A Real Alternative to the Present System

THE NEXT SYSTEM PROJECT

(about the author)

My name is Blair Francis Hamilton and I live in Port Hardy, British Columbia, Canada. I am 65 years old, recently retired, and have led a well rounded life, both in careers and interests, and my opinions and perspectives are the result of life experience and human relationships. My parents were both influential social workers (my father ended up as the executive director of the Provincial Association while my mother sat on the board of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation), and although I was raised to believe that everyone shares the responsibility to help those in distress, government “help” often creates dependency and an attitude of entitlement. The lesson for me was that quite often, professional bureaucrats can be part of the problem and not part of the solution.

After high school I apprenticed and became a journeyman carpenter where the principles of construction gave me two important fundamentals – the time to study blueprints is before you start, and the most detailed and elegant structure is absolutely worthless if it doesn’t sit on a concrete foundation. Later, as a general contractor, I came to realize another truth – the freedom of “being your own boss” comes at the expense of a huge amount of extra work and frustration.

Throughout my life, music has been a constant companion. Whether I was playing clarinet in the junior symphony orchestra, accompanying a sitar with my flute on the streets of Poona in India, or adding soprano sax to Bob Dylan songs in a studio in Germany, the intimacy and inner excitement of music has been a faithful friend. However, the musicians have to be playing the same song, in the same key and in tune with each other or the soothing power of harmony becomes dissonance and aggression. This is precisely how I would describe today’s society, so the following pages are my blueprint for change, and my song of hope. They are the basis of my two novels and countless letters to the editor. Since 1997 I have tried to offer these suggestions as an alternative to the current chaos, but there are few “ears to hear” and I am constantly aware that I am only one of seven billion voices. Kudos to the Next System Project for their forward vision and dedication.

AN ALTERNATIVE TO OUR PRESENT SYSTEM

(An essay for the New Systems Project essay contest)

In a perfect world, the mandate for government and the mandate for religions would be identical – a quest for the “common good”. The state and the “church” would be two arms of authority gathering people together in a synchronized effort to end the constant bitterness and violence of human society, and create a sustainable, reasonable peace where every person could participate and flourish. The only difference between these institutions would be the method used to accomplish this goal – the state would use decrees and enforcement while the people in the church would set an example and teach others to follow. In the real world, however, it is essential to keep the division between these two absolute, and guard against any kind of overlap.
What would happen if a political party or military council was able to convince the population that they operated with divine inspiration behind every decision, behind every demand, and that their motive was a constant, selfless caring for their fellow man? They could spend the taxes they collected on projects that would perpetuate this appearance, hire writers and advertising firms to bolster their public image of altruistic effort, and publicly discredit anyone who refused to believe the deception. Government would become the holy sanctuary of forgiveness and mercy for anyone who pledged support for the campaign and “salvation” (approval) would be earned by voting for the acceptable candidate, or volunteering for the army.On the other hand, try to imagine religions as cold, indifferent agencies that administered a strict set of rules that must be obeyed to avoid punishment. Officers would be selected by their zeal to enforce the doctrine, and administer the approved discipline. The congregation of this “church” would become very orderly, as anyone that challenged this “discipline” would automatically be regarded as an enemy of the faith. 

Obviously, in our present world, the lines between the state and the church have become blurred, and the result is confusion and hysteria. The goal of improving human relationships has been replaced by the struggle for position and power, and everyone loses. I believe that it is time to untangle this confusion by demanding that the government stick to punishing lawbreakers and that the church return to the task of representing God in truth and spirit.

Before I begin, I would like to offer the following observation about words. They can be helpful to communicate clearly, or they can cause harm and confusion if the meanings are twisted and vague, turning simple messages into far-fetched intellectual brainstorming, and manipulating people's thoughts and emotions with fear and pride. This is the foundation of religious preaching, political parties, and many branches of science. Throughout these pages, I will try to include common definitions to commonly used words to confront the issues plainly. For instance, I would define “government” as a recognized authority that tells us what we can do (civil rights), what we can't do (criminal laws), and what we must do (taxes, licenses, permits, etc.), whereas “spirituality” is the effort to live in reality with harmony and compassion.

