MANIFESTO:
For A World That Works

         The wealthy live in abject fear of the lower classes, the middle class is disappearing, and the poor have no hope.
         Ecosystems are dying, the infrastructure is crumbling, the political system is a farce, and the media and industry increasingly gobble up the competition to form monopolies.
         Gibbon said that the citizens of Ancient Rome sold out for 'bread and circuses'; the same is true today, except that the payoff is in the form of 'mega-calorie fast food and 24-hour cable television'.

         To solve the problems that face Mankind in the XXIst Century, a revolution is required.
         Violence – the use of physical force – is not a solution.
         What needs to happen for Mankind to survive beyond the next generation is replacement of the False Values that perpetuate the Culture-Structure – the machinery of civilization that is designed so that Things Do Not Work – with deeper Values that empower all Mankind.
         These empowering Values include:

    ABSOLUTE FREEDOM

• All citizens have equal rights under the Law.
• Freedom is never guaranteed, it is maintained by an educated and vigilant population who refuse to trade their freedoms for seeming security.
• The purpose of the Law is not to legislate conformative behavior, but to assure Freedom – which is defined as the absence of coercion – for all.
• Behavior that does not impinge on another or on the environment is legitimate.
  • Religions are equal in the Law, including atheism and agnosticism
  • Opinions are not facts
  • All sexual activity between consenting adults is legitimate
  • 'Victimless' crimes are not a crime
• Attempts by a reactionary minority to stifle non-conformity are un-American, reprehensible, unjust, and harmful to the economy: Innovation cannot arise in a totalitarian society.

    RULE of LAW

• The citizenry have a right not to live in fear.
• All citizens have equal rights under the Law, and wealth and political power deserve no insulation from prosecution.
• Illegal immigration is a crime; illegal residents have no rights; employers who hire illegal workers or exploit foreign slave labor forfeit the right to continue their business operation.
• Plea-bargaining to a lesser crime is itself a crime.
• The anti-social behavior of the criminal class – gangs, drug merchants, pimps & prostitutes, gamblers, grifters, thieves & murderers – is not acceptable in a society designed to work. Incarceration is a temporary solution, with re-education – by example and by instruction in empowering Values – the ultimate goal.
• A requirement by the Social Security Administration for fingerprint verification for new applications and for payment of benefits will:
  • greatly reduce fraud
  • locate fugitive felons
  • and increase the justice system fingerprint database
• Drug-testing of prospective & current employees is oppressive unless all executives are required to undergo the same procedure/s.
• Trial attorneys are not exempt from perjury charges: they must be sworn in by the court – at least between the opening and closing speeches – to promote the actual practice of Truth and Justice.
• Prisons can and must be made crime free. Remove every television set from each prison and offer 'good books' and literacy programs instead. When each prison block has been crime free for one year – no stabbings, no drugs or pruno – the television privilege will be restored for that block, with P.B.S. & History channel content, "Sesame Street", and non-violent sports on a multi-channel Prison Net. Any crime by any inmate inside the block cancels all tv privileges for three months.
• Pass laws giving fire department personnel the power to write parking tickets for vehicles parked in red zones, fire lanes, in front of hydrants, etc.

    CAPITALISM

• The Individual is the source of all wealth.
• The Individual has a natural right to trade his/her honest labor and original ideas for a Living Wage.
• The original design of Capitalism is for the creation of jobs and products & services.
• No person in management is worth a paycheck greater than 25 times that of the non-management average.
• Labor union formation is a right guaranteed in the U.S.A. by the First Amendment – and elsewhere by America's example.
• The best way to deny unmerited profits to the Oligarchy is to patronize the small, local business – book, video & music stores, gasoline/petrol stations, auto mechanics, printers & stationers, hardware & clothing stores, and bakeries & restaurants – and the individual provider of services – plumbers, gardeners, builders, and realtors. The best way to strengthen capitalism is to practice it.

    TAX EQUITY

• The Oligarchy – the 1% of each country that owns 50% and more of everything – must pay their fair share, i.e. 50 percent, of taxes – across the board: local & state & federal. Same for the Upper Class, the 20% who now own 83% of everything: their share is 83% of government expenses.
• Corporations whose annual profit is more than 15% of net income are white-collar pirates, and such excess profits are taxable at a 75% rate.
• While over-population is a problem, breeding is a natural right. However, there is no right to a tax deduction on children or dependents. The tax laws will be altered so that the maximum number of [non-handicapped, non-senior] dependents are locked in at twelve, then ten, then down to two in ten tax years – existing progeny retain the deduction until out of school. After that, Freedom is maintained: have all the children you want, but only two are tax deductible.

    ECONOMIC FREEDOM

• To be in debt – as a country or as a consumer (excluding residential mortgage) – constitutes surrender to economic slavery.
• Credit cards with a debit balance are to pay interest at 75% of the interest rate on credit balances.

    ECOLOGICAL RESPONSIBILITY

• The ecosystems of planet Earth are dying from the ruthless exploitation of natural resources by the Oligarchy, whose actions and policies constitute suicide of the species Homo sapiens.
• The survival of Mankind requires:
  • Development of renewable energy sources
  • Reduction of profligate consumption
  • Repair of commerce-generated damage
  • Protection of endangered species
• Sorry: Changes in lifestyle will be required for many, to reverse the damage perpetrated by the conscience-less Oligarchy in the name of the holy Bottom Line.
• To paraphrase the X-ian Bible (Matthew 16): "For what is a man profited if he shall make beaucoup bucks while transforming the planet into a cesspool."

    INDIVIDUAL STRENGTH

• Everyone must have the opportunity to learn to read and to write and to calculate 'everyday' arithmetic.
• Remedial training programs are long overdue and worth the cost.
• Everyone must be cognizant of the workings and activity of government, and all elected representatives and all government employees must be answerable to their constituents.
• Decisions are made by those Individuals who participate; corporations do not have a vote.

    REALIGNMENT of PRIORITIES

• "Until all are free, none are free." — Dr. Martin Luther King jr
• Freedom requires hard work; hard work is nothing to be afraid of.
• Economic freedom and economic equity allow for personal self-expression and fulfillment.
• The public airwaves are a public trust, and rightfully regulated by government. All political parties & candidates deserve Equal Access to broadcast media during the three months prior to each election – local, state, and federal.
• The United States of America has no right to export or advocate any Value not actually practiced in America.
• "Reason is the only frontier left." — G.E. Nordell