Human Rights and the Ecological Imperative

Jim Swann practiced architecture in Chicago at Swann and Weiskopf for 30 years before moving to Bellingham in 1992. He recently completed a book on human rights and the environment and offers educational projects on his Web site (hppt://www.jeneticjiwsaw.com).

Part Three

(Editor’s Note: This is the final part in the series that previously appeared in the July 2004 issue, page 4 and the August 2004 issue, page 8.)

This responsibility, protecting and expanding human rights, is undoubtedly the most difficult one confronting us today. It can, however, be simply stated in the following terms:

All individuals have a shared right and responsibility to protect, improve and extend the administration of their exclusive, mutual and use rights at all organizational levels both natural and manmade, and by whatever means they may deem necessary so long as those means do not exacerbate or nullify the very rights which they are being called upon to protect.

To date, representative democracy appears to be our best option. It qualifies for the term ‘shared’ and it is correctable, moving historically from exclusions to inclusions. What I believe democracy must do for tomorrow is as follows. It is but a brief digest and it is focused on the U.S.

While there are many pressing changes, which we, today’s citizens, should begin to address, I want to focus now on those I feel most critical. If these can be successfully addressed others will be much easier.

My list is only in outline form and open for discussion as is, of course my entire thesis.

1. Create a clear separation between government and all special interests—religious, commercial, racial, ethnic, gender, et al.,

2. Assure equal representation to every citizen through the election process by

a. assuring an equal vote for all citizens by,

b. sponsoring federal election campaigns by providing adequate time for all candidates on the spectrum and in the private print media, claiming the competitive value of media used resources and a “takings” for the public good,

c. eliminate all campaign and party financing except by individual citizens, and limit the amounts allowed by each,

d. eliminate all campaign media ads as disservices,

e. eliminate the “electoral college” which frustrates the equal vote,

f. provide equal access to registration for candidates in all states.

These restrictions on special interests do not preclude them from lobbying their interests with candidates or elected officials, they only deny the use of money or favors in the process.

1. Congress shall pass no new laws which restrict or nullify existing individual rights, e.g., trial by jury, privacy, right of council, etc.

1. Provide those services, which protect and help sustain families, the young as well as the old: health, education and welfare services, as well as social security,

a. protect and insure all citizens against natural disasters,

b. provide research to help anticipate resource shortages, population growth, migration patterns, environmental health, et al., all this in order to anticipate future needs,

c. clarify the use of human genes, stem cells and genetically modified organisms prior to commercial use.

These services of government are responsibilities, which are or should be assumed through democratic process. They depend on citizens’ ability for funding. They are demands for equal access to cultural and physical resources, which private enterprise cannot fulfill.

1. Provide those regulatory services, which will qualify use services by both the private sector and government itself, i.e., those services which will not infringe on individual, mutual, or use rights nor adversely affect the biosphere, (a) expand the concept of “checks and balances” to include, beyond the present federal court system, those agencies and administrations which deal technically with food, drugs and the environment; FDA, HEW, EPA, DOE; those which deal with communications, FCC; and financial markets, SEC. All, including the federal courts, would be composed of individuals chosen democratically by their professional peers to act independent of the congressional and executive branches of government: each group would function free from outside controls, nor would they be subordinate to the Supreme Court.

2. Eliminate corporate charter laws and subsequent amplifications of same which have rendered corporations “more equal” than other commercial businesses,

a. provide that businesses, which are traded publicly, require their net worth remain with those responsible for daily operations. Absentee investors will always be in a minority position but will not share legal liability or criminal charges against said businesses,

b. stipulate that investments must remain in all corporations for stipulated periods of time,

c. eliminate all speculative investments, e.g. hedge funding, derivatives and arbitrage,

d. limit both the size and scope of all business licenses to avoid monopolies and managed competition,

e. levy and collect competitive use fees on the competitive value of those natural resources which businesses convert, providing and receiving human services,

f. all citizens, acting as stewards of their common heritage, shall administer these monies through those agencies under item (1a) to protect and restore damaged ecosystems where former responsibility or regulations have failed,

g. the same holds true where government itself has damaged ecosystems and public health.