I will also offer reasonable meanings for phrases or words that don't seem to have any universally accepted definitions. For instance, “mental health” is a mind that accepts what is real and true and rejects what is false and misleading. It doesn't matter what you believe, as long as it's true. The problem is never with the truth, it's with what has been left out or added. (There's always something left out or added!)

All of this material is my own and freely given. If anyone finds agreement with my reasoning, and copies these pages to pass on to others, I would be honoured, and my efforts will be justified. Thank you for reading. The following subjects are the topics of this essay:

1. Money, and the “national debt”.
2. Crime and punishment, justice and mercy.
3. A new Constitution for North America.
4. A five step plan to settle the conflict in the middle east.
5. Seven global agreements for world peace.

MONEY AND THE NATIONAL DEBT

Money, whether it is coloured beads, gold coins, paper currency, or just numbers on a computer screen, is a foundation of human society. Using money allows us to specialize in our work – we don't all have to be totally self-sufficient. Each of us can do what we are good at, and trade with one another using money. It is a great invention, but has a major flaw – as the amount and variety of goods and population increases, more and more money is required to keep the system running smoothly. If we print too much money without an increase in the production of goods, it causes inflation – the currency becomes worth less as the prices rise. If the amount of money stays the same, but more and more goods are produced, prices will have to fall, and industry will become discouraged. Healthy financial stability requires two things – limiting the creation of new currency to increases in the Gross Domestic Product, and prioritizing the workforce to fill human needs. The law of supply and demand has been twisted beyond recognition through mass manipulation of advertising and it is high time that we bring some reason and compassion into our communal efforts and enterprise.

With industrialization and modern technology, more can be produced with less human effort. Theoretically then, we should constantly be enjoying a higher standard of living as well as a shorter and shorter work week! Not necessarily. Instead, there has been a huge shift from industry jobs that produce something tangible to other paid activities such as social work, insurance, banking and investment, government services, educators, scientists, media, sales, travel agencies, religions, entertainment and so on and so on. The list is virtuously endless. Without degrading any of these activities, it seems to me that society has progressed from a town that hires a mayor, sheriff and part-time teacher while everyone else looks after their own needs, to a town where one family has to provide all the rest with cars, houses, food, clothing and all the necessary energy for their varied interests and pastimes. The justification for this present imbalance in the distribution of labour is rooted in doctoring the definitions of words that used to have significant meaning. For example:

Industry used to mean the process of manufacturing goods.

Economy used to mean the lack of waste, whether it described economy of motion, economy of resources, economy of effort, or economy of words.

Taxpayer used to mean someone who contributes more in taxes than they receive.

Security used to mean trusting in others in times of need.

Conservation used to mean a healthy respect for economy.

The “National Debt” is the amount of money that we owe collectively as a country. To eliminate this debt, I think it would be wise to understand what “we” borrowed the money for in the first place. If you ask any politician, he will say that it was needed to encourage industry and provide a safety net for people who needed some kind of assistance....If you ask a businessman, he would likely tell you that the money went to create the world's most complicated bureaucracy capable of strangling any attempt at free enterprise, and to give handouts to lazy bums whenever they whine.....If you talked to a welfare mom, she would insist that the money all went to line the pockets of the politicians and businessmen. If you ask me, I think that they are all wrong – these things were all paid for with taxes. The money that was borrowed to create the National Debt only bought one thing – votes. Millions and millions of votes.

It is high time to “put our house in order”. We owe it to previous generations for all their hard work creating the best country they could for us. We owe it to future generations because they are faced with impossible problems and a massive debt that they are not responsible for creating.

