I constantly search the Internet for some person or group who has a plan to save us from ourselves. I can’t find any. I found a website created by economists that is called, “Evonomics.” It says that by changing economics they will change the world. They have posted lots of articles by their members that contain good ideas about changes to our system of economics. But I don’t know if they have begun to design an actual system or merely intend to modify our current failed system of economics while leaving our failed system of government alone. I have sent them an email with a list of questions about their progress and how they plan to proceed and perhaps I will get an answer in the coming days. I hope so. I think they are serious, but I am not sure the are organized yet to actually do the work. I have written a book called “Faction-Free Democracy,” which has a description of new systems of government and economics. The last chapter explains how to implement these systems. Here is that chapter. It is copyrighted material.
Step by Step
In order to replace our current systems of government and economics with our new Faction-Free-Democracy and democrato-capitalism, we should adapt useful ideas from the process followed by the Founding Generation when they separated from Great Britain:
- The Founders were unhappy with the way they were treated by King George III and Parliament.
- They let their dissatisfaction be known.
- The British responded either by ignoring the Founders’ complaints or by stepping up the mistreatment.
- The Founders formed groups of citizens to decide what to do.
- In the Declaration of Independence, the Founders stated their reasons for separation, and listed the basic duties of any government.
- They formed a government under the Articles of Confederation.
- They fought and won the War of Independence.
- They decided they needed a better government than the Articles.
- A few men were delegated the task of writing the Constitution.
- Ratifying conventions were chosen by state legislatures and when nine states approved, the Constitution became law.
In the rest of this chapter I will show the six major steps I think we should take. Feel free to change their sequence, add to or subtract from the list, or keep them all and execute them as proposed—or do nothing at all. You decide. In just a few more pages, my work will be done, but your work, should you choose to save the planet and all it contains, will be just beginning. We begin with an overview of the six steps.
Step by Step
- The Guardians Cohort should manage the project. They have the most to lose, and the older Cohorts have proven that they are unwilling or unable to do it. The Guardians should form a project management team which should publish a memorandum to all Americans that will declare our intentions. I provide an example.
- Because they intended to separate from Great Britain, the Founders published the Declaration of Independence. We, on the other hand, do not intend to separate from the United States, we simply want to replace our current systems with better ones. In order to do this we, the people, must work together. All of us have something to offer, all of us have something to protect, and all of us have something to gain. We are dependent on each other. Therefore the Guardians should publish a Declaration of Interdependence. I offer an example.
- Many people will not be open to change, and they will say that those of us who want to make changes do not have the authority to do so. We do, of course, but unfortunately our schools have forgotten to teach the seven self-evident truths found in the Declaration of Independence. The Guardians should publish a comprehensive argument showing that we, the people, are sovereign, and therefore have the right, power, and authority to make any changes that please us. I offer arguments in support of the fact that we, the people, are sovereign.
- The Founders were first governed by the Continental Congress and then by the Articles of Confederation until the new Constitution was ready. We will be governed by the systems now in effect until we are ready to replace them. This means that while we do our work we must comply with all laws, and it also means that those laws may actually be of benefit to us as we rally public support. We will form a political party and field candidates for all national and state legislative offices, and perhaps some executive offices as well.
- We will develop a message that explains how the new systems will work and the benefits they will provide. Today’s world is a product of the past. We already know the general contours of the future. Our past has been grim and the future will be grim. The two national parties, while they moan and groan, blame and shame, never are able to make things better. We will show in our political campaigns that even though we can do nothing to change the past, we can do something to change the future. We, the people, will work tirelessly to show that our new systems, when implemented, will immediately give us a better world.
- Part of our political campaign will be to explain to the people how we will change the Constitution. We will not write a new one; we will simply amend the current one. We will have our amendments ready to ratify when we win the political power. For the very first time, the people will have the power to directly implement brand new systems of government and economics for us all. This will be the very first democratic act of the American people.
Step 1: Announce Our Intentions
We have no choice but to accept the fact that our major political parties, the tyranni now occupying positions of great power in our national and state governments, the tyranno-capitalists who control our system of economics, the tyranno-economists who give them pseudo-scientific theories to support their plunder and pollution of our planet, the tyranni who enable the gunning down of our schoolchildren, and the tyranni who collude with foreign powers as they seek to undermine our institutions, are neither friends of the people, nor friends of the Earth. They will never provide the rights, resources, opportunities, and protections we need to build long lives worth living for ourselves and our loved ones—and they are not at all inclined to undertake the large-scale, long-term projects that are needed to combat the onrushing, deadly effects of global warming. It is time for us, the people, to assert ourselves.
Because the group of older cohorts (Experts, Generalists, Sages) have demonstrated over decades, and beyond doubt, that they are unwilling or unable to correct our problems, they have forfeited any right to lead our nation. Therefore, the youngest cohort, the Guardians, should form a Project Management Team to take the lead in the effort to implement our new systems. They should speak for all of us and they should begin by writing a memorandum to announce our intentions.
Memorandum
To: Experts, Generalists, and Sages
From: Guardians Project Management Team
Date: July 4, 2020
Subject: Factions and the Future of Humankind
Factions are formed by citizens who join together in pursuit of policies that have detrimental effects upon the rights of other citizens, or upon the common good. Many factions are now at work: states’ rights, global warming, misogyny, racism, homophobia, economic inequality, anti-science, xenophobia, creationism, inadequate health care and education, and more. The most dangerous of these is global warming.
Our oldest Americans may not be severely affected by global warming, but people under age 26 will have much to lose. They hope that they and their children will be able to enjoy long, fruitful, happy lives, but as our planet warms, their quality of life will be sacrificed in a planetary struggle for survival. Our youngest Americans, those still in diapers, may face a heartbreaking decision as they approach 2040. As our climate worsens, those of childbearing age may well wonder if it would be fair to bring a child into a world that may be dangerous and suffocating, that may not hold a bright future for a newborn.
Our constitutional system has betrayed us. Because of its design, it enables the formation of factions and gives them power. Fortunately, it can be modified to keep factions from getting or exercising power.
Our Faction-Free Democracy will give each of us equal access to rights, resources, opportunities, and protections that will give each of us a fair and honest chance to go as far as our efforts and talents can take us, and thereby give each of us a fair and honest chance to build long lives worth living for ourselves and our loved ones.
