In the light of postmodern skepticism, grand-master social theories like those of Marx have fallen upon hard times. The liberating elements in the Communist Manifesto point to elusive truths that resonate at some level but fail to convince as a final answer. Pepe Escobar's insight at the head of this article perhaps signals the death-knell of grand social-theory solutions to the immense complexity of our apparently benighted human condition. The new "Manifesto for Human Liberation" is not a grand-master social theory, but primarily an owner's manual, a set of directions (on-line and in print) for operating spaceship Earth [12]. Its basic principle is simple enough: do the 99% just want to put their foot down and say "Enough!" We collectively have the sovereign authority to simply make it illegal for the 1% to create chaos. We could, if we had the will, simply put them in jail where they belong. This is the insight that struck me when I first came across the Earth Constitution in 1995.
Although the intellectual roots of democratic world law go back to the ancient Greek and Roman Stoics, the movement for world federal government became a wide social reality during World War One, spearheaded by leaders of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom such as Rosika Schwimmer [13]. Federalism does not abolish the nations, but simply creates a democratic constitution and hence enforceable law over all, making them all states within the Earth Federation.
Between the wars, world federalism flourished, and the movement became quite widespread after World War Two. People began to understand that a system of absolute, militarized territorial nation-states, with no enforceable laws above them, was inherently a disaster for humankind. After WMDs were invented and dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the idea of democratic world government became a powerful international movement.
The Cold War effectively derailed this movement, but a few visionaries persisted and founded the World Constitution and Parliament Association (WCPA) in 1958. Led by a group of dedicated world citizens, international legal minds, and thousands of supporters from many countries, they organized four international Constituent Assemblies between 1968 and 1991. At the fourth Constituent Assembly in Troia, Portugal, in 1991, the Constitution for the Federation of Earth was considered complete and ready for ratification by the people and nations of the Earth. Let me compare the Earth Constitution to the Communist Manifesto in 8 brief points .
(1) The Constitution recognizes the sovereignty of the people of Earth, superseding the self-contradictory idea that you can divide the planet into some 193 territorial entities and somehow the people within these arbitrary boundaries are "sovereign" over their little piece of land. If the people are to be sovereign, as all credible democratic theory holds, then it must be all the people.
(2) The Preamble to the Constitution presents a progressive view of history and a new paradigm to supersede the early modern paradigm that developed the fragmented systems of capitalism and sovereign nation-states. It does not presuppose some grand social theory, but simply that people are rational enough to see that unity, interrelationships, and democratic organization are better than fragmentation, endless war, and chaos. The new paradigm that it proclaims involves a holistic understanding "of the interdependence of people, nations, and all life," and the realization that security through military defense is a "total illusion" and that there is an "ever increasing disparity between rich and poor."
(3) The Preamble affirms our common humanity simultaneously with respect for diversity as a foundational framework: "the principle of unity in diversity is the basis for a new age when war shall be outlawed and peace prevail; when the earth's total resources shall be used for human welfare; and when basic human rights and responsibilities shall be shared by all without discrimination." The detailed structure for global democracy that it proceeds to set up is nothing short of brilliant in its construction of a system by which human beings can democratically operate their Spaceship Earth without fear of sinking into global totalitarianism. This should be studied and seriously discussed everywhere on the Earth.
(4) Without ever mentioning the word "socialism," the Earth Constitution describes the detailed workings of a democratic system that really does use the Earth's "total resources for human welfare." It provides not only for universal education, nourishing food, adequate housing, clean and sufficient water supplies for all, but it also sets up the global system to protect the planetary ecology and ensure sustainability. One key to this transformation within the Constitution is "global public banking," which is also one of the goals that are listed in the Communist Manifesto, along with "free education for all children" and "a heavy progressive income tax." A global monetary system and public banking are set up by the Constitution to ensure the common welfare of all the people on Earth.
(5) The planetary transformation to a decent world system based on equality, justice, freedom, peace, and sustainability is to be achieved nonviolently and democratically, through ratification procedures as described in Article 17. People, organizations, institutions, and nations can simply just sign the Constitution and proceed to get it ratified by the popular will.
(6) World law is enforced over every person on Earth by civilian World Police and a civilian office of Attorneys General. The Communist Manifesto, by contrast, is silent about enforcement after the revolution. However, historically no major society other than Costa Rica has given up its military, which, under the current world chaos, is deemed by most as impossible. Civilian police (accountable to obey the law) are worlds apart from military (blindly obeying orders to kill).
(7) In the first stage of ratification under Article 17 (easily reached), all WMDs are eliminated. In the second stage, the nations must begin to carefully and systematically demilitarize. In a civilized and mature world system, there is no need for militaries of any sort. As Mahatma Gandhi declared, military force is only necessary if there is injustice to protect or someone else's resources to steal. Eventually, all investment, design, transport, possession, or deployment of weapons of war will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. A peace system arises simply from the potential inherent in enforceable, democratically legislated laws.
(8) Human rights as specified in detail by Articles 12 and 13 are protected everywhere on Earth by a globalized office of the World Ombudsmen. The Communist Manifesto does not mention human rights, considering them a bourgeois invention. But, theories aside, we need an official list of "inalienable" rights carefully specified and protected. Here we have a vision and a program that the left can genuinely believe in.
Social scientists Terry Boswell and Christopher Chase-Dunn write: "Our fundamental starting point is one of global democracy... Global democracy assumes a democratic and collective rationality that promotes greater equality between as well as within countries... Undemocratic socialism is simply not socialism regardless of the good intentions of its creators... The lack of a 'utopian' goal against which to organize criticism and more importantly, to direct progress, has led erstwhile progressives and leftist intellectuals into the nihilism and endless relativism of postmodernism" [14]. This is precisely the key function of the Earth Constitution. It is not merely some vague, abstract set of unenforceable ideals like the "Earth Charter" or the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights, nor a grand theory of history like the Communist Manifesto. It is a concrete blueprint that can be studied and promoted as a real practical solution to our planetary nightmare.
It can serve the same function as did the Communist Manifesto, without the Manifesto's serious flaws of vagueness, theoretical overstatement, or threats of violence. It is already translated into many languages and known by people worldwide. It is ready to go as a vision for the left. It can serve both to organize criticism and to direct progress. We need to overcome our parochial attachment to the flawed war-system of sovereign states and recognize the universality of our social democratic values. Unless we have somewhere positive and inspiring to direct our gaze, we will not likely have anything to see. We need to adopt the Earth Constitution as our global manifesto. It provides a sorely needed vision for a truly human and liberating future. It also includes a detailed operating manual for spaceship Earth.
Endnotes
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