First would be a common vision, and I propose that our goals should be clear: no more inflation, a reasonable balance in the workforce, an end to wastefulness, and a respect for industry.
Secondly, we need to identify problem areas in our “system” and implement some necessary changes. Here are the fundamental areas to be addressed:

1. No more campaign financing or deficit budgets. The present electoral system produces politicians that are only experts at getting elected and have proved that neither common sense nor the will of the people guides the decisions they will make. The term “deficit budget” is a manipulative deception and an oxymoron.
2. Limit the interest rate on borrowed money to the national increase in production (GDP) from year to year. Banks and financial institutions should charge competitive prices for the services they provide, but since today's currency is only theoretical numbers on computer networks, the practice of lending this “money” at high interest rates increases the theoretical amount of money in the country and causes inflation on a grand scale. It also promotes the fallacy that money is wealth and not just a tool of commerce.
3. Join all the various assistance programs together and administer them locally. Any kind of assistance cheque ought to be signed by a real taxpayer, not a public employee. This would put authority in the hands of the people who provide the assistance, and remove a huge amount of waste through bureaucracy and fraud.
4. Use our foreign ambassadors to begin trading goods for goods in the “global market”. Since the volume of goods is usually very large between countries, using any kind of money is unnecessary and often treacherous for honest relations. Also, the beneficiaries of global trade ought to be the industries and workers involved, not the super-wealthy and their financial webs.

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

If everyone would treat others with the same respect that they want for themselves, we wouldn't need laws or people to enforce them. Until then, society needs laws, police and a court system. I propose a major overhaul of our present system that would use modern technology and common sense to establish guilt or innocence, along with reasonable consequences (punishment) aimed at rehabilitation of the perpetrators of crime. The whole purpose of the courts is to “teach a lesson” so that society can live in peace.

Police investigators have made giant strides in forensic science that allows for more certainty in establishing facts, and it is time that the rest of the system was updated. Since the essential beginning to any rehabilitation is an outright confession, we need to change the direction of interrogation to a process that protects citizens from entrapment, but requires absolute truthfulness.

Beginning with the commission of a crime, I would stress that the perpetrator be encouraged to confess. If someone steals $100 and, on his own, decides to return the money and admit their crime, all that he /she should expect is a “tongue lashing”. On the other hand, if the same person lies, or runs to avoid consequences, and has to be caught, brought to trial, convicted and finally punished, they ought to be held responsible for all the trouble they caused, not just the original theft. Also, the punishment needs to address the crime in order to fulfill the basic requirement of justice. If it is too severe, or too lenient, it is injustice. The present jail system of “one punishment fits all crimes” has no success in rehabilitating criminals.

How can we ensure that confessions are true and voluntary and not the product of tricks and bullying by prosecutors and detectives? I suggest that all police interviews, witness statements, prosecution and defence arguments take place on a secure and private computer network, not in interrogation rooms or courtrooms. Recent televised trials show quite clearly that courtroom drama may have entertainment value for others, but is counter-productive towards establishing guilt or innocence. One of the biggest obstacles in our present adversarial system is the inability of the judge to control the advocates. It is a very weak instruction to ordinary people in the jury to “disregard” this question, or that answer, or some comment made in their presence, not to mention the media reports on “spectacular” crimes. A closed computer network would allow the judge to refuse to allow a question to be asked simply by sending it back before it appeared on the screen. Jurors would not need to know the age, gender or race of the defendant during the trial. Also, a complete record would be instantaneously available on disc from the initial police interviews to the answers of the defendant during the trial, which might prove invaluable in judging consistency and credibility, while providing the public with satisfaction of their “right to know” about any case in detail. Retrials and appeals could be argued quickly and effectively if any new evidence or testimony was introduced. Any complaint about the severity of the punishment could be conducted in the light of the entire record of the crime, investigation and conviction.