We, the Guardians Cohort, have begun to develop plans for replacing our Madisonian Republic with Faction-Free Democracy. This will include the replacement of tyranno-capitalism with democrato-capitalism. For the purposes of dealing with the implementation of these new systems, as well as confronting the onrushing catastrophe of global warming, we have divided our population into four age cohorts:
- Guardians: under age 26 35.3% of our population
- Experts: age 26-50 34.0%
- Generalists: age 51-75 25.1%
- Sages: age 76 plus 05.5%
The average age of Members of the House at the beginning of the 115th Congress was 57.8 years; of Senators, 61.8 years, among the oldest in U.S. history. These facts make clear that well over 70% of our population have no representatives in Congress. It is no wonder that most Americans feel alienated from those who are supposed to give us access to the rights, resources, opportunities, and protections we need. It is no wonder that our aged leaders do not take action to stop the murder of our schoolchildren. Our officials at the national and state levels worship the God of Reelection above all other gods, and this explains why they are controlled by the National Rifle Association. Schoolchildren cannot vote, gun owners can, and do.
Based on the best evidence available, we have concluded that if we humans continue to burn fossil fuels at the current rate (which increases commensurately with the growth of world population, and with the modernization of developing nations) we will face serious, irreversible, perhaps fatal, consequences by the year 2050. The adverse effects of burning fossil fuels are already being felt around the world, and will continue to grow at an unpredictable rate, and will have different and unpredictable impacts on the four cohorts. Most, if not all, of the current Sages Cohort will have passed away by 2050, but many of their descendants will still be living. It is a sad possibility, but the current Sages Cohort may well be the last group who will have known our planet at its best. The other cohorts will see the splendor and bounty of our planet fall into ever steeper decline. The Generalists Cohort is old enough to already have children and grandchildren who make up the Experts and Guardians Cohorts. The Experts Cohort is old enough to have children, and along with that comes the responsibility to care for those children—a task that will become increasingly difficult as global warming continues to destroy our atmosphere, our economy, and many of our most important resources, such as fresh water supplies and food crops.
The older cohorts have all had a chance to enjoy two of life’s greatest blessings: to personally experience childhood, protected and nurtured by loving parents while embraced by a friendly natural world, and to vicariously experience childhood again as a parent or grandparent. We members of the Guardians Cohort would like to have a chance to enjoy the same blessings, but we need the help of the older cohorts, the Sages, Generalists, and Experts.
It is clear to any rational observer that our systems of government and economics are failures, and must be replaced. We Guardians have developed plans for making the replacements and we seek the support of the older cohorts to help us obtain the money and the political power to implement our plans. Those who currently hold political and economic power will bitterly resist our efforts. Only with the help of the older cohorts can we strip them of our power, and turn it to the advantage of all humankind.
Step 2: Declaration of Interdependence
Not long after the Guardians publish their first memorandum, they should publish a new Declaration by the people. The Declaration of Independence was wildly popular when it was published. George Washington had it read to the troops, and it was read in public in many places—always to an enthusiastic, cheering audience. It served many purposes. One was to show that we had ample justification for separating from Britain. Another was to give all Americans a common basis for understanding what was at stake and what was to be gained. We need a similar document. We need a document that serves as the cornerstone upon which all future actions taken by us, the people, will be based.
The moral authority of our nation has been, and continues to be, corrupted by the cruel, unfair, irrational ways our government treats the seven hated groups, and leaves them bereft of rights, resources, opportunities, and protections. It may be surprising to learn that the seven hated groups make up the great majority of our population. They are: the not male, not white, not well-to-do, not Christian, not heterosexual, not native-born, and the disabled. They easily make up 75% of our population. In a real democracy they would be in the majority, but in our Madisonian Republic they count for almost nothing when it comes to making government decisions. They are treated as if they are voiceless—as if they are not really citizens. But they are citizens, and they do have voices, and under our Faction-Free Democracy they will be heard.
We, the people, are not seeking to separate from the Union. We are not asking to take assets and natural resources with us as we carve out some territory and set up a separate nation. Unlike the tyranni of the slaveholding South, we aim to stay in the Union—it is, after all, ours. We are simply seeking to make life better for us all. We are simply seeking to have access to the rights, resources, opportunities, and protections that will give us a fair and honest chance to be successful in our “pursuit of happiness.” So, unlike 1776 or 1861, there is no need for war. Rather than declare our independence, we declare our interdependence. We declare that we should not be at war with each other. We declare that we are dependent on each other; we are interdependent.
Declaration of Interdependence
When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for a people to replace their current system of government with a new one, a decent respect for the opinions of humankind requires that they declare the causes which impel them to do it.
We hold these truths to be self-evident:
- We, the people, are created equal; we should have equal access to rights, resources, opportunities, and protections that will enable each of us to go as far in life as our efforts and talents can take us, and that will give us a fair and honest chance to build long lives worth living for ourselves and our loved ones.
- We, the people, are human beings and are endowed at birth with certain unalienable rights—no legal, artificial, or man-made, entities, shall be regarded as having the same rights as human beings;
- Some, but not all, of these rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;
- All human beings have an unassailable right to be private at home, in mind, and in body;
- To secure these rights systems of government are instituted by the people of a nation;
- These systems derive their just powers only from the consent of the governed;
- If such systems should fail to secure these and other rights of the people, as they are identified and codified, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish them by any means they, the people, may choose;
- We, the people, are free to lay the foundation of our new systems on such principles, and organize their powers in such form, as to us shall seem most likely to secure our safety and happiness;
- We, the people, are interdependent—our success as a nation depends upon developing a system that will enable us, not-white and white, not-male and male, not-heterosexual and heterosexual, not-Christian and Christian, not-well-to-do and well-to-do, not-native-born and native-born, disabled and abled, to live together in a relationship of mutual trust and benefit;
- The only system that can secure these rights, the only system that can sustain this relationship, is Faction-Free Democracy, and, as such, will enable the people to define and implement the common good;
- The common enemy of all people everywhere is human nature. Some people naturally work for the common good, other people naturally work against it. Our Faction-Free Democracy will rely on rationality as it applies our collective power to build and maintain the common good. It is rational to work for the common good. It is irrational to work against it.
The history of our current systems has been: (1) a steady increase in economic inequality for the people; (2) a corresponding increase in hopelessness for the great majority of the people who know that our current systems offer no path to a long life worth living for them and their loved ones; (3) a failure to recognize the onrushing danger of global warming and organize our people and resources to combat it; and (4) a systematic denial of civil and economic rights to the great majority of the people. These patterns are not accidental, but rather are the direct result of the way our current systems work. These problems, which threaten life in the United States as well as the rest of the world, are among many others that do grievous harm to the majority of our people:
- We lag far behind other developed nations in providing good health care for the people.
- We have an education system that is falling apart. The results are not worth the price paid, and irrationality is worming its way into the curricula.
- Our system of national and state governments has been an abject failure in protecting the rights of the people—in fact, it is the source of much abuse. The doctrine of “states’ rights” is at the heart of all that is evil in our national and state governments.
- We do not care for our veterans, and others in distress, as we should. We should help those who need help. We should protect those who need protection. We should recognize and cherish those who have served and sacrificed.
