Socialism and Democratic World Law Will Promote the Self-Actualization of Everyone
Professor Glen T. Martin is the President of the World Constitution and Parliament Association, which is the organization that drafted the Earth Constitution, which is an excellent model for implementing democratic world law that must be enforced. In an article entitled "Human Rights and Our Global Social Contract," Glen T. Martin stated, "The mid-20th century produced globally-recognized declarations of human rights that included both political and economic-social rights, epitomized, for example, by the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights." Later in the article, he states, "If the 18th century political rights can be termed 'first generation rights,' and 19th century economic and social rights can be termed 'second generation rights,' then the 20th century can be said to be the birthplace of our 'third generation' rights to peace and to a healthy planetary environment."
In an article entitled "World Order and the Rule of Law: From Disorder, No Order Can Emerge," Glen T. Martin states, "The system of so-called sovereign nations (interfaced with their multinational corporations) is really a fragmented system of disorder." On page 4 he states, "Because there is no democratically legislated enforceable law for our planet itself (divided as it is into some 193 sovereign entities recognizing no effective law above themselves and little individual accountability for agreements and treaties) there is also no moral dimension of reasoned order that obtains at the global level, only chaos, fragmentation, and naked power relationships." He also states, "Abstract ideals, like those embodied in the UN Declaration of Human Rights, cannot create a decent world order. These moral principles must be embodied concretely within enforceable world law."
Moreover, Professor Martin in an article entitled "Global Democracy Manifesto: A Critical Appraisal" states, "The well-known 'Global Democracy Manifesto' is vague and idealistic, like the empty Millenium Development Goals of the UN and like the pious and entirely ineffectual Earth Charter. Like the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights--they are all empty idealistic statements that allow for broad affirmation among the destroyers of our planet since they require no concrete actions or fundamental changes in their behavior. If true spirituality means universal love for humanity, the Earth, and the Divine Ground of Being, then spirituality needs to be institutionalized under an Earth Constitutionthat embodies that love. It is not only the spirituality of love, but also the moral values of peace, freedom, justice, and environmental sustainability that must be institutionalized."
Recently I examined a college textbook that a family member will be required to read for a course entitled "Principles of Economics," which deals with microeconomics and macroeconomics. Looking at the index and glossary, I was surprised that there was no mention of terms like "capitalism," "socialism," "Marxism," and the "Labor Theory of Value." Nor did I find anything about "Voluntary Simplicity," which is what our nation needs in consideration of the rest of the world where half of the world's population lives on less than $5.50 a day. Instead, I found in the book a section entitled "Why Does Economic Growth Matter?" If it would require 4 Earths for everyone in the world to have the lifestyle of the average American, we should definitely examine the way we live and see the immorality of having such a huge gap between the rich and the poor. Instead of valuing materialism and conspicuous consumption, it would be better to value psychological self-awareness, an intellectual understanding of history, the expression of loving-kindness, and mindfulness meditation.
I am reminded of Professor Richard D. Wolff, who some consider the world's most popular Marxist economist, who is also an advocate of workplace democracy. Professor Wolff said in one of his many video lectures on the internet that during the time he attended Ivy League schools to obtain a PH. D. in Economics, he was never required to read any of the original works of Karl Marx. He became a Marxist when he decided to study Marx on his own. Introductory college courses in Economics should inform students, at least in some small way, that there are other economic philosophies and systems that should also be examined. Moreover, we need to study economics not just on the basis of our individual preferences and needs and in terms of the federal budget, but also in terms of the needs of other citizens of the world, and we need to be concerned about the ecological sustainability of the planet.
Currently I am reading the 91-page booklet entitled A Global Security System: An Alternative to War (2017 Edition), which is produced by WorldBeyondWar.org: A Global Movement to End All Wars. At the back of the booklet it provides "A Sampling of other Peace Organizations on the World Wide Web," and in that list of benevolent organizations working for world peace, I am pleased that the World Constitution and Parliament Association is mentioned. On page 28 of the booklet, I found this sentence, "Note that World Beyond War is not proposing a sovereign world government, but rather a web of governing structures voluntarily entered into, and a shift in cultural norms away from violence and domination." This statement seems too weak. A democratic world government with enforced universal laws is the only thing that will make it all work. Moreover, on page 10 the booklet states, "This is a work-in-progress which we invite others to improve." My recommendation and hope is that all the individuals and organizations working for world peace will come to an agreement that the Earth Constitution is our best model for making a better world.