In my opinion, there are some crimes that have no just punishment. Murder, rape, child abuse and spousal battering cause permanent recurring suffering to the victims, and trying to respond by inflicting permanent distress to the criminal goes away from rehabilitation, often becoming revenge. For these types of crimes, which transgress the minimum self-control for society to exist, I recommend complete, life-long separation. Let these criminals try to work their problems out together, but isolated from the rest of civilization. It used to be called “banishment”, and the individuals who demonstrated so little respect for others should live their lives with others who share the same pathology.

With all this discussion about crime, punishment and justice, we need to remember what I consider to be the highest ideal of humanity – the quality of mercy. Mercy is not having judges who let criminals off without punishment. It is not plea bargaining. Mercy is the right of any victim to forgive and grant clemency to the person who wronged them. It is also the right of an innocent person to pay the punishment for the criminal. Mercy is probably the most powerful tool in rehabilitation.

CONSTITUTION FOR THE NORTH AMERICAN CONTINENT

1. The boundaries of this new nation shall extend from the Panama Canal to the North Pole, and from the West Coast to the East Coast of the continental land mass. The nine states above the 49^th parallel shall be named (from west to east) Alaska, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Labrador, and Newfoundland, separated by time zones. The two states below the 49^th parallel shall be named America and Mexico (following the existing borders already established). The twelfth state shall be comprised of all First Nations peoples (either by direct descent or by acclamation) from the entire continent, to be referred to as the “federal authority”.
2. Each state shall elect twelve representatives from among its population by democratic vote, free from all forms of campaign finance or any other interference, to meet weekly in the Capitol City of Winnipeg for the resolution of all interstate conflicts and disputes. Any gridlock will be submitted to binding arbitration by the “federal authority” and legislation will be applied equally to all residents, without regard for separate groupings.
3. The official languages of this new nation will be limited to “Truth” and “Mutual Respect” and all public communication, whether in print, by radio or television, entertainment media or internet shall be held to these standards, regardless of their origin.
4. A National Currency shall be provided for trade and commerce that will be void of any mention of Divinity or personage, honoured only within the national boundary. This currency shall be owned and governed by the population and deemed forfeit (along with any real assets) if used for illegal purposes, such as the manufacture or distribution of ANY weapons of mass destruction (from pistols to nuclear warheads), the manufacture or distribution of ANY mind altering drugs (from alcohol to psychotropic medicines), the abuse or enslavement of ANY human beings, or the practice of “Usury” (defined as charging interest rates at other than the percentage increase in the Gross Domestic Product).
5. Community courts shall be established to dispense Justice (punishments that are defined by the nature of the infraction) except for capitol crimes that are so heinous that they cannot be addressed by reasonable sentences (such as murder, rape, child endangerment or torture). ALL such perpetrators shall be banished to isolated camps, never to return to civilized society.
6. Natural resources shall be deemed the property of the citizens of each state, and the use of raw materials shall be deemed an equal partnership with the population of the state in which they are protracted.
7. Off shore resources (including fisheries) shall be managed and protected by the Federal Authority.
8. Taxes on income shall be temporary and for emergencies only.
9. Taxes on goods and services shall be limited to ten percent and used to create a “National Assistance Fund”, to be administered locally and with economy, to guarantee basic needs such as food, shelter, warmth, and services to every citizen according to need.
10. Air traffic above the entire nation shall be restricted to necessary flights, for both domestic and international passengers, and traffic in major cities shall be limited to 'urban' cars and rapid transit between 6:00 AM and 6:00 PM.
11. The value of imported goods and services shall be matched with the value of exported goods and services exactly (and vice-verse) except for charitable donations.
12. War debts exacted by the United Nations shall be paid in goods and services manufactured or provided by the population of the entire nation as requisitioned by the Federal Authority.

FIVE STEPS TO PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Step 1) Resolving the religious conflict.

In order to settle the conflict between the prominent religions of the area, we need to ask three important questions.

First, “Who is a Jew?” …. As recently as 2000 years ago, this question had a simple answer. They were a direct descendant of one of the twelve sons of Jacob, circumcised on the eighth day of their life. Meticulous records were kept and no one was Jew-ish- they were Jews (or not). This is why, when the Romans took a census, every Jew had to register in the Tribal Territory of their ancestors, not just where they lived.