- Our current system works against seven hated groups: not-white, not-male, not-Christian, not-heterosexual, not-well-to-do, not-native-born, and the disabled.
- Our current system works for seven favored groups: white, male, Christian, heterosexual, well-to-do, native-born, and the abled.
- Our current system does not supply the rights, resources, opportunities, and protections that the people need to build long lives worth living for themselves and their loved ones.
We, the people, have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms; we have for centuries worked within the rules of our current system; we have been good citizens. But our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury.
Prudence dictates that long-established systems of government should not be changed for light and transient reasons; and experience teaches that human beings are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to take corrective action by abolishing the systems to which they are accustomed.
But, when faced with centuries of systematic and institutional abuse which has consistently worked against the common good, which has deepened the suffering of the people, and which has now placed them in danger of absolute destruction, it is the right of the people, and it is their solemn duty to their children, their families, their neighbors, and themselves, to throw off such systems, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of the people for more than two centuries; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to replace their current system of government with Faction-Free Democracy.
We, the people, are, and of right ought to be, entitled to equal access to rights, resources, opportunities, and protections so that we will have a fair and honest chance to go as far as our talents and efforts can take us, and we will have a fair and honest chance to build long lives worth living for ourselves and our loved ones. We cannot, we will not, accept our current system and therefore we will begin immediately to replace it with Faction-Free Democracy. When we are ready, we will withdraw our consent to be governed by our Madisonian Republic, and by the people who may then hold office in it.
The Declaration of Interdependence should be published on the Internet and should have a space that will allow citizens to register their approval by signing their names.
Step 3: Declare Our Sovereignty
As I have discussed my ideas and proposed changes over the years, many questions have been raised. The most important and fundamental question is this: “Do we, the people, have the right, power, and authority to make these changes?” In other words: “Who is the sovereign power in America?” It is a curiosity of our thinking, but the most common definitions of “sovereign” indicate that it is a person who is the ultimate power in a nation. A few indicate that the “sovereign power” can be vested in a small group, like our national government. We humans seem to naturally favor kings, or groups of oligarchs, but in America the “sovereign power” is, and has always been, the people.
Together, we, the people, hold supreme authority and power.
We, the people, are sovereign.
In our nation, we, the people, are sovereign. This means that our government, and the officials in it, serve at our pleasure. The Constitution is merely a contract, an agreement that we, the people, have created in order to keep good order in our society and to maintain control over our institutions. We made it, and by using our sovereign power, we can change it. We have made an agreement among ourselves that we will change our representatives, should we wish to change them, by means of regular elections. And, should we wish to change the system of elections, we can do it. Likewise, should we wish to change our system of government, we can do it. We do not need permission from anyone, not even the courts. We are sovereign, we are in charge. Even though they did not use the term “sovereign” in the Declaration of Independence, the Founding Fathers nevertheless relied on it as they claimed the natural right, power, and authority to separate from Great Britain. Today, we, the people, are the sovereign actors who are replacing an old system of government with a new one. Unfortunately, there are many people who will disagree that we, the people, have the right, power, and authority to change systems. But the facts provide an answer to their objection.
In the Declaration of Independence the Founders listed twenty-seven examples of acts performed by King George III and his Parliament which worked to the detriment of the people of the colonies. Thomas Jefferson wrote:
In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms; our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
The American colonies were a valuable asset to the British Empire. The value of the already known natural resources of the colonies was substantial and the value of the natural resources of the unsettled and unexplored parts of the rest of the continent was incalculable. The British were not willing to let these treasures go without a fight, so war ensued.
However, the Founders relied on the natural, sovereign right of the people to justify their departure. They said that the failure of the British government to respond to their grievances was ample evidence that it had failed to “secure” the rights of the people. Their logic was inarguable and established forever a fundamental duty of all governments—and their words were some of the most meaningful, important, and inspiring in human history. They said:
We hold these truths to be self-evident:[i]
- All men are created equal.
- They are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.
- Some, but not all, of these rights are: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
- Governments are instituted among men to secure these rights.
- The powers of the government can come only from the consent of the governed.
- If any government fails in its duty to secure these rights the people can alter or abolish it, and create a new government.
- The people can structure the new government in any way that they please.
The bulk of the Declaration of Independence made it abundantly clear that the British government of King George III and his Parliament had abused the people of the American colonies. In its second paragraph, the Declaration proclaimed, and claimed, the “self-evident” right (and power) of an abused people to throw off their government and replace it with one of their own design. Because this right is self-evident, it is therefore perpetual, it is eternal, it does not vanish, or evaporate; it cannot be sold, or given away, or taken away—it does not wear out, or give out, it is unalienable—it is inalienable—it is an idea—just as freedom is an idea—it is a right—reserved, retained, by the people, for the people. It is always there, available to any people who are subjected to an abusive government.
We, the people, have from the start been abused by our government. We therefore have the self-evident right, power, and authority to throw off that abusive government—our Madisonian Republic—and replace it with Faction-Free Democracy.
Some will say that our Constitution does not recognize the Declaration’s “self-evident right” to create a new government. They will say that there is no such right in the Constitution. They will say that the Constitution’s Article V rules for amendments or for calling a constitutional convention are our only options. But they will be wrong on three counts.
On the first count, the self-evident right relied on by the Founders is indeed in the Constitution. In fact, it is found in two places.
The Ninth Amendment says:
The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
The Tenth Amendment says:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
The seven self-evident truths listed in the Declaration of Independence are clearly rights “retained or reserved” by the people. Therefore, by the language of the Ninth and Tenth Amendments, these rights, and their associated powers, are not denied or even contested by the Constitution.
On the second count, we, the people, are sovereign. We are free to change our system of government at any time and in any way we choose. If the Founding Fathers had the right, power, and authority to change their system, then we have the same right, power, and authority to change our system.
On the third count, Article V of the Constitution applies only to Congress and the state legislatures. These bodies of government can propose amendments by the terms of Article V only—and by no other means. Article V limits the ways in which our national and state legislatures can try to amend, or replace, the Constitution. So, those who assert that Article V prohibits the people from amending or replacing the Constitution are just plain wrong, and they should do some reading on the subject before they say anything more. I suggest they read: The Consent of the Governed: Constitutional Amendment Outside Article V.[ii] There they will find an excellent and extensive analysis of our nation’s history with respect to “sovereignty” as it applied to the task of amending or replacing our Constitution.
We, the people, have the unalienable, unassailable right, power, and authority to “throw off” our abusive government and replace it with one of our own design. We are sovereign. We are not required to obey the amendment or convention procedures of the Constitution; but if we choose to use them we can—it is strictly up to us. In addition, we can, if we wish, adapt the process followed by the American colonies as they designed and ratified our first Constitution. If we choose to write a new Constitution and ask the American people to ratify it by a national vote, we can. If we choose to write amendments to our current Constitution, and ask the American people to ratify them by a national vote, we can.
