The Rights
Abstract rational principles cannot reconstruct society. Concrete
and detailed rational principles can by showing a path to reach an ultimate
goal. The goal is an Ilanistic Society in a non-Utopian world.
This is an
introduction to some of the rights all people have as human beings. When it is
stated later that "society will speak through the government", this
is a statement that will be explained in more detail in a later section.
Society will be voting once a month to confirm or reject the laws passed by the
legislature.
The
Rights
· Right of Life
· Right of Liberty/Free Speech
· Right of Health
· Right of Property
· Right of Justice
· Right of the Pursuit of Happiness
· Right of Education
Each right is a mixture of all the
rights, but without explicitly defining the rights, the rights could be
forgotten or abused creating a state of ordered despotism. All of these rights
complement and/or overlap each other. All rights are taken as a whole and can
never be separated from the others. If one right is overlooked or forgotten a
state of ordered despotism could occur reducing the lives and rights of the
citizens. In my opinion, the United States is a product of ordered despotism as
was the former Soviet Union but for totally opposite reasons.
"The less of routine, the more of life."A. B. Alcott
The main idea of the right to life
is everyone has the right to live their life as they see fit. That is as long
as their expressions and pursuit does not infringe upon the rights of others. Each person should be given the opportunity to live their
life without intentional harassment from the government, society or from
individuals. Life is full of choices and consequences. A bad choice and
a bad consequence will always happen if enough poor choices are made.
If an individual
intentionally harasses someone, all attempts should be made to that individual
that he is committing harassment. As long as an individual makes an apology and
or restitution is made if the action causes financial problems, then the action
will be his debt to society. If no attempts are made to correct the harassment,
it is the responsibility of the government to protect the harasee's rights from
the harasser. The harasser can be forced to repay their debt to society at a
fair and reasonable cost as determined by the society through the courts
There are millions, perhaps billions
of people that speed their car everyday. Not every time a crash will occur
because of excessive speeds and not every crash is because of excessive speeds.
But given enough poor choices in speeding, a fatal accident will happen
someplace, sometime to somebody.
As with the German Autobahn, people
should have a choice on what speed they wish to drive. At the same time the
government, with consent of society, should be allowed to make recommendations
to speed, which is unlike the German Autobahn.
If an accident occurs and both drivers were within
10kph of the recommended speed limit, then neither driver infringed upon the
others right to life. On the other hand, if one driver is at the recommended
speed limit, but the other driver is more than 10kph over the recommended speed
limit, then the driver more than 10kph over the recommended speed limit is at
least 50% at fault because he was over the recommended speed limit society has
set through the government. Everybody still has a choice to exceed the
recommended speed limit without fear of a traffic ticket, but accidents will
happen to somebody, someplace at sometime and that person will have to live
with the consequences of his actions.
This speed limit requirement does not include
semi-truck drivers. Truck drivers must stay within the limits only because a
semi-truck is so massive that a higher speed would have so much more momentum
than at a slower speed.
The next part is probably the most
controversial. The government does not have the right to take a life. The most
the government can do is issue a life sentence without the possibility of
parole.
The government is not God, and
cannot take away from God what is his. The Bible says man must live by the laws
of the land. It also states in the Bible, do not judge unless you are judged. A
crowd that wanted to stone prostitute to death, Jesus wrote in the sand, “He
who is without sin, cast the first stone.” Man is not allowed to take from God
what is his, but man is allowed to confine or somehow remove a man from society
because of his errors of judgment. This is allowable because man must follow
the laws of the land.
In general, the government must do
everything possible to protect the lives of the citizen, but must make sure
every citizen is allowed to exercise his choice in life as long as the person
understands he has to live with his choice and cannot infringe upon the rights
of others.
"You cannot be friends upon any other terms than upon the terms of equality."
--Woodrow Wilson
The Right
of Liberty, which allows everyone to present his own opinion without fear of
retribution unless the opinion is of a hateful and violent nature with an
intended and/or actual audience of two or more. Every citizen has the
liberty to make his own choice in life as long as that choice does not
interfere with the rights of others.