A modern “Jew” is not so easy to identify. He/she might be a survivor of the holocaust, a devout believer in the Old Testament (without the Levitical priesthood, animal sacrifices and strict laws of course), or they might just be disciples of some “Rabbi” that wears a yamulke and abstains from eating pork. The glaring hypocrisy of present day Israel is that the “Jewish” people can't identify with the millions of Palestinians who were dispossessed of their land, herded into refugee camps and even lost children to armed Israeli soldiers. Never again?

The second question is, “Who is a follower of Islam?”... I have read that Islamic principles teach humility, caring for others, tolerance and even a doctrine of peace on earth! The real meaning of Jihad is to make a stand against the pleasures and distractions of the “world” in order to seek after the needs of your community, instead of being self-absorbed and greedy. I have also heard the angry rhetoric that fuels unspeakable terrorist acts. Apparently there has been as much twisting and corruption of Islamic “fundamentals” as in the present day Christian theology. One thing is certain, when the United Nations partitioned their country to provide a homeland for “Jews” in 1948, Palestine had no army and was in no way connected to Hitler's genocide. Palestinians became resentful and are still angry today. Their problem has nothing to do with religion, it has to do with sovereignty and the rule of international law.

The third question is “Who is a Christian?”.... In the first century, people who believed what Jesus taught started dropping out of society and lived in communes called “churches” where the same miracles and happy relationships continued regularly. The people around them called them “Christians” because they each fit the profile of Jesus. Today, the “church” is splintered into hundreds of groups called denominations, each claiming to have their own private interpretation of the same scriptures. I didn't hear any outcry from today's “church” when major television newscasters actually referred to some nations as “Christian” nations, even though Jesus gave His life to put an end to this very ignorance. Since there is so much hypocrisy and confusion spread through all the main religions, I propose that we declare at least one message about God that is acceptable to everyone's scriptures and have it painted in large letters on the face of the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. This could be translated into every language:

“God would trade all the traditions, buildings and praises for the life, liberty and happiness of one single child.”

Step 2) Settling the “Political Conflict”

Where religions manipulate our beliefs, politics inflames human pride and passion. Motivating us into action is accomplished through powerful sound bites, mind-numbing innuendo, heated rhetoric, and promises, promises, promises. The actual conflict in the middle east is a direct result of the simplistic and arrogant rule of the United Nations, and therefore the solution must come from that organization if they are to restore any credibility.

If the “Jewish Homeland” had been established in any other country (say one of the United states, a province in Canada, the Soviet Republic, or even a country in South America) I would expect that we would have exactly the same result as the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, perhaps even bloodier! No foreign government can give people's land and cities to someone else and expect “peaceful acquiescence”. The message that Israel does NOT have the right to exist is the bottom line of the hatred in the region and must be addressed! The second step toward peace is a negotiated agreement between the United Nations and the Palestinian authority establishing a fair purchase price for the land and buildings designated in 1948 as a homeland for Jews, and giving veto power over any legislation that directly affects Palestinians. A guaranteed supply of potable water, medicine, housing and infrastructure to meet their needs is not the work of charities, it is a debt that must be paid. In short, the United Nations has as much responsibility to create a “Palestinian Homeland” as it did to create a “Jewish Homeland”.

Step 3)Identifying the real obstacle to peace.

I was in Germany when the trainload of snowboarders burned up inside a tunnel in Austria. Every television station, radio broadcast and newspaper around the entire world reported the catastrophe. Parents were flown in and we all mourned the tragic loss of innocent lives. In the same week, the newspapers reported (on page 5) that 235 youths and children had been killed in skirmishes along the Gaza Strip. They were shot by armed Israeli soldiers for throwing rocks.