For centuries, from the petitions of the American colonies—to Benjamin Franklin’s 1790 petition to abolish slavery—to the 1965 civil rights marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama—to the appeals made by the citizens of Ferguson, Missouri, for fair treatment by the city courts and police—to the appeals made by the schoolchildren of Parkland, Florida, for a national, rational system of gun control—our systems have been, and are, no better than those of the British government. What Jefferson wrote about the government of King George III and his Parliament is just as true about our government today. Our Madisonian Republic is a tyranno-government; it does not respond to the petitions of the people and therefore it is “unfit” to govern “a free people.” Only government of the people, by the people, and for the people can meet the needs of the people.
Step 4: Run Here, Run There, Run, Run, Everywhere
The rebellious American colonies were governed by the Continental Congress when the Declaration of Independence was published on July 4, 1776, and it continued in power until the Articles of Confederation were ratified on March 1, 1781, and the Confederation remained in power until it was replaced by the new Constitution on March 4, 1789. We will be governed by the systems now in effect until we are ready to replace them. This means that while we do our work we must comply with all laws, and it also means that those laws may actually help us as we rally public support.
In order to get there from here, we must enter into the world of politics. We must create and run a new political party, we must run national and state election campaigns, and thousands of us must run for office—and after we win, we must run the government. We will be running to save ourselves, our children, and our planet from the deadly effects of global warming. In short, we will be running for our lives—and for the lives of our children.
We will form a new political party, a third party, which will have the official name of “Faction-Free Democracy Party.” We can call it the “FFD Party,” or “FFD,” for short. I can hear you say, “But third parties never win.” You are right, but the reason is not that they are third parties, but rather it is that they give the voters the wrong choice. They run on the fame and personality of their presidential candidate. We will deemphasize the fame and personality of our presidential candidate while we emphasize the policies of our FFD Party. In fact, our presidential and vice-presidential candidates probably will not be famous, or have a flamboyant personality. We will make policy, not fame, not personality, the most important element in our appeals to the voters. We will communicate to them our policies and explain in concrete terms the benefits that will result.
We want to involve the American people in what we are doing. By contesting every legislative position at all levels we will challenge the current national parties and we will do so directly, forcefully, and in full view of the people. We want to draw clear contrasts between our system and theirs. We want to make them defend their system, and we will be prepared to defend ours. I think we will win such confrontations and thus will win control of our legislatures.
One of the two main differences between the two major parties and the FFD is that the major parties, by inciting hatred toward the other party’s candidates and supporters, give the people someone to vote against. They deal in hatred. On the other hand, the FFD will give the people something to vote for. The hatred generated by the two national parties remains long after the election, resulting in an inability to pass legislation that meets the needs of the people. Each party maneuvers to gain an electoral advantage in the next cycle and the common good is given only lip service. The FFD Party will deal in implementing the common good as the people define the common good. Policies, not personalities, will decide the outcome.
The other main difference between the two major parties and the FFD is the form of representation each uses. The FFD will follow the “coordination” model, while the major parties follow the “trustee” model. James Madison chose the “trustee” model and, because it allows factions to flourish, it was one of the worst decisions in our history.
The Trustee Model of Representation
Near the start of Federalist 10, Madison perfectly described the greatest flaw in our constitutional system: the scheme of representation. This scheme was designed to solve an imaginary, a “theoretic,” problem: that if individual citizens were allowed to judge what is best for each of them, and then were allowed to vote their judgment, the government would fall into a cascade of selfish policies which would finally destroy the nation. So, to Madison’s way of thinking, the people were not able to rise above selfishness and work for the common good. He believed that factions originated in the lower classes. He therefore chose the “trustee” model of representation which denies the people their right to have the voice in what their government does.
By choosing the “trustee” model of representation he enabled factions to gain control of the government. Since slavery, the most reprehensible, sickening example of this failure of Madison’s scheme of representation is that our state and national representatives are lackeys of the National Rifle Association. Any Christian nation would want to protect its children, but our nation does not. No doubt the parents and grandparents of our children want to protect their descendants, but our representatives prefer to put military weapons into the hands of madmen and turn them loose on our schoolchildren.
Madison’s model of representation assumes that voters are inherently unable to understand the complexities of governance, and therefore their elected representative has the burden of protecting the voters’ interests. In order to accomplish this task, the representative must substitute his own judgement for the judgements of the hundreds of thousands whom he is supposed to represent. Obviously, no single judgement can satisfy everyone, so the “trustee model” of representation authorizes the representative to substitute his own judgement for the judgements of his constituents. He decides, in a paternalistic way, what is best for the dull, uninformed citizens who elected him. Only fools think that their representative would give more weight to the needs of his constituents than to his own needs, or the needs of his family, or the needs of his party, or the needs, the demands, of those who finance his campaigns.
A few months ago it was electrifying to see American citizens attend constituent meetings with their representatives and give them hell. The Indivisible Project was the organizing force behind many of the groups that attended these meetings to protest the actions, or the lack thereof, of their representatives. According to an article posted on Bill Moyers’ website, the Indivisible Project has patterned its structure after the Tea Party movement.[iii] That may be so, but the recent hell raising is of a different kind. The Tea Party message was muddled at best and frightening at worst—and it did not have positive, consistent content. The constituent meetings I saw a few months ago carried a message that challenged the evasions and slogans that are the usual weasel words of incumbents. The constituents forced their representatives into a corner by demanding that they explain their positions in a factual, rational way—which, of course, they were unwilling, or unable, to do. In addition, in those constituent meetings the people made clear what they wanted their government to do—but, and this is a fatal “but,” they had no choice but to leave it to their representatives to do it.
To a degree, those constituent meetings may have seemed to resemble the Assembly of ancient Athens as Socrates described it, but there was a fundamental difference. Just as in Socrates’ day, some of today’s representatives were “clamoured down” and even jeered by their constituents. While that may have been very satisfying, the jeered ones were still left with all the power that they had won in their last election. Their feelings were bruised, perhaps, and the anger of their constituents may have been momentarily purged, but the representatives still had power and the constituents, the people, had none. Nothing had really changed. But in ancient Athens the people still had the power to act, to pass needed legislation. In Athens, the jeered one had his chance to change government policy but he lost because the people were in position to head off bad legislation. In our system, bad legislation is routine and the people have virtually no chance to head it off or reverse it.
It is too soon to tell if these constituent meetings will have a positive, long-lasting effect—it is too soon to tell if they will produce the changes we want. I do not think they will—a nation that will not protect its children is a failed nation, and its system of government needs to be replaced. Almost all of our attempts to get our elected representatives to modify, reverse, or implement specific legislation have failed because we, unlike the Athenians, have given up our power. With the exception of one day every two years, all of the power of the people, transformative and administrative, is held in the hands of politicians who understand that they are free to do with it what they please—they know they can even get away with enabling the killing of our nation’s children so they can get votes in the next election. In our Madisonian Republic, we, the people, are virtually powerless. It is no secret that once an election is over there is little we can do to influence our governments. Under Faction-Free Democracy, the people, if they wish it, can stop the murder of America’s children. The issue that is before us today is even starker than the issue that led to the Civil War.
