PROUT

PROUT
For a More Progressively Evolving Society

Sunday, February 28, 2016

Evolution of World Government - Bicameral Congress

As nations reach toward each other to exercise their responsibilities in unity, inevitably the capacities of arriving at such unity and universal standards will result in world governance.  Arriving at such stasis is necessarily a slow process for such a grand scale, while doing so in an ethical and progressive manner is essential and necessary.  


by Prabhat Sarkar, Founder of PROUT

Two houses

Universalism does not depend upon any relative factor, hence it is free from the vices of ism.  Ism thrives on the angle of group interest.  Among many other factors, ism is a major factor in war.  War is not an ideological clash.  Those who are eager to establish peace should shake off nationalism and other allied isms.
If we are to shake off these isms, we have to organize a universal body and go on strengthening its power.  This will be the first phase in establishing a world government.  In the initial stage it will be a law-framing body.  The first beneficial effect of such a body will be that no country will be allowed to frame laws detrimental to the interests of its minorities.  The right to execute those laws will be vested with the local government and not with the world government.  The world government will decide the principles on the basis of which a particular law will be enforced in a particular country.
There will be two houses:  a lower house and an upper house.  In the lower house, representatives will be established according to the population of the country.  In the upper house, representatives will be country-wise.  First bills will be placed before the lower house, and before their final acceptance they will be duly discussed in the upper house.  Small countries which cannot send a single representative to the lower house will have the opportunity to discuss the merits and demerits of proposed acts with other countries in the upper house.
From Discourses on PROUT – 2

The Evolution of World Government

To run the world government, two houses may be maintained for an indefinite period.  The lower house will be composed of representatives from various parts [countries] of the world, elected on the basis of population.  The members of the upper house will be elected country-wise.  This will provide opportunities to those countries which cannot send even a single representative to the lower house due to their small population, because they will be able to express their opinions before the people of the world by sending their representatives to the upper house.  The upper house will not adopt any bill unless it has been passed by the lower house, but the upper house will reserve the right to reject the decisions of the lower house.
Initially the world government should go on working merely as a law-framing body.  The world government should also have the right to make decisions regarding the application or non-application of any law, for a limited period, in any particular region.
In the first phase of the establishment of the world government, the governments of different countries will have only administrative power.  As they will not have the authority to frame laws, it will be somewhat difficult for them to arbitrarily inflict atrocities on their linguistic, religious or political minorities.
From Problems of the Day

Copyright 2011

Political Democracy can and will be fortuitous
when Economic Democracy is established.  


Explore this and other articles covering alternative economics, ethical leadership, economic democracy, and a society without the weal and woe of social and economic vicissitudes HERE  
How does PROUT compare or contrast with capitalism or communism?  Explore the answers HERE

What are essential ingredients assuring progressive sustainability bereft of the vicissitudes of economic or political predation, privation or disparity?  Learn more HERE  



.  

Benefits of Global Government

Humanity's productivity and ability to reach far and wide to embrace people from other cultures and distant places demonstrates an escalating inclusiveness of humanity as one family, and with all its diversity establishing universal norms and practices accommodating such diversity while augmenting assurances of just and fair intercourse around the world.  Such efforts, at best, are what have unified geographic tribes into nations, nations into federations, and federations into a unified planet.  We are at the threshold of unifying the planet, as the vicious parasitics of one nation over another are addressed with more ethical more's and practices.  


by Prabhat Sarkar, Founder of PROUT

Many people say that different national interests are the only hurdle in the formation of a world government.  In my opinion this is not the only obstruction; rather, this is just a minor difficulty.  The real cause lies in the fear of local leaders losing their leadership.  With the establishment of a world government the powerful influence, which they enjoy today in different countries, societies and in national life, will no longer exist.
Different national interests and popular skepticism may hinder the formation of a world government.  The progress of this work must be carried on step by step to remove the baseless fears in people's minds.  Besides, due consideration will have to be given to removing any possible obstacles to the formation of a world government.  The world government has to be strengthened step by step and not suddenly.
For example, two houses may be formed for an unspecified period for administration.  The lower house will comprise representatives from parts of the world elected on the basis of population, while members of the upper house will be elected country wise.  By this arrangement those countries which cannot send a single representative to the lower house due to their small population, will benefit by expressing their opinions before the people of the world by sending their representatives to the upper house.  The upper house cannot adopt any resolution unless the lower house has ratified it, but it will enjoy the privilege of disallowing the decisions of the lower house.
In the first stage this world government may act only as a law framing body.  The world government will be vested with framing the rights of implementation or non-implementation of any particular law in any particular region.  In the beginning when the world government is being established, the government of different countries will have only administrative power.  As they will not have any power to enact any laws arbitrarily; it will not be easy for any government to inflict atrocities on its linguistic, religious, or political minorities according to the whims of the governing majority.  
Political Democracy can and will be fortuitous
when Economic Democracy is established.  