"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
Eleanor Roosevelt
Definitions:
Subsistence
wage: The wage used to base the tax system on. The subsistence wage is equal to
the cost a couple would have to pay to meet the necessities of life, i.e. food,
housing, phone etc. For each child a .4 is added to the subsistence wage index
for the first amount of taxes to be withheld. The larger the family, the fixed
costs should increase, but the other expenses should remain the same. After the
untaxed amount is removed, the tax rate should remain the same.
Each citizen and
visitor is guaranteed health care regardless of the ability to pay. The visitor
will be responsible for a fair and reasonable expense if the visitor is not in
the state on official business of a company within the country, or if the
person is not on official government business.
The government
with the cooperation of businesses must insure the health and well being of
every member of society. The government has the right to set regulations on
businesses to protect the health of each citizen.
These regulations are not only limited to the consumption
of food products, but are put on any and all products and by-products. The term
by-product is referring to any and all pollutants that leave a factory.
Pollution infringes upon the right of life and the right of health. Progress must continue so the amount of
pollutants cannot be set to zero, but rather an amount set by the government
and conferred by society.
The penalties to the
businesses are set by society through the government, but the penalties to the
individual who was in charge of products or by-products will be imposed by the
courts but set by the citizens.
Businesses must pay the salary of
doctors and/or doctor's assistants at a local clinic. Depending on the number
of employees at the business, society through the government, will determine
the number of doctors and/or doctor's assistants.
Any and all citizens must be allowed
to visit the health clinic with the idea each visit will cost one hour of the
subsistence wage, unless the patient is a child under 16 then the number is
limited to 6 free visits per year unless the doctor has submitted a paper
stating the need for more than 6 visits per year. If the child is under 2, he
will be allowed an unlimited number of free visits to a doctors assistant, but
will only see the doctor if the doctor's assistant requests it.
One of the best ways to foster our
new generation is to make sure the mother has adequate prenatal care. A
pregnant woman can go to the clinic every other week unless told otherwise by
the doctor’s assistant. If the woman is doing fine, a longer time between
visits may be required. If the woman is doing poorly, a shorter time between
visits may be required. It is up to the doctor’s assistant.
Every hospital should have a
delivery area exclusively for the use of midwives. Upon learning of the
pregnancy, money will be with held from the mothers check, and from the fathers
check if married, or if he admits the child is his. This will be withheld and
sent to the government to pay for the midwife. The total amount withheld will
be equal to one week of subsistence wages. Upon delivery, the midwife will
receive 1-1/2 days of subsistence wages from the government and the remaining
portion will be used to maintain the delivery area.
If the child is born, and the father
will not admit the child is his, a blood test will be used to determine if the
man is the father. If the man is the father and will not marry the woman, he is
responsible to pay her 6-1/2 days of subsistence wages and will be the provider
for his child, but the child will live with the mother unless the mother agrees
to let the father take care of their child.
There are people in the United
States that believes if you have contracted AIDS, it is a privacy issue and you
do not have to disclose the information. AIDS is a disease, not a privacy
issue. It is a disease that kills.
Once a year, everyone will visit the
health center for an HIV test. If a person tests positive he will have one week
to gather his belongings and move to a special park/ranch area.
The residents will maintain this
park/ranch. They will be living in dormitory style to increase the maximum
space efficiency while having a hospital on grounds to care for person if they
would take a step for the worse.
All residents can receive guests, but no resident may leave until a cure for AIDS is found. The park/ranch will have all the comfort possible to make their remaining time as pleasant as possible.
"Decisions determine destiny."
--Frederick Speakman
The Right of Property, which cannot be taken away from the
individual but the individual, is required to relinquish his property at a fair
and reasonable price to the state to allow for the improvement of society government.
Every individual has the right to own any thing he chooses. Robbery, theft or shoplifting is an infringement upon an individuals right to own property. If a person is accused of this or other crimes then the right of Justice will be exercised for both the accused and the victim.
"To know what is right and not do it is the worst cowardice."