We, the people, have a special relationship with our elected representatives. It is an old relationship—a ritualistic dance in which the candidates of the major parties make promises of a special kind. They are not real promises, but are words designed to give the voter hope and win his vote. But, when the candidate wins, he rarely keeps his promises. He almost never mentions them again unless he is questioned publicly about them. He is always prepared for this eventuality—he explains why the needs of the nation have caused his promises to be given a lower priority in the legislative process of the Senate or the House. He lashes out at the opposing party to say it is blocking his attempts to fulfill his promises. There are other excuses, other lies, which have been fine-tuned over two centuries. The voter usually accepts these blatant lies and waits for the next election. What else can she do? The answer, at least for now, is, “Nothing. She can do nothing.” Fortunately, there is something we, the people, can do—we can give her and all other Americans “something to vote for.”
Coordination Model of Representation
The FFD Party candidates will follow the Coordination Model of representation. FFD Party candidates will sign a pledge in which they promise to vote for the legislative program of the FFD Party and vote against all others without exception. If the elected representative should find that the Party’s legislative program will not pass, she must work to define the reasons for this situation and report her findings to her constituents. They will decide whether to accept changes to their program or make proposals, through her, to other members of the legislature. In this way the elected representatives will coordinate the views of their constituents with the views of citizens from other districts. This back and forth adjustment of views is a workable way to reconcile “clashing interests,” which Madison admitted his system could not do.
The power of this model of representation should be easy to see. Voters can coordinate their desires with voters in other legislative districts and adjustments will be made by the voters themselves, not by the representative. And the most important part of this model is that the candidate, should she be elected, promises to vote for the legislative program of her voters. Thus the voter not only has a chance to directly influence public policy but she can be assured that the legislative program of the FFD, which she had a voice in shaping, will receive an affirmative vote in the legislature. Our current system has no mechanism whatsoever to give the voter a real voice in shaping and enacting legislation.
Thus, when the next election rolls around, the voter can compare the legislative programs of the Democratic, Republican, and Faction-Free Democracy parties to see which she likes the best. In some cases one of the parties will answer all her desires, but in most cases they will please her here and displease her there. In any case she will know that the FFD Party is the only one that will give her a voice in making the rules by which she and her loved ones must live. In this way, the FFD will have given her something to vote for—a rare thing in American politics. I think this rare thing will be decisive—the FFD will overpower its adversaries.
Public Opinion Polling Model of Representation
While the Coordination Model of representation is superior to the Trustee Model, it is still not the best model. The Public Opinion Model of representation is the best for a large government. For example, if you have an idea for a government policy you can submit it to the Ideas System. Your idea will be entered into the system chronologically. Other citizens can check the Ideas System to see if any proposals appeal to them. They can make comments on your proposal and they can recommend that it be rejected or moved to the next stage. If your proposal gets enough positive recommendations it will be prepared for a vote by the people. In this way, your proposal will be placed before the nation just like all other proposals, no matter the size of the group involved. You will have a voice in shaping the rules by which we must live. It will be the strength of the idea that matters—not the size or wealth of the group making the proposal.
Beginning on page 406 you will find a discussion of our new Legislative System. It shows the many different legislative tasks that will be performed by citizens as they take ideas for legislation proposed by ordinary citizens and turn them into laws. In an average year more than twenty-six million citizens will perform this important public service. Table 5, found on page 409, shows the number of people from each state who will make the final decision on these proposed legislative acts. The total number of legislators will be 3,000,000. Under our current system, only 535 legislators will have the final say. Big difference. All the difference in the world.
Thousands of FFD Party Candidates
Our FFD Party will field candidates for every legislative office in Congress and in the states. We will have thousands of candidates and we want them to present a consistent, unchanging message to the voters. There are 1,972 members of state Senates, 5,411 members of state Houses, 100 members of the national Senate, and 435 members of the national House. This comes to 7,918 candidates and nearly all, subject to term lengths, will stand for election to our state and national legislatures in 2018 and biennially thereafter. By fielding candidates in all of the races we will suddenly establish the FFD Party as a force to be reckoned with. In addition the candidates of the FFD Party will be unique in two important ways: first, the candidates of the FFD Party will not follow the current, “trustee” model of representation, but will follow the “coordination” model described above, and second, the policies of the FFD will be focused on transforming the lives of ordinary Americans.
One of the first tasks of the FFD Party will be to register as a party in all states. Another important task is to write legislative bills which, when enacted, will implement the Party’s program. The Uni and the SSLS, UniPay, UniKey, UniCheck, UniLife, UniSave, a livable minimum wage, a new Supreme Court, a new system of Petition and Assembly, the 2,000 Chief Administrative Officers, free health care, the American Rights System, a uniform set of laws that govern all states, the Ideas System, the Goals System, the Hypothesis Evaluation System, a new education system that emphasizes equality and rationality, the Surrogacy System, a new system of federal, state, and municipal courts, replacing elections with random selection, fair treatment of the seven hated groups, and freedom from taxation, are key examples. Taken together, a comprehensive set of specific legislative proposals will give the FFD candidates a consistent, powerful message to deliver to the voters. Another major task is to develop a variety of ways to deliver the FFD’s message by showing how these new elements of our new systems of government and economics will work.
Step 5: A Choice between Two Futures
All national systems of government and economics should be judged by the way they treat the people of the nation. We have spent most of this book reviewing the way our systems have mistreated us, the people. We have talked about the ways our systems have denied access to the rights, resources, opportunities, and protections we need to build long lives worth living for ourselves and our loved ones.
From page 82 to page 92, I cover a period of 159 years in which I show how our systems of government and economics have mistreated non-whites and non-males. They have been denied their rights in murderous fashion and it is still going on. Racism and misogyny, working in harness with the factions of white supremacy and male supremacy, are the fundamental causes of this un-American mistreatment of more than half our population. If we do not change our systems of government and economics the mistreatment of these and other groups will continue forever and ever. The Supreme Court, which has done, and still is doing, so much to enable racism and misogyny, not to mention other “isms,” will still be in operation. The Senate will still be putting into office racists and misogynists who will serve on the Supreme Court for life. The state courts will continue to play their hateful role. State legislators will continue to pass oppressive, unconstitutional laws.