When I watched the live coverage of the World Trade catastrophe on Sept. 11, I saw news footage of Palestinians laughing and excited about the carnage, and realized that while the media focused on the horrible pain caused by a few lunatics, and the world sprang into action to root out and punish anyone connected with this hideous crime, many Palestinians viewed it as a skirmish, not a catastrophe.

In order to solve this problem, news services around the entire world need to adopt a code of ethics in their reporting. Terms like “daisy cutter”, “softening up terrorist-friendly regimes”, and “skirmishes” minimize the intense suffering of human beings and avoid the real horror of war. This kind of hypnotic, emotional sloganeering (spin) is the very tool used by Nazis to create the last World War. News ought to be facts and true information, not propaganda.

Step4) Resolving the disputed “Settlements” and establishing Basic Ground Rules. 
 

The negotiations for purchasing the land allocated to the Jews in 1948 (read step 2) should be held completely separate from resolving the issue of outlying settlements that have been constructed on Palestinian land since then. I suggest that there are three reasonable choices for each and every homeowner in these disputed townships. First, they could offer to buy or rent the land individually or collectively from the Palestinian authority. Second, they could offer to sell or lease their buildings and infrastructure, either individually or collectively to the Palestinian authority. Third, they could offer to trade some of the buildings for the land under other buildings. I personally would like to see all even numbered addresses traded for the land under all odd numbered addresses, as it would speed up the painful but necessary process of integration, and provide immediate shelter for the impoverished and despairing victims of refugee camps.

I can see five Basic Ground Rules needed for sustained peace:

1. Joint military patrols around the circumference of the entire region to prevent weapons of any kind from entering.
2. A universal law prohibiting the manufacture or assembly of weapons of any kind within the borders of either country.
3. Methodical disarmament and destruction of any weapons not required by Ground Rule 1).
4. The removal of artificial borders between the two countries except for normal Border crossings.
5. The establishment of a negotiating process between elected Palestinian officials and elected Israeli officials that agrees to submit any unresolved issue to binding arbitration by a tribunal from other (disinterested) countries.

Step 5) The Impossible Dream

In Canada, we have a structure of individual provinces under a centralized government that allows peaceful harmony as a nation under a common law and a common currency. Each province can have different natural resources, a different size, different population, and even a different language without going to war. We even assist one another in times of natural disaster and human suffering.

What would the Middle East be like, I wonder, if Israel, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Iraq, Kuwait, Egypt, Yemen, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia joined together and shared their strengths and abilities? I believe that this federation could have a strong voice in human history! This is the kind of dream that is not likely to happen in one generation, but it might supply motive to any attempt to settle the chaos and violence that my generation has witnessed throughout our whole lives. I suggest that this plan could be universally supported by ordinary people in all countries and would set a standard for avoiding armed conflict in the future.

SEVEN GLOBAL AGREEMENTS FOR WORLD PEACE

Considering the constant hatred and belligerence that fill the global media, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that ordinary people around the world have almost identical physical and emotional struggles. Farmers, builders, doctors, parents, students, athletes, scientists, and police all face identical challenges, and every community requires common ideals and some form of discipline. Unlike the rest of creation/existence, the human mind is corrupt, whereas everything else in the Universe is perfectly adapted and connected. This corruption is dominant amongst our species, and the root of it is an arrogant belief that we are “super-smart” - so smart that we can individually judge what is good from what is evil. This belief is the source for the arrogance that poisons beliefs, actions and communication. The simple truth is that we only form opinions, and those change radically at new discoveries or information. We are just meddlers and manipulators in a perfect universe, patting each other on the back for our achievements, character, and abilities when, in reality, we have never created anything, (simply manoeuvred forces and materials that already exist to bend to our will); we try to judge character by using our individual imagination as a pattern (extolling anything that suits our own disposition at the time); and we are unwilling to admit that creative expressions such as music, art and poetry come from a different source than our clever minds, (even though we often acknowledge them as “gifts”). The first global agreement that we need to enter is that the solution to our own corruption is our responsibility, our choice, and our redemption.