When we start becoming genuinely concerned for the self-actualization of every citizen of the earth, we will create a culture of peace and happiness throughout the world, and the world will no longer need to spend $1.8 trillion dollars a year on the military. Someone said, "Justice is what love looks like in the public sphere." One thing that would help the 21st century become an enlightened age is that our major world religions would focus on more than just individualized spiritual growth. Our major world religions must also encourage the institutionalization of love and spirituality by actively supporting enforceable democratic world law.
Professor Glen T. Martin was the moderator of a debate at Radford University where he teaches on the subject of Is War Ever Justifiable? In that debate, David Swanson, a cofounder of World Beyond War, took the position that war is not justifiable. I am also reminded of an article by Caitlin Johnstone: "Rugged Individualism Cannot Save Us. Only Enlightened Collectivism Can." Furthermore, in another article by Caitlin Johnstone entitled "How to Wake Up," she encourages mindfulness meditation and other spiritual disciplines. Capitalism and many self-help books and groups have focused on individualism, but we also need to focus on collectivism and having a compassionate worldview.
The Earth Constitution was written by hundreds of world citizens and international legal scholars between 1968 and 1991. As stated on its homepage, "The present leadership of the Earth Federation Movement and the World Constitution and Parliament Association will have no control over the kind of laws made by the World Parliament [once it is implemented]. People from every nation and locality around the globe will be members of the World Parliament. It was written to end war, to protect human rights and freedoms, to protect the global environment, to eliminate global poverty, and to give all people of the Earth a decent future."
In the 21st century, we should be very concerned that the wealthiest one percent is also working to create a New World Order that gives them more top-down, undemocratic control over the 99 percent. But if enough people can wake up to get the Earth Constitution universally adopted, the powers of the one percent and the imperialistic inclinations of any nation aspiring to become an empire will be prevented and permanently blocked when a democratic world federal government is established.
Imagine what the world would be like if the nations of the world were not spending 1.8 trillion dollars a year on weapons and war. Nations could still run their own internal affairs, but they would no longer be allowed to exploit and invade other nations for self-aggrandizement to the detriment of other peoples and countries.
From the two world wars of the 20th century, the United States was not almost totally destroyed as many nations of Europe were, and this enabled the United States to emerge as the world's most powerful nation. Furthermore, many individuals in the United States became wealthy through the institution of slavery, which according to this National Geographic article lasted for 246 years in what became the United States, from 1619 until it officially ended in 1865 with the ratification of the 13th Amendment in 1865.
Our Constitution was implemented in 1789, and we had slavery for 78 years after that. We have had our current constitution for 230 years. Some would say we just need to enforce the constitution we already have, but if we create a new national constitution, we could make it so much better than our current one: We could adopt proportional representation in the election of a unicameral federal legislature, after equally empowering at least the 7 largest national political parties. In fact all national political parties that garner at least 1 percent of the vote could be represented through proportional representation at the Constitutional Convention; this is more democratic than having current federal or state legislators create the new constitution. Moreover, we could make it much easier to pass any amendments to the constitution. Also, the next constitution should have a democratic procedure for it to be legally abolished when that becomes the will of the people.
The United States has used its enormous military and CIA interventions to try to sabotage and destroy any socialist-oriented nation that is considered a threat to US transnational capitalist corporations. It has used our tax dollars to accomplish this--using very immoral, undemocratic, costly, and inhumane tactics. But this behavior, our behavior, has had a pernicious effect on the world. Moreover, as many of our corporations move their facilities to poorer nations, is it fair that one worker gets paid $3 an hour when another worker was getting $30 an hour for doing the same work? To the degree there is a gap between the rich and the poor within nations and among nations, there will be social, economic, political, and personal problems. Egalitarianism, even radical egalitarianism, is needed. Moreover, citizens of the wealthiest nations of the world need to start practicing voluntary simplicity for the sustainability of the Earth, for the betterment of humanity, and for the betterment of themselves.
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