Explore this and other articles covering alternative economics, ethical leadership, economic democracy, and a society without the weal and woe of social and economic vicissitudes HERE  
How does PROUT compare or contrast with capitalism or communism?  Explore the answers HERE
What are essential ingredients assuring progressive sustainability bereft of the vicissitudes of economic or political predation, privation or disparity?  Learn more HERE  


.  


Saturday, February 27, 2016

Requirements of an Ideal Constitution

Constitutions are the intersection of conjugating noble ideals with pragmatic adjustments in societal intercourse providing steadily purpose, continuity, and actional propriety for executing such principles and designs, and remediating conceptual and practical conflicts in a progressive manner, made better with amendability to accommodate for changes over time.  The need for a Constitution at the helm of governments is substantial and quite obviously so.  

New thresholds of excellence in constitutional development include the well thought out and articulated United States Constitution, albeit with retention of absurd and unconscionable concepts as slavery, which, by compromise, were put off to later for remediation over time to arrive at an otherwise viable constitution more immediately.  The Preamble and other elements of the U S Constitution are reflected clearly in the United Nations' Constitution and other Constitutions around the world.  

As time, place, and persons progress over time, so should Constitutional elements come forth as inalienable true and essentially included within Constitutions.  Prabhat Sarkar, founder of PROUT, covers some of such factors that for modern society to progress in an escalatingly more ethical manner must include within governmental Constitutions.  


by Prabhat Sarkar, Founder of PROUT
With the changes of the social cycle, the human society has developed several social institutions to carry out its duties and responsibilities.  The state is one such vital institution which organizes a group of people in a certain area of land, rules them, promotes their welfare and oversees their good.  This institution is powerful because it also enjoys sovereign power.  
Accumulation of power is dangerous if it is not guided by some rules and basic principles.  The guide book in which all such rules, regulations and principles for the proper conduct of a state are codified is called a constitution.  A constitution guides a state with policies and principles to render all-round services to the people for their rapid progress.  
The first written constitution was framed by the Licchavi Dynasty of Vaeshali (in northern Bihar) in ancient India over 2500 years ago.  Prior to that, the words of the king were law and kings ruled according to the advice of their ministers.  The first republican democracy was established by the Licchaviis.  The Licchavi Republic comprised some portion of Muzzaffarpur, portions of Begusharai, Samastipur and Hajipur between the Gandaka and Kamala rivers, all in the present state of Bihar.  It was the first democratic state and they had their own written constitution.  

Differences Among Some Constitutions

There is no British constitution – it is only a collection of traditions and conventions and not a written document.  The theoretical head is the crown queen or king.  All power is vested with the crown but practically it is exercised by the prime minister in a parliamentary form of government.  The French system is a presidential form of government where the president appoints the prime minister and all other ministers.  The USA also has a presidential form of government.  In France and the US there is a written constitution.  In the US the president exercises power or rules the country through secretaries appointed by the president who is directly elected by the electorate.  There are no ministers, only secretaries in the US system whereas there are ministers in the French system.  When there is no ministry in Britain a lame-duck ministry is formed by the crown and the crown can head that ministry until a new parliament is elected.  In India the president has no power and is only a signatory authority or rubber stamp.  The Indian president cannot even head a caretaker government.  The Indian prime minister can remove the president but the president cannot remove the prime minister.  Although the prime minister is powerful according to the constitution, he or she is not directly elected by the electorate, that is, by the people.  The prime minister is elected only as a member of parliament and then is made prime minister by the party.  
The US presidential form of government is a better form of government, but there is a shortcoming in the US constitution and that is that individual rights are given maximum scope: this leads to an unrestrained capitalist order.  Now India is also going to suffer the same disease and this is leading to regionalism.  Too much individual freedom should be curtailed in an ideal form of government.  PROUT will introduce social controls so that collective interests will be supreme.  In the US constitution purchasing power is not guaranteed to the people.  The best form of government is the presidential form where the president is elected directly by the electorate and there is less individual liberty.  