Competitive use fees represent the differentials between supply and demand, abundance or shortage of a resource. They are not due the service provider or speculator.

3. Provide that those service providers of printed media, the spectrum or the electronic media be subject to community controls and may be censored or eliminated if their services are deemed disservices or only self services. These industries are not individuals with free speech rights. They are licensed entities under public control.

The various media today use vast amounts of energy. They are licensed to provide information. What we must demand of them is truth. Their speech is very expensive. It is not free.

4. Nonprofit organizations should include only those servicing health, education and welfare. Many disguised as such have an obvious political agenda and should be disqualified.

5. Encourage co-operatives and worker-owned businesses.

These organizations expand the democratic process by sharing responsibilities.

In the last century there were no serious constraints on those services that brought us a mechanical, chemical and nuclear revolution. The results were mixed as we have belatedly discovered. Today we are at the inception of a genetic, cybernetic and biological revolution still with few constraints. It is this failing that we can meet with an expanded, independent regulatory system, and future research.

1. Provide additional government services, both centralized and decentralized,

a. provide those services which by their nature are, or should be, public responsibilities—the basic infrastructure of cities, regions and nations, including those utilities and natural resources that are vital for all citizens; also, when necessary, subsidize those of its citizens who cannot afford these critical services.

2. Create, through the U.S. Treasury, debt-free monies for its own services, redeeming same through taxation and fees for services,

a. each year congress must levy taxes commensurate with budgets they pass.

3. Encourage the creation of local debt-free currencies to foster regional autonomy.

4. Create, through the U.S. Treasury and administered by the Federal Reserve, monies for lending institutions at low interest rates to be redeemed as bank loans are repaid,

a. banks will no longer create their own monies,

b. they are due a competitive fee for their services, and

c. will be required an insurance reserve against defaults.

5. To avoid monopolies, eliminate or minimally constrict branch banking.

6. If this system is functioning correctly, inflation will occur when resources are scarce, environmental damage is in need of repair and demands on food are excessive.

The creation of debt-burdened monies creates several disservices: it is transfer of wealth from poor to rich, it devalues real services and applies pressure on the environment, and it fosters unsustainable growth.

Today we (the U.S.) must actively and cooperatively join the international community. The problems we all face are monumental and borderless. They cannot be resolved through isolationism nor economic or religious fundamentalism, nor through local tribal, ethnic, religious or resource wars.

1. National governments must demand an end to current international trade agreements; GATT, MAI, NAFTA and WTO’s self serving laws by and for transnational corporations and their international investment bankers—World Bank, IMF, et al. They must attempt to democratically construct agreements that are cognizant of the unique nature of each country, its culture, its people, its resources and its state of development. They must eliminate predatory capital extractive investments, environmental degradation and labor exploitation. They must, in a word, stop “economic colonialism.”

2. Together we must stop the proliferation of weapons by governments and private enterprise; we are all complicit.

3. We must collectively work to stop global warming and both population and economic growth. Together we must search for and develop alternative non-polluting energy sources, and help the U.N. with its multiple humanitarian missions.

4. Finally, together with the U.N. we need to help create anticipatory democracies, ones able to act in consort with the U.N. before disasters strike.

In this three-part essay I have argued for an expanded view of peoples’ rights and their complementary responsibilities. I have noted that these rights and responsibilities must include the concept of a sustainable habitat, and that to achieve this we must think and act both locally and globally. We must also disenthrall ourselves from our present dysfunctional dogmas so that we might save ourselves. §

Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must undergo the fatigue of supporting it.
—Thomas Paine

To read Jim Swann’s entire book on this topic, please visit http://www.geneticjigsaw.com. The social justice committee of the Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship will hold a town forum on this subject later in the year. The place and time will be announced later in Whatcom Watch and local news media. Or you can visit http://www.buf.org for more information.