--Confucius
Every person has the right of
justice to protect him from the state, but at the same time, give a just
compensation to the victim. The victim should be satisfied with the outcome of
a convicted criminal, if and only if the criminal is proven guilty beyond a
reasonable doubt.
When a person is accused and
arrested the police need to tell him this exactly.
"(NAME),
you are accused of (CHARGES). If you cannot find an attorney, one will be
appointed to you. Please put your hands on top of your head."
Most of the crimes that bog down the
legal system of at least the United States should be done away with in the
implementation of an Ilanistic system.
The use and production of drugs
should be legalized for only one reason. The crimes associated with drugs far
out weighs the cost to society by the abuse of drugs. Life is full of choices
and a poor choice to use drugs, but it is a choice that should be allowed. A
company can require a drug screen and either fire an employee or refuse to hire
a person because of the outcome of the drug test. Although drugs would be
legalized, there is no room for drugs or alcohol in the work place where
accidents can occur and people may be hurt or killed. This statement of
legalizing drugs only applies to natural drugs. Any synthetic drugs should
still be illegal. With the legalization of certain drugs, it brings that facet
into society. Once it is recognized, society can regulate it and tax it
If a person or group refuses to let
the government regulate them, the government should be allowed to arrest that
person or group. It is not allowed for a person or group to attempt to export
their product to a country that labels drugs as illegal. If arrested for this
crime, the accused will stand trial in this country. After the trial, the
country the person was trying to export the drug to will be given the chance to
prosecute the accused whether or not he was found guilty. It should also be
illegal to be within 16km of a border to a country where drugs are illegal.
Society will determine the amount of
compensation the convicted person will have to pay to the victim. The judges
will enforce the decisions and the company the person works for will withhold
20% of the gross pay until the victim has be compensated and an additional 10%
of the judgment will be withheld and be sent to the government.
The talk of society will speak by voting once a month to offer advice and consent to measures passed by the legislature and signed by the presidents. It takes a 50%-majority vote of all voting age citizens to override a measure passed by the government.
"An aim in life is the only fortune worth finding."--Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
This right is the most complicated
of all of the rights, but it is an essential right.
The government and/or society must
not restrict a person’s expression of happiness. As long as the expression does
not interfere with the rights of others.
I am not justifying the use of drugs
as stated in the previous section. What I am saying is a person has a right to
use a mind-altering drug if no one's rights are infringed. A company can forbid
the use of drugs by its employees, which is not an infringement of the rights
because the person can still choose to use drugs, but the consequence may be
the loss of a job. Life is full of choices and consequences; some poor choices
receive hard consequences. This is a very simple right, but a very complex
right because of the retraining of our minds to accept that action even if that
action breaks the norms of society and has been previously against the law.
It was stated that everyone should
have the right to use drugs and/or use alcohol while being in public or driving
a car. At no time was it stated you could not be arrested. You can be arrested
but not prosecuted. You can be detained for a maximum of 24 hours.
"If you are afraid of your future, you don't have a present."
--James Petersen
Every member of society has a right to education, not just the
privilege of education. Society cans only prosper and grow if the citizens are
well educated. This education does not necessarily have to be formal, but
education in the citizens desired field.
A citizen must complete primary and
secondary education, but may elect to drop out of school at the age of 16 with
the consent of his parents or guardian. If a citizen has elected to withdraw
from school, the citizen is automatically enlisted in the military until he
reaches the age of 18 and passes a general education test (GET). The council on
education will set the GET. More on the Council on Education in a later
article.
All emails should be directed to me at
[email protected] and mail sent to the Bolivian Times (attn. Chuck Newman) OR
you could go to http:www.geocities.com/ilanistic and read more on this subject
not printed here. For your convenience,
this contact information will be listed at the end of each article.
Charles
R. Newman is a graduate of the Fort Wayne, Indiana Campus of Purdue University,
USA. His degree is in mechanical engineering technology, but has taken many
additional courses in business and economics. He is the author of two articles
published for the Russian National Economic Conference, held in Vladimir
Russia, entitled “A Possible Solution to Loans in Post-Soviet Russia” (Feb.
1999) and “Ilanism, a New Form of Socioeconomic Thought” (Feb. 2000).