Common Constitutional Defects

Everyone has the right to physical, mental and spiritual development.  But all constitutions have been written in such a way that they do not ensure the all-round welfare of all citizens.  A constitution should be fair and just.  The least bias on the part of the framers towards any particular ethnic, linguistic or religious group may undermine the unity and solidarity of the concerning country and thus disturb the peace and prosperity of the society as a whole.  
Judged from this perspective some of the defects of the Indian constitution are easily discernible.  India should have a new constitution to establish unity in diversity in a multilingual, multi-social and multi-national country.  
While drafting the constitution of a country the framers should keep in mind the population structure of the concerning country.  The population of India is a blended population of the Austric, Mongolian, Negroid and Aryan races.  But the Indian constitution, due to inherent defects, has not helped establish social amity, cultural legacy, equality and unity among these races.  As a result fissiparous tendencies have developed in the country.  
There are several fiscal and psychological loopholes in the Indian constitution.  The fiscal loopholes include the following.  First, there is no check on unbarred capitalist exploitation.  This is because the leaders of the independence struggle did not give any economic sentiment to the people.  The only sentiment was an anti-British sentiment.  Thus the independence struggle was only a political movement and not an economic movement.  After 1947 instead of white exploitation, brown exploitation emerged.  1947 brought only capitalist political liberty but not economic freedom.  As a result, unbarred economic exploitation continues today.  
Secondly, the constitution gives no guarantee for increasing the purchasing capacity of every individual.  Thirdly, the president has no constitutional power to check financial or fiscal matters.  The Indian economy is controlled by a few business houses through some chambers of commerce.  The president has no constitutional power to check either the price level or the degree of exploitation.  Neither the president nor the prime minister can check these.  Fourthly, there is no provision for inter-block planning for socio-economic development.  Fifthly, there is no clear concept of balanced economy.  
The psychological loopholes in the Indian constitution include the following.  The first is the imposition of a regional language as the national language.  English imperialism has been followed by Hindi imperialism.  Hindi is only one of many regional languages.  The selection of one such regional language as the official language adversely affects the psychology of people who speak other languages.  As the consequence of such a defective language policy in the constitution, the non-Hindi-speaking people face unequal competition at the national level and they are forced to use a language, either Hindi or English, which is not their natural language.  Hence they are relegated to “B class” citizens.  No regional languages should be selected as an official language in a multi-national, multi-lingual and multi-cultural country like India.  Such a selection would affect the minds of other non-Hindi-speaking people.  Hindi is just a regional language like Tamil, Telegu and Tulu.  It is a good language but it should not be forcibly imposed on others.  
India is a secular country but Pakistan is a Muslim state and Nepal is a Hindu state.  They may or may not impose a language on their people, but in India this imposition should not take place.  The spirit of secularism provides equal scope and equal avenues for all for the maximum psycho-social-economical development of every individual.  
When the Indian parliament debated the issue of official languages, the constituent assembly was equally divided into two.  The then chairman of the Constituent Assembly at that controversial stage cast his all-important vote in favour of Hindi.  Thus Hindi becomes the official language of India by a single vote.  
Sanskrit may be the national language of India.  It is the grandmother of almost all the modern languages of India and has a great influence on the languages of India.  It may take five, ten, fifty or hundred years to spread this language to all people.  Roman script should be used since Sanskrit has no script of its own.  All groups of people including linguists of India should join together and decide this controversial matter.
The second psychological loophole is that there are several disparities in the law.  The constitution of India proclaims that all are equal in the eye of the law.  But in practice, this principle is not followed, and as a result disparity is growing in the arena of law and justice.  Such disparity is adversely affecting the different groups of people in the country.  For example, there are disparities between the Hindu Code and the Muslim Code.  Hindu women and Muslim women, although they are all Indian citizens, do not get equal advantages of law.  For instance, according to Hindu law, a man cannot have more than one wife, but a Muslim man is entitle to have more than one wife.  A Hindu husband or a Hindu wife is required to approach the court to secure a divorce, while a Muslim man is entitled to divorce his wife without the permission or approval of the court.  Moreover, a Muslim husband can divorce his wife but a Muslim wife cannot divorce her husband.  Besides, a Muslim husband is not required to show any reason for the divorce.  
Disparity in the eye of the law is creating all these problems.  The root of all these evils lies in the psychological loopholes of the Indian constitution.  Why is the constitution allowing the Hindu Code and Muslim Code to stand side by side?  Let there be only one code – the Indian Code.  This Indian Code should be based on cardinal human values, with a universal approach and [neoumanistic] spirit.  Then only equality before the law can be established in practice, and equal protection of the law for all can be guaranteed.  So the constitution should remove the psychological loopholes by eradicating existing disparities in the eye of the law.  
The third psychological loophole is that there is no law against the indiscriminate destruction of flora and fauna due to the absence of neohumanistic sentiment.  In the [Cosmic Family of the Supreme Consciousness], humans, animals, plants, and inanimate objects exist together and maintain a harmonious balance.  However, human beings, because of their superior intellect, are indiscriminately destroying plants and animals for their own narrow, selfish ends.  In the constitution, there is no provision for the safeguard of the plants and animals.  In a constitution, there should be safeguards for the lives of plants and animals.  The absence of such provisions in the constitution creates psychological loopholes which should be corrected without delay.  
Fourthly, the relation between the centre and the states in a confederation should be clearly defined in the constitution.  Otherwise, there will be centre-state conflict and the whole country will be psychologically affected.  Among all other aspects of this relation two important aspects should be clearly defined; the right of self-determination, and the right of secession of a particular component of the confederation.  In the constitution of India these are not clearly stated.  As a result, the relation between the centre and the states is always strained and pressured.  
Fifthly, in the constitution of India, no clear definitions of scheduled tribes and scheduled castes are given.  Rather, these lists have been wrongly prepared on the basis of racial considerations.  Instead of this unscientific approach, Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Caste lists should be based on economic backwardness and educational backwardness.  