I devote Chapter 6 to a discussion of the abomination of tyranno-capitalism which is based on the practice of chattel slavery in the slaveholding South. But in the following paragraphs I will add a discussion of the history of our economy over a period of 224 years (2,694 months). It will show that the causes of our economic woes have not changed. It will show that the so-called “science” of economics has failed to deliver on its claims. It will show that our systems of government and economics have failed to serve the needs of the people.
From the start of the “Panic of 1785” to the end of the “Great Recession” in 2009, our nation has suffered 49 extended periods of economic distress. We usually call them “depressions, panics, or recessions.” Taken together, these periods of economic distress have, in aggregate, lasted a total of 1,002 months. This means that, on average, our citizens have suffered under panic, depression, or recession for 37.2% of their lives.
The first fifty years of our economy (1785-1835) might be called the “Wild Years.” Our nation was trying to establish its government institutions and other nations were meddling. In any case, eleven periods of economic distress occurred and their causes, in a modern form, are still with us. The business cycle of boom and bust was in effect and was marked by business overexpansion, increasing debt, postwar inflation, foreign competition, inadequate credit, devalued currency, low levels of interstate commerce, and insufficient support and guidance from the national government. Here are some other factors that played important roles in our early economic life.[iv]
- Debasement and counterfeiting of paper and even metal money, and a lack of available funds.
- Land speculation, international trading partners suffering downturns of their own, war, dramatic swings in commodity prices,
- Protective legislation passed by us or by our trading partners or both.
- Sudden increases in production to prepare for war.
- Currency issued by banks rapidly depreciated because of post-war inflation.
- A collapse in real estate prices, widespread foreclosures, bank failures, high unemployment, a slump in agricultural production and manufacturing.
- Commodity prices rise rapidly and fall just as quickly. Imports worsened and trade balance was unfavorable.
- A bubble caused by speculative investments in Latin America led to a stock market crash.
- A prolonged cessation of trade between England and the United States.
- Tight credit.
The boom and bust frenzy continued in the next period of our developing economy (1836 to 1929). It included the War with Mexico, the Civil War, World War I, and the “Roaring Twenties.” The factors that contributed to economic distress were more numerous and more complex.
- Bank failures, lack of confidence in paper currency, tightening of English credit, crop failures, speculation in gold and silver coinage. Over 600 banks failed in this period. In the South, the cotton market completely collapsed.
- Interest rates rose contributing to a decrease in railroad investment. Security prices fell.
- Failure of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company burst a European speculative bubble in United States' railroads and caused a loss of confidence in American banks. Over 5,000 businesses failed within the first year of the panic, and unemployment was accompanied by protest meetings in urban areas.
- There was a recession before the American Civil War, which began April 12, 1861. A financial panic was narrowly averted in 1860 by the first use of clearing house certificates between banks.
- The American Civil War ended in April 1865, and the country entered a lengthy period of general deflation that lasted until 1896.
- A few years after the Civil War, a short recession occurred. It was unusual since it came amid a period when railroad investment was greatly accelerating, even producing the First Transcontinental Railroad. The railroads built in this period opened up the interior of the country. The recession may be explained partly by ongoing financial difficulties following the war, which discouraged businesses from building up inventories.
- Economic problems in Europe prompted the failure of Jay Cooke & Company, the largest bank in the United States, which burst the post-Civil War speculative bubble. Investments in railroads and buildings weakened during this period.
- Failure of the United States Reading Railroad and withdrawal of European investment led to a stock market and banking collapse. This panic was also precipitated in part by a run on the gold supply. The Treasury had to issue bonds to purchase enough gold. Profits, investment, and income all fell, leading to political instability.
- A run on Knickerbocker Trust Company deposits on October 22, 1907, set events in motion that would lead to a severe monetary contraction. The fallout from the panic led to the creation of the Federal Reserve System.
- Production and real income declined during this period and were not offset until the start of World War I increased demand.
- A sharp recession was caused by the end of wartime production, along with an influx of labor from returning troops. This, in turn, caused high unemployment.
- Severe hyperinflation (Weimar Republic) took place in Europe.
The latest period of our economic history (1930 to 2018) finds that we are the richest country in the world—but that wealth is concentrated in the hands of the top 1% of our population while the rest of us are on the outside looking in at the party. America has the worst income inequality of all the major developed countries.
- Beginning in 1929, a banking panic and a collapse in the money supply took place in the United States that was exacerbated by international commitment to the gold standard. Extensive new tariffs and other factors contributed to an extremely deep depression. GDP, industrial production, employment, and prices fell substantially. The economy began to recover in the mid 30's with gold inflow expanding the money supply and improving expectations.
- The next recession in 1937 was due to the tight fiscal policy resulting from an attempt to balance the budget after New Deal spending, the tight monetary policy of the Federal Reserve, a decline in business profits, and a reduction in business investment.
- A decline in government spending at the end of World War II led to an enormous drop in gross domestic product,
- The next recession followed a period of monetary tightening.
- After the Korean War the Federal Reserve changed monetary policy to be more restrictive because of fears of further inflation or of a bubble forming.
- Monetary policy was tightened again in the 1955-1957. The budget balance resulted in a change in budget surplus of 0.8% of GDP in 1957 to a budget deficit of 0.6% of GDP in 1958, and then to 2.6% of GDP in 1959.
- Another recession was created by the raising of interest rates by the Federal Reserve.
- An attempt to start closing the budget deficits of the Vietnam War (fiscal tightening) and the Federal Reserve raising interest rates (monetary tightening).
- The 1973 oil crisis, a quadrupling of oil prices by OPEC, coupled with the 1973–1974 stock market crash led to a stagflation recession in the United States.
- The Federal Reserve raised interest rates dramatically to fight the inflation of the 1970s.
- The Iranian Revolution sharply increased the price of oil around the world in 1979, causing the 1979 energy crisis. This was caused by the new regime in power in Iran, which exported oil at inconsistent intervals and at a lower volume, forcing prices up. Tight monetary policy in the United States to control inflation led to another recession. The changes were made largely because of inflation carried over from the previous decade because of the 1973 oil crisis and the 1979 energy crisis.
- The collapse of the speculative dot-com bubble, a fall in business outlays and investments, and the September 11th attacks led to a brief recession.
- The subprime mortgage crisis led to the collapse of the United States housing bubble. Falling housing-related assets contributed to a global financial crisis, even as oil and food prices soared. The crisis led to the failure or collapse of many of the United States' largest financial institutions: Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers, Citi Bank and AIG, as well as a crisis in the automobile industry. The government responded with an unprecedented $700 billion bank bailout and $787 billion fiscal stimulus package. The National Bureau of Economic Research declared the end of this recession over a year after the end date. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (Dow) finally reached its lowest point on March 9, 2009.
- And we must not forget how Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke unilaterally bestowed a gift of two trillion dollars on the banks who caused the subprime crisis in the first place.
