disincentive to pollute; more (later)
● to
minimize global resource depletion by reducing demand for hard goods, valuing
more highly and extending the life of the hard goods we make, moving to less
resource intensive modes of production, and recycling more; more (later)
● to reduce the impact on the environment
per person, most dramatically in the affluent nations and the most populous
nations;
● to
find ways to provide a healthy and prosperous lifestyle for all peoples of the
world which is consistent with preservation of the environment;
● to
minimize climate change by implementing local, national and global schemes to
reduce the emission of greenhouse gases to sustainable levels. more (later)
We need global non-government organizations to address global problems that don’t involve universal compliance and coercion, to counter abuses of monopoly power by area governments and big business with its excessive influence on government and society, and to distribute global resources to the areas of greatest need.
Conclusions on Global Obligations: (Statement
41)
We need significant non-government
global organizations (NGOs) to address global problems such as human rights,
inequality and environment protection in a global way. This is based on:
● Our
values such as truth, compassion, freedom, democracy, and egalitarianism; more (later)
● The
scientific analyses and predictions of dire consequences if global action is
not taken; more (later)
● The
historical failure of many nation states to deliver to the “best practice
level” human rights, prosperity, and environmental protection; more (later)
● The
belief that civil and political rights should not be at the whim of
undemocratic local area governments; more (later)
● The
failure of traditional, supernatural religions to rationally address the
reality in this world of human suffering (poverty, oppression, inequality etc)
and environmental sustainability; more (later)
● The
failure of the media to provide authentic news and information that would
empower individuals and organizations to advocate for nation states and large
corporations to act responsibly in many areas;
more (later)
● The
powerlessness felt by many individuals, who cannot act alone; more (later)
● The
failure of the United Nations to authoritively resolve issues such as
interstate and civil wars, massive human rights breaches, tyranny, global
poverty, global inequity and global environmental issues. more (later)
Our political action must move
beyond the local, parochial, traditional tribalism, national patriotism, ethnic
chauvinism and religious introversion to global organizations.
Many excellent NGOs already exist
which have adopted specialist roles in humanitarian charity and advocacy or
“witness”, such as
● The
Society of the Red Cross and Red Crescent more (later)
● Amnesty
International and Human Rights Watch more (later)
● Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation and Warren Buffet’s ‘Open Society’ more (later)
● Religiously
based aid organizations such as World Vision;
more (later)
● Environment
organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund;
more (later)
● We
need more global organizations involved in research and education, to promote
teaching and learning from a global rather than a nation, state or religious
perspective. more (later)
Various other agencies more or less
tied to the United Nations provide some benefit in specialist areas, but many
of these are in need of substantial reform and many states exclude themselves and
their citizens from their activities:
● World
Health Organisation (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United
Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), etc; more (later)
● World
Bank (WB), International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Trade Organisation (WTO), etc;
more (later)
● World
Court and International Criminal Court. more (later)
All global NGOs should support
protection of the environment by
● adopting
environment friendly policies related to their own activities, and
● advocating
for area governments to use their authority to protect the environment;
● advocating
for the United Nations to be fully responsible for and have the authority and
means to protect the global environment.
more (later)
We need to supplement the current
plurality of governance structures to better align the global power structure
to address global issues, by promoting more effective global non-government
organizations (NGOs).
● These
must be independent of the area governments, with their parochial self
interests, the tyranny of the majority or just tyranny, and their right to
coerce.
● These
must also be independent of the United Nations, which is an ineffectual collection
of nations promoting their selfish or populist interests. more (later)
None of these organizations provide
rights to the recipients of their aid, the recipients may have input but they
have no effective control on the aid given, and they certainly have no legal
entitlement to aid. These organizations
also do not impose obligations on the recipients. There is no fundamental link between donors
and recipients. There are no enforceable
civil or political rights. Mostly we
need a robust global support organization to provide a global safety net and
protection against state or corporate abuse, that is:
● rights based, rather than charity based,
● focused on action rather than restricted to advocacy,
● financially viable,
● democratic, with an open, transparent structure,
● transnational;
● supportive of those in affluent countries as well as the poor
and dispossessed;
● based on reciprocal obligations (enforced through proper
legal processes);
● evidence based in its decision making.
Such an organisation provides a
viable and rational mechanism for those of us who, as an outcome of these
global beliefs, accept we need to move beyond supernatural religion and parochial
patriotism to fulfill our Global Obligations.
Part 7 Politics: Conclusions
We can use our analysis of philosophy, science, history religion and art, and the personal values we adopt and choices we make, to develop guideline for our political values and political action.
● We need politics to deal with each other without fighting.
● Mixed economies, regulated capitalism with safety nets, seem to be best.
● We must support, defend and extend democracy.
● Area government – local, state, and national governments – have the right to use force, under legal controls consistent with human rights, and the obligation to apply the law universally.
● World government, through the United Nations and associated agencies (such as the World Court and World Trade Organisation) must be supported and made democratic – transparent, accountable, meritocracies.
● The global environment is at risk, from over population, loss of habitat, pollution, climate change, natural disasters including extreme weather and financial crises. All individuals and corporations are responsible for minimizing their impact on the environment, but especially so are area governments, with their coercive powers.
● We need to support, defend and extend non-government organizations, as a counterbalance to big government and big corporations, to witness human rights abuses, to advocate the extension of human rights and to deliver services, in emergencies and in day to day life, where area government and business fail, and to be responsible for our Global Obligations.