Constitutional Reforms

To overcome these fiscal and psychological loopholes, all constitutions in the world today need to be reformed.  The following reforms should be implemented.
(1) Dissolution of the ministry or parliament.  The president may discharge the ministry or dissolve the parliament under certain circumstances: in case of inimical action within the country; in case of disorder or the breakdown of law and order; in case of external inimical activity; and when a democratic ministry is rendered a minority in the parliament.  When a democratic ministry is discharged because it is a minority in the house, the president has to explain the reasons for his or her actions before the parliament within one month from the day of taking such action against the ministry.  If the parliament is already dissolved then the president will have to arrange a general election within six months and explain the position before the newly elected parliament within one month of the election.  
(2) Period of emergency.  The president may continue the period of emergency with the approval of parliament for a period of six months, and with such a parliament the president may continue a period of emergency for not more that two years.  
(3) Advice of a lame duck ministry.  The president may or may not act on the advice of a lame duck ministry.  If the advice of a lame duck ministry is not honoured by the president then the parliament will be dissolved.  A new parliament will have to be formed through a general election, and the president will have to explain his or her position before the new parliament within one month of its formation.  
(4) The moral standard and character of the president and prime minister.  The president or prime minister must be of high moral character.  The president or prime minister must not divorce his or her spouse, marry a divorcee or have more than one spouse.  
(5) The power of the president to issue any statement.  The president must not issue any statement under normal conditions without consulting the parliament or the prime minister.  In normal conditions when there is a ministry, the president will have to act according to the advice of the ministry.  In case the ministry is dissolved the president will have to act according to the advice of parliament.  
(6) Parliament in the role of constituent assembly.  The parliament will play the role of constituent assembly only with a majority of 7/8 of the members, because changing the constitution at regular intervals reduces the status of the constitution.  
(7) Language.  All living languages of a country must have equal status before the state or the government.  
(8) Equal rights.  All citizens must have equal rights before the law.  Physical requirements are to be equally considered for all citizens so that all citizens will have equilibrium and equipoise in collective life.  
(9) Review board.  To review economic progress and development of different parts of the country, a high-level review board should be constituted by the president.  If there is any difference between the ministry and the board, the president must act according to the advice of parliament.  And if there is any difference between the parliament and the board, the president should seek advice from the supreme court of the country and act according to their official advice, according to the provisions of the constitution.  
(10) A case against the prime minister or president.  A case may be filed in the supreme court against any person in the country including the prime minister and president, because every citizen in the country is equal before the constitution.  
(11) The right of self-determination and plebiscite.  The right of self-determination for a part of the country may be recognized only on the basis of a plebiscite held in that area with the permission of the parliament functioning as a constituent assembly.  If the plebiscite is to be held, it should be held under the strict control and supervision of the central government by the chief election commissioner of the country.  
(12) Education.  Primary education for all must be guaranteed and education should be free from all political interference.  
(13) The law and the constitution should be the same.  The law and the constitution should be the same for the entire country, as each and every individual is equal before the law and before the constitution.  According to the constitution, each and every part of the country will enjoy the same power.  For example, special rights or facilities for Kashmir should not be allowed.  Today a Kashmiri can go to Bengal and purchase land, a house, etc. but a Bengali in Kashmir cannot enjoy that facility.  This kind of discrimination must end.  