While many people might advocate a laisez-faire attitude towards putting an end to this human weakness, history and experience demonstrate that it is truly a battle, and will not be won by “turning a blind eye” and hoping for the best. In the past, we have relied on government bodies (of one form or another), different religious organizations, community police forces, and various financial systems to limit and prosecute our criminal behaviour, thereby creating a minimum standard. These institutions are only effective when they have the trust and confidence of the public – when that relationship breaks down, it is ground for violent revolution. The second global agreement would be to specify a separate mandate for each authority, keep them separate, and insist that they are self-regulated. (Any betrayal of public trust ought to be disciplined harshly, immediately, and publicly by the authority itself, in order to restore public confidence)

To understand the madness of war, we need to isolate the root of our conflict. In simple terms, there are two universally held paradigms, or perspectives, (sometimes referred to as Memes) that guide us in our lives. The first “reality” (or version of reality) is that we are born into a bleak wilderness, and must pit ourselves against nature, compete with others, and expend enormous energy to survive the ordeal of life, and success is measured by the degree of comfort we can achieve. This world-view is based on fear and selfishness and expands to fighting for the survival and comfort of our family, then the survival and comfort of our community, country, and so on. At its logical conclusion, we must all be on guard to fight for the survival and comfort of our species in case an inter galactic force threatens the planet. This “reality” is a paranoid delusion, but creates its own truth by filling the world with aggressive fear-mongers that collect evidence to support their belief from the carnage that they themselves wreak. This is the prevalent version of reality in our world.

The second perspective, or “Meme”, is the concept that we are all born into a large family aboard a self-powered spaceship on automatic pilot, hurtling to an unknown destination with our fellow passengers, that our magnificent craft has eternal sources of sustenance in abundance, a reliable heat source, and all manner of healthy, exciting experiences to fill our time as we travel. In this “reality”, the society we are born into, and the institutions that exist, are simply crew members of the spaceship- some in uniform, some not, but all of them acting as guides and teachers as we mature. What is there to fight, or even argue about? When faced with the desperation and arrogance of the first group, the people who think that life is an interesting holiday aboard a self-sustaining playground (like children) are hated, abused, ridiculed, and used as scapegoats to prove that their version of life is totally false and they need to grow up. When two or three passengers who hold on to the second “reality” come together, however, they experience the validity of their beliefs, which encourages them to feel compassion for their unhappy relatives (sparking even more hatred and sometimes violence). In fact they become like “sheep among wolves”, and any attempt to dissuade their paranoid friends is suspect and most times foolhardy. But occasionally Moses leads the people out of captivity, David defeats Goliath, and Jesus raises from the Dead. Since the end of human corruption relies on our ability to convince those trapped in the first “reality” to rethink their assumptions and reasoning, the third global agreement needs to be a commitment to ensure that all communication, whether verbal, physical, or financial must be consistent with a reality based on decency. (This insistence on decency in communication will no doubt be heralded as an attack on “free speech”, but the real enemies of free speech are deception, derision and violence, which paralyse our ability to think freely, thereby taking away the very source of “free expression”.)

The beginning of the transformation of our world needs to start at the top, with the United Nations, an organization formed to safeguard us from global conflict. In reality, however, the practise of wildly drawing lines on a map, separating us by religious affiliations, creating an armed force directed by a security council made up of the five most heavily armed, belligerent countries, and imposing economic sanctions that penalize ordinary citizens who have no possibility of changing the decisions of their leaders doesn't seem to be a voice of reason that we can respect. If the goal is World Peace, the simple and plausible beginning would be to dismantle the pervasive cancer of weapons that already exist, and to punish manufacturers and distributors from every nation. This is a tall order, but the fourth global agreement should be “Operation Clean Sweep” - an order for all military personnel and equipment to return home to their respective countries and disarm their own citizens in preparation for destroying every weapon designed to inflict pain and suffering.