In the foregoing review of the kinds of economic problems that have plagued our nation since the beginning you should have been able to see that the same kinds of problems rise, fall, and rise again. Our current system is unable to defeat them. What you cannot see is a systemic way for our citizens to build long lives worth living for themselves and their loved ones, including a secure, comfortable retirement. Tyranno-capitalism does not care about the lives of individual citizens. It is a refined, specialized, species-specific, human-made version of one side of evolution by natural selection—the destructive side. It destroys happiness, dreams, lives, natural resources, life support systems, and civilizations. Under tyranno-capitalism success depends to a great degree on whether or not a child has access to the rights, resources, opportunities, and protections that will enable her to go as far as her talents and efforts can take her.
The process that our current economic system relies on to fight problems of the kind I discussed above, is built on the idea that someone sitting in a board room at the Fed can decide when and how much to increase or decrease interest rates to head off possible economic problems. Assuming they can see the problems coming, assuming the change in interest rates can be implemented and felt in the economy in time, and assuming these effects will be felt at the right place, in the right way, and in the right amount, one could say that the current system might work. But each of those three assumptions has at best—at the very, very best—a 1 in 10 chance of succeeding, which means that the overall chance of heading off an economic problem computes to be 1 chance in 1,000. Based on actual, real world experience that is about right. In other words, the Fed has no more than a snowball’s chance in Hell to make changes that will work in the right way at the right time and with minimum ill effects. Experience agrees with that assessment. But that doesn’t stop the Fed from fiddling with people’s lives, often with destructive effects. If it were not so destructive, our system of economics would be a joke, but unfortunately, it is tragic—it destroys lives—it is destroying our civilization today, and the world tomorrow.
Faction-Free democracy and democrato-capitalism are designed to respect and nurture life. They are designed to give each American citizen the rights, resources, opportunities, and protections that will give them a fair and honest chance to go as far as their talents and efforts can take them, thereby giving them a fair and honest chance to build long lives worth living for themselves and their loved ones, including a secure, comfortable retirement.
Our new systems can’t create new life forms as can evolution by natural selection, but they can protect and nurture our planet, the life it harbors, and the civilizations that support and enrich human life. Our new systems are built on the idea that no single human, or even a small group of humans, can manage the lives of millions of others. The only ones who can manage the lives of the people are the people themselves. They are the only ones who can decide what is best for them. Our new systems are designed to give each of us the things we need to make our own decisions about our own lives, and then act on those decisions.
The past is past; we can’t change it. But the future is yet to be determined. In the final analysis, the FFD Party is offering cradle-to-grave financial security, and that security will mainly be realized through the Social Security Lifetime Stipend (SSLS) of $36,000 per year, per citizen, from birth to death. The two major parties offer nothing comparable. The economic system they support is just a modernized version of the system our nation started with: chattel slavery. Modern America, like the tyranno-South, is composed of a small group of rulers who make all the decisions and accumulate all the wealth, and a huge, powerless work force who have no control over their lives and who have no way to build long lives worth living for themselves and their loved ones. This is the system that has been supported by, often praised by, the Democratic and Republican parties. By forcing the two major parties to defend tyranno-capitalism, the FFD Party will win elections and take control of Congress and many state legislatures.
It is easy to see that our current systems are disasters. It is easy to see that if we elect FFD candidates and implement the systems I have proposed, things will definitely change. It is clear to me that they will change for the better. The $36,000 SSLS will make a huge difference in the lives of nearly all Americans. That element alone is reason enough to vote for the entire FFD program.
The FFD Party will have the advantage. It can explain the differences between democrato-capitalism and tyranno-capitalism, and it can provide computer models that individuals and families can download and use to see how life can be made immensely better by voting for FFD candidates and policies. By attacking the economic system favored by the two major parties, and by reminding the people how the two parties have repeatedly let them down over the years, the FFD candidates will be able to control our national discourse. When FFD candidates talk about their opponents they should talk about the past and say that a vote for Republicans or Democrats is a vote for the disastrous economic policies of the past. A vote for FFD candidates is a vote for a fundamentally different, and better, future. Don’t be shy. Pound the record of the two major parties; make them pay for the way they have favored the wealthy and neglected the needs of the great majority of our citizens.
One of the most effective ways to deliver the FFD’s message is to describe what will happen when we win. We can list the changes our new systems of government and economics will make. As we move from the Madisonian Republic and tyranno-capitalism to Faction-Free Democracy and democrato-capitalism we will see America change for the better. Some changes can be done quickly. Our nation will create the Universal Bank of the United States (Uni), which will unlock our unlimited supply of money which then can be used immediately to do many things:
- The Social Security Administration will give each citizen $36,000[v] per year from birth to death. Part of that money will accumulate until the citizen reaches age 18 and graduates from high school. The money can then be spent on worthwhile, non-inflationary projects that are good for the citizen and good for America.
- Credit card balances can be transferred to the UniKey system which does not charge interest.
- Home mortgages and other consumer loans can be transferred to Uni loans which do not charge interest. The Uni will work with the citizen in the event he finds it difficult to make payments.
- Student loans will either be forgiven or paid off.
- The UniPay System will be implemented which will take on the time-consuming, tiresome, frustrating chore of paying utility bills, mortgages, car payments, etc.
- Students who are currently in college, or will start when they graduate from high school in the next 20 years, will receive grants to cover their expenses—so long as they have filed a degree plan with their college and with the Uni, and are making good progress toward completion.
- Interest-free loans will be made by the Uni for starting new businesses or expanding old ones. Business plans will have to be filed with the Uni and they will be subject to the approval of the Uni’s Business Loan Committee. Businesses which are likely to offer well-paying, long-lasting jobs, and which will provide a useful product or service, will be given the highest priority.
- Almost all taxes will disappear: income, school, property, sales, etc. We will need a few sin taxes to discourage bad behavior, and we will have a special form of tax to drain excess money from the system to minimize the chances of inflation.
- Big businesses will get a tax windfall and it will be interesting to see what they do with it. I will wager that they will pay big bonuses to their executives, and they will invest in more labor-saving technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), and robots. Over the long haul big manufacturing companies will have fewer and fewer employees per unit of output. But the Uni will fill the gap by financing new companies that will provide services and products that are useful to the community and that provide well-paying jobs to human employees. These companies will not be required to make a profit to repay the loan. A portion of the amount they spend in salaries will be credited against their revolving credit.
- Minimum wages will be raised to livable wage rates throughout the nation. Employers will no longer have to make deductions from employee paychecks to make employee contributions to Social Security. Those dollars will remain part of each paycheck. The employer, who now must match employee contributions to Social Security, will be able to keep that money in the company bank account.