Charter of Rights

The formation of a World Government will require a world constitution.  A charter of principles or bill of rights should be included in such a constitution and encompass at least the following four areas.  First, complete security should be guaranteed to all the plants and animals on the planet.  Secondly, each country must guarantee purchasing power to all its citizens.  Thirdly, the constitution should guarantee four fundamental rights – spiritual practice or dharma; cultural legacy; education; and indigenous linguistic expression.  Fourthly, if the practice of any of these rights conflicts with [cardinal human values] then that practice should be immediately curtailed.  That is, cardinal human values must take precedence over all other rights.  All the constitutions of the world suffer from numerous defects.  The above points may be adopted by the framers of different constitutions to overcome these defects.  

Political Democracy can and will be fortuitous
when Economic Democracy is established.  


Explore this and other articles covering alternative economics, ethical leadership, economic democracy, and a society without the weal and woe of social and economic vicissitudes HERE  
How does PROUT compare or contrast with capitalism or communism?  Explore the answers HERE

What are essential ingredients assuring progressive sustainability bereft of the vicissitudes of economic or political predation, privation or disparity?  Learn more HERE  

Thursday, February 18, 2016

An Epidemic of Disinformation: Monsanto-Linked Larvicide True Cause of Microcephaly, Not Zika Virus

World health authorities are using Zika virus mosquitoes as a cover story to conceal the damage caused by toxic chemicals manufactured by powerful multinational corporations. Zika virus has never been known to cause brain deformations in children:
Malformations detected in thousands of children from pregnant women living in areas where the Brazilian state added pyriproxyfen to drinking water is not a coincidence, even though the Ministry of Health places a direct blame on Zika virus for this damage, while trying to ignore its responsibility and ruling out the hypothesis of direct and cumulative chemical damage caused by years of endocrine and immunological disruption of the affected population.
February 3, 2016, Production Team REDUAS, Coordinator Dr. Medardo Avila Vazquez. 

Guest article
Latin American Doctors Suggest Monsanto-Linked Larvicide Cause of Microcephaly, Not Zika Virus
February 2016