Obviously, the tenor of this essay is to establish a manifesto for the future, and if the United States/ Canada/Mexico could unite under a single currency, they could lead the continents of Africa and South America, to do the same. Groups of existing countries divided by arbitrary borders that have been sporadically juggled at the cost of millions of lives and untold suffering (China, Tibet, and the Korean and Malaysian peninsulas; India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh; the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; the countries of Europe; the countries of the Middle East) could also follow their example. This would give this planet an opportunity to “launder” the present financial system fairly by refusing to exchange existing currency that has been accumulated through illegal or indecent means. Separating the world by National currencies would result in each of these Super-nations having the means and responsibility for the health and welfare of its own citizens and put an end to industrial colonization and multinational conglomerates. The fifth global agreement would be to define the democratically owned currency for every nation as absolutely exclusive, not to be exported in any way.
 

There are a number of financial institutions whose time has come and gone, and need to be replaced. Insurance companies, credit brokers and stock markets have become a den of thieves over the years. Insurance is rooted in paranoia, propagating a religion of terror, where “Acts of God” are limited to horrific disasters of nature, and all human suffering and carelessness can be mitigated in terms of monetary settlements. Credit companies lure us to pay huge interest charges for the privilege of being impatient, arguing that 'life is short, why wait?' Stock markets began as a means of inviting public financial support in private enterprise, but have become giant gambling casinos that rule over our industries. All these decayed institutions need to be replaced by local, democratic, non-profit cooperatives like the Credit Unions. Essentially, these institutions could prioritize available money to respond to community needs and aspirations rather than supplying the artificial, immoral demands created by deceptive advertising. This would allow completely free and private enterprise (without the constant drain of usury and share dividends) under the supervision of elected boards concerned with the present needs and future prosperity of their members. The sixth global agreement should be to make it illegal to treat money itself as a 'commodity'.

If you add up all these agreements, it becomes obvious that millions upon millions of jobs that have no value for society will be eradicated, and much of our “training” and “education” will have been wasted. On the positive side, there is a never-ending list of worthwhile work to be done, and no excuse for people to shirk their personal responsibility to contribute. The eternal problem of our species is that while we are implementing the details of these agreements, we tend to lose sight of the “big picture” and corruption is at the door, waiting to disrupt any progress. This has given rise to the importance of the 'Sabbath', (which gave way to the 'Weekend' and then 'Statutory Holidays'), where we could take time to reaffirm our place in the community, and exercise the freedom of simply enjoying the trip on our spaceship. In the computer age, with all the technological advances and scientific understanding that we have achieved over the centuries, I suggest that the seventh global agreement can be a four day work week.

I believe that if we could all agree on these seven basic suggestions, we could use our cunning ability to meddle and interfere to correct the current “crises” that we are presented with daily. For instance, the problem of 'global warming' melting the polar ice caps and flooding the continental land mass could be answered constructively by building massive desalinization plants close to arid deserts and using the excess water to grow crops where they don't grow naturally. The salt residue could be transformed into some kind of building material and solar power could be harnessed for the process, turning a perceived threat into an opportunity. Or, in the case of the coming oil shortage, we could extract hydrogen from some of this excess water to increase fuel economy, and redesign the “internal” combustion engine to become an “eternal' combustion engine. I hope one of the first challenges will be to redirect the energy and expense dedicated to planting a flag on the moon and shipping a transformer toy to Mars into a quest to develop unmanned minesweepers to neutralize millions of acres of minefields without the cost of a child's limbs. Our present society is fettered by confusion and distrust and any effort to “tweak” the present system simply distracts from the enormity of the problem. The necessary changes will have to be basic, complete and simple enough to encourage support from around the globe, otherwise the format of hierarchy (and all the corruption that accompanies it) will prevail, thereby suffocating any form of true democracy. I hope this essay can provide a common vision that will promote transformation from our present belligerent finger-pointing to a massive burst of cooperation.