- We will see that public institutions that now must rely on taxes to finance their operations will be able to get their funding directly from the Uni. School taxes, for example, will no longer be needed. The citizens who now pay those taxes will be able to keep their money. Likewise they will not pay income taxes, state, city, or national. I suppose that Home Owner’s Associations (HOA) will still require dues, but the Uni will not pay them. I suggest that those who belong to an HOA should be on the alert—their dues may take a big jump.
- The process of funding school budgets will take a slightly different form. A Budget Committee will be formed by using random selection to choose citizens who live in the school district to serve on the committee. The randomly-selected school board members, in addition to their administrative responsibilities, will also serve on the Committee, and all members will have an equal vote. With the approval of a majority of the Budget Committee, a proposed budget will be filed with the state school budget committee of the Uni. As part of implementing the Uni, the salaries of teachers and other school personnel will be raised. They, and other such groups, will be paid a premium for their service to the nation.
- State government budgets will take on a different form as well. Under Faction-Free Democracy states cannot tax. The Uni will provide the funding and therefore there will be a permanent civil service staff in each state that will develop and oversee the budget. The state government budget will include budget requests from all county, city, and other current government functions that need to be financed. These aggregated budgets will be submitted to the Uni. Randomly-selected officials, permanent staff, and randomly chosen citizens from all over the state will develop budget requests and oversee the expenditures of funds. Most states already have agencies that perform these duties and they will simply be folded into the Uni’s process. This process will enable the State of Kansas, and other states that have suffered from the irrational acts of tyranno-legislators and tyranno-governors, to finally have a state budget that funds the state schools and other essential services.
- The American Rights System will be implemented, which will change, for the better, the lives of citizens across the nation. One set of laws for all states will be put in place, and all law enforcement officers will be merged into the Public Safety System. Law enforcement officers will receive the same training all across the nation, and the hiring of police officers will be carried out by citizens from the community who have been trained to follow a standard, national process. When it becomes necessary to investigate the conduct of an officer it will be carried out by a panel of citizens selected at random from the community. They will act as a grand jury, but they will not be able to approve criminal charges against the officer. However they can recommend and order disciplinary sanctions against the officer subject to the exhaustion of the officer’s right to appeal. If the panel decides that an officer is a risk to public safety it can order that the officer cannot return to duty unless an appeal rules in his favor.
- The Legislative System will be implemented which will mean that there will no longer be elected members of the House and Senate. In fact, there will be no Senate. Citizens who serve in the House will be chosen randomly from the entire population across the nation. If one of those chosen is unable to serve for any reason, a Surrogate will be chosen to serve in her place. All representatives will serve long enough to process one bill. They will be made up of a majority of women and there will be many more young people that now is the case. Our legislature will be open all the time. There will be no shutdowns. No longer will one or two people decide what bills are going to be considered. The Guardians will do that by relying on the Ideas System. The Guardians will conduct public opinion polls with respect to proposed bills and the results will determine whether or not the bill should be sent to the Legislative System. In this way the people will propose a bill, they will decide if it should be developed and considered, they will vote on it and decide whether or not it should become law. No lifetime politicians, no political party hacks, no lobbyists with their war chests full of bribes and job offers. The people will be deciding the course our nation will take in every aspect of our national, shared lives. In this function, and in many others, the citizens who may now belong to one of the seven-hated groups will be in the majority.
- There will be one set of national laws that govern the states. States’ rights will be exterminated, and America will be better for it.
- We will have national health insurance that is free to every citizen.
- All children, through grade 12, will attend public schools in which evolution by cogitation will be taught as the only rational way, as the best way, as the only effective way, to define and implement the common good. Students will be taught why there must be a wall between church and state, and they will be taught how some religions have, in the past, tried to breach that wall.
Step 6: Amend the Constitution
After the winning candidates of the FFD Party take their seats in legislatures across the nation, including the national House and Senate, they will immediately begin to pass pre-staged legislation that calls for a vote of the people to ratify several amendments to the Constitution. We could write a new Constitution, but I think the amendment process would be best. The question then becomes what kind of vote should be used to ratify the amendments? The ratification process of the original Constitution did not include the majority of our citizens. This time should be different. The amendment ratification process should reflect the votes of the entire population, and should avoid all of the nasty techniques employed by local election judges to keep certain Americans from voting. The best way is to use scientific opinion polling to decide.
L’Envoi
I hope the ideas in this book can at least serve as a point of departure for those who want to save us from ourselves and, at the same time, build a better world for us all. I hope that whoever may come across these ideas will be able to improve upon them and turn them into actions that will serve the common good. If I still had the energy and drive of my youth, I would be one who would relish such work. But, even though I am surrounded by good neighbors and good friends, and embraced by loved ones, I am nevertheless a weary, old, white-haired democratus, a proud member of the Sages Cohort, who lives in Texas, in a little cabin, at the edge of the forest, at the end of the Earth, with Buster the cat, and I can do no more.
The project that I vowed in the spring of 1956 to complete before the end of my life is finally finished. I can now look back at my sixteen-year-old self and say, “We did it. We worked hard, we learned a lot, and, no matter what others may think or say, it was worth the effort.” Whereupon, we will wave to each other across the sixty-three years of life that separate us, and happily, proudly agree that we have done our very best.
The fate of the Earth, and everything that’s in it, is in your hands.
[i] In order to make it easier to see the seven self-evident truths, I have slightly paraphrased, and rearranged, these words from the Declaration of Independence.
[ii] Akhil Reed Amar, Yale Law School: The Consent of the Governed: Constitutional Amendment Outside Article V http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1968&context=fss_papers
[iii] http://billmoyers.com/story/how-the-indivisible-movement-is-fueling-resistance-against-trump/
[iv] The following bullet points were taken from an article entitled, “List of Recessions in the United States.” It can be found at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_recessions_in_the_United_States
Since early June of 1948, when my father brought home a boxed set of Grolier’s Book of Knowledge, a children’s encyclopedia, I have been an avid reader of encyclopedias and other reference books. That summer I read those books from cover to cover, and I have never stopped reading. I have spent nearly 14 years writing this book and I have consulted sources of many kinds. When I started, I would drive s round trip of fifty miles about two times each month to check the shelves of two major bookstores for information that would help me. All of a sudden, they vanished—it was just a little bit scary. But the Internet, and e-books (I have purchased about two-hundred) took up the slack. I still have encyclopedias and other reference books in my office, but cyber-sources are my mainstay. I have had occasion to seek information of many kinds over these years and I have been amazed at how much has been added to the Internet in the past decade. I learned that if I could not find what I was looking for on the Internet, all I had to do was wait and it would somehow show up. It is truly amazing. I now have over 4,000 Internet links in my computer that were used by me as I tested my memory and my ideas. But one of the most amazing and useful sources has been Wikipedia. By using the Internet and Wikipedia, I can sit in my little cabin at the edge of the forest at the end of the Earth and check sources all over the world.
[v] The SSLS of $36,000 is payable in 12 monthly installments.