As the Zika epidemic “spreads explosively” around the world, pregnant travelers have been put on pause due to the virus’s suspected association with microcephaly, the congenital condition in which a baby’s head is abnormally small.  
While the link between the mosquito-borne virus and microcephaly has yet to be scientifically proven, Argentinian and Brazilian doctors have suggested an alternate culprit: pesticides.  
The report, written by the Argentine group Physicians in the Crop-Sprayed Towns (PCST), suspects that pyriproxyfen—a larvicide added to drinking water to stop the development of mosquito larvae in drinking water tanks—has caused the birth defects.  
The authors said that the pesticide, known by its commercial name SumiLarv, is manufactured by Sumitomo Chemical, a Japanese subsidiary of Monsanto.  
According to PCST, in 2014, the Brazilian Ministry of Health introduced pyriproxyfen to drinking-water reservoirs in the state of Pernambuco, where the proliferation of the Zika-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquito is very high.  
“Malformations detected in thousands of children from pregnant women living in areas where the Brazilian state added pyriproxyfen to drinking water is not a coincidence, even though the Ministry of Health places a direct blame on Zika virus for this damage, while trying to ignore its responsibility and ruling out the hypothesis of direct and cumulative chemical damage caused by years of endocrine and immunological disruption of the a acted population,” PCST said.  
As it happens, the northeast state has registered the largest number of cases of microcephaly.  Pernambuco, the first state to detect the problem, has roughly 35 percent of the total microcephaly cases across Brazil.  
Previous Zika epidemics did not cause birth defects in newborns, despite infecting 75 percent of the population in those countries,” the paper said.  “Also, in other countries such as Colombia there are no records of microcephaly; however, there are plenty of Zika cases.”  
Indeed, as The Ecologist observed from PCST’s report, Colombia has so far diagnosed 3,177 pregnant women with the Zika virus, but these women gave birth to healthy babies or are carrying healthy fetuses.  
Sumitomo Chemical says on the Sumilarv website that the product “not only poses minimal risk to mammals, birds and fish; it also allows it to be applied to drinking water.  Application to the aquatic breeding sites of mosquitoes ensures a rapid decline of the adult mosquito population significantly reducing bite rates.”  
However, GM Watch has cited a report from Abrasco, an organization of Brazilian doctors and public health researchers, that links the pesticide to the abnormality.  GM Watch wrote:  
Abrasco also names Pyriproxyfen as a likely cause of the microcephaly.  It condemns the strategy of chemical control of Zika-carrying mosquitoes, which it says is contaminating the environment as well as people and is not decreasing the numbers of mosquitoes.  Abrasco suggests that this strategy is in fact driven by the commercial interests of the chemical industry, which it says is deeply integrated into the Latin American ministries of health, as well as the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization.  
PCST also observed that the highest concentration of microcephaly cases are found in the poorest areas of northeastern Brazil.  These areas, “with intermittent water supply, led these communities to store water at home in an unsafe manner, due to the inadequate protection of tanks intended for human consumption” leading to very favorable conditions for the Aedes mosquito.  
While the Internet is abound with a number of possible theories on the origin of the virus—genetically modified mosquitoes, for one—the World Health Organization (WHO) has been careful to not explicitly link Zika to microcephaly.  
“Although a causal link between Zika infection in pregnancy and microcephaly has not, and I must emphasize, has not been established, the circumstantial evidence is suggestive and extremely worrisome,” WHO General Director Margaret Chan announced last month.  
Zika-related microcephaly can be difficult to confirm.  The Washington Post reported last month that after experts scrutinized 732 of the cases out 4,180 cases of Zika-related microcephaly, they found more than half either weren’t microcephaly or weren’t even related to Zika at all.  In fact, according to the ministry bulletin, just 270 were confirmed as microcephaly that appears to be linked to Zika or other infectious diseases.  
However, as PBS’s Frontline reported last week, Pernambuco researchers have identified clear evidence of the microcephaly-Zika link.  According to the report, “researchers here tested the spinal fluid of 12 babies with microcephaly, all of whom were born to mothers who reported having symptoms of Zika early in their pregnancies.  In all 12 cases, the researchers found evidence of Zika.”  
Secretary of Vigilance and Health Luciana Albuquerque said in a press conference at the Pernambuco Health Department that “this is not a scientific study,” noting that the results do not indicate a definitive causal link but added, “it’s a very important suggestion of the link.”  
The WHO officially declared Zika a global health emergency and officials are carefully monitoring the spread.  Researchers are also currently racing to develop a vaccine.  
This article originally appeared here

Political Democracy can and will be fortuitous
when Economic Democracy is established.  

Explore this and other articles covering alternative economics, ethical leadership, economic democracy, and a society without the weal and woe of social and economic vicissitudes HERE  
How does PROUT compare or contrast with capitalism or communism?  Explore the answers HERE

What are essential ingredients assuring progressive sustainability bereft of the vicissitudes of economic or political predation, privation or disparity?  Learn more HERE