A Cosmonomic Alternative For A More Humane Society

As long as the capital is ruling instead of the human being living alongside other people will remain inhumane.

In the essay “Capitalism Is Finished” (Archive Dec2011 and CHM 6/2011) I point out that there is a lack of alternatives whereas capitalism is boosting its decline.

The fatal cause – in my view – is the common immaturity of the most people for real democracy.

Nevertheless I try to sketch a cosmonomic alternative in some details, being aware of the utopian character.

Utopia is but representing a driving force of life and often has initiated, encouraged and carried out social development.

But I stay sceptical about present and near future times because I will irritate by my remarks the mentalities of single persons as well as the psyches of crowds and nations as I break with the traditions that are hindering peace.

I The Representative Parliamentary Democracy

Though common life in some states of the earth may appear quite well organized over some decades, nobody can deny the many meagre livelyhoods and devastating plights.

Billions of people are suppressed, exploited and exterminated by political systems that pretend “democracy” but never ever qualified themselves for pure and true democracy. The term is controversial in practical politics, because there is no clear definition of it but a lot of colourful sparkling interpretation according to the respective lobby.

Ever since the capitalistic strive for profit has entered into coalition with strong egoism and with the ubiquitous religious delusion which suits at optimum efficiency the people’s submitting to the ruling structures that are “given by God”.

On this basic attitude – rehearsed since countless human generations – there can stand even any other ideology at all to lead the people to believe in “values” that guarantee the power and influence of the rulers and of the lackeys who are playing into their hands.

Up to now only some “western democracies” may be regarded as forerunners to a really enlightened participation in the democratic process that is worthy of a human being.

To this very day there is no objective real and consistent democracy in all over the world. It still has to be outlined and to be developed.

The existing immature concepts of some constitutions and declarations may serve as starting-points on the way to a practicable and effective representative democracy.

Here some essential criteria at an overview:

1        State and religion must be separated consequently on all levels.

2        Plebiscites are possible exceptions, but regularly the power of people should be expressed by votes.

3        Each citizen who is “qualified” by the lowest common school exam should have a duty to vote.

4        Members of political parties as well as independent candidates should be elected. The commitment to the parliamentarian groups seems to be extremely anti-democratic.

5        Election campaigns mean superficial eye-wash. They should be minimized by forcing all parties and candidates to inform objectively about their programmes in the form of news under equal circumstances. – Nothing more and nothing less. Election campaigns via the media should be banned.

6        Lobbying in parliament should be persecuted as corruption and coercion by criminal law.

7        Funding of political parties by the state would be illegal.

8        Secret services go against democratic rules and against the human dignity.

9        The security service (protection of the constitution) should be controlled by special parliamentary transparency.

10   Further essential criteria of a new democratic culture can be found in the Cosmonomic Manifesto.

(www.raymond-walden.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html)

II  The Country’s Economy

The term “country’s economy” (German “Volkswirtschaft”) is to be understood as a programmatic one, because economy should mainly work for the common benefit and less for optimizing the profit of some individuals.

Stock markets have been established worldwide as uncontrolled systems of speculations though their functions are immoral and inhumane. They remunerate high risks without responsibility and lead to unjustified enrichment and to positions of power. A humane order of world economy should say good-bye to such pseudo-religious incalculabilities.

There is an urgent need for simplifying the economic life, to give it transparency, for by the present welter of governments in helplessness concerning the overcome of hopeless mountains of debts it has become clear that capitalism doesn’t understand the labyrinth that it has created.

This scene is accompanied by direct losses of democratic power because banks, companies and rating agencies are taking over the real government though they don’t have any democratic mandates.

The necessity to simplification is also concerning the daily civic economic life: Finance bills, invoices and texts of contracts are representing ever since a confuse and puffed up bureaucracy.

In a humane economy no citizen should fall through the social network.

1        Every healthy adult person obligatory should care for his living.

2        Minimum wages should be established firmly by law, and above all, should be enforced.

3        Equal wages for the same work should be a fundamental assumption for a new economic order.

4        In the case of incapability for work a minimum, worthy of a human being, of social care should be guaranteed.

5        The humanization of the working place is including as well physical as psychic criteria and is forcing a fair compromise between employers and employees.

Real life is showing that there is no “free play of market powers” but perhaps some mirage for a while, so control mechanisms and guidelines should be compiled on democratic basis. They should not only cling to the status quo but were also responsible for the consequences within sight for the following generations. Economy with a far-sighted strategy also means a gliding contract between generations: The old ones have to leave an intact world to the young ones. Up to now this was no success, as wars, famines and outrages to nature are proving.

The latter aspect doesn’t mean the ideologically propagated environmental scenarios but scientifically proven objective facts.

More to the status of science in the following chapter.

III  Education and Culture

If there is a lack of education, men’s intelligence will remain useless or will even turn into destruction – a platitude one might think – all  the more, if considering how often the term “education” is appearing in future society drafts or party-programmes.

The global situation of mankind is testifying about a sobering education outcome of the “most developed organism”. Much too engrained, people get education mixed up with believing, they put education under the heels of values and definitions of honour which don’t stand with an enlightened world-outlook to support ethics that are worthy of a human being.

Untouched by this is the enormous ability of the loyal and talented followers in faith who are serving the for the time being delusions brilliantly: Breathtaking art and smothering bloody excesses. These permanent differences within and between the systems of faith, such “abilities” on ideological duty are marking merely a thin preliminary step of culture.

Education of cosmonomic character is focussing on the human being and not on religion or ideology. What we are talking about may be described by the rather conservative expression “nobleness of the heart”. All effort is being made to reach a flourishing dealing with one another within a strong society under humane conditions, that is erected by self-conscious but self-critical individuals who are eager enough to learn and work for progress, to enjoy progress as mature humans and to help the disadvantaged.

There is no denying that this is an idealistic outlook.

The community is generating its strength from the variety of talents. Equalization and massification probe to be the wrong way of the education system. “University for all” is contradictory to biological, psychic and humane knowledges. That is the reason why a new tripartite school-system should be developed which, according to the pupils’ performances, is not rigid.

School means a commitment to performance, to discipline as well as to recreating spare time. A similar but higher level of self-responsibility goes for the universities which, for the benefit of students and professors,  have to be freed from the meanwhile usual leading-strings and school-like teaching.

Undoubtedly education is not the case of federal, regional and even narrow-minded offices but is needing a central coordination within a humane society.

Culture and education should be subject of the activists’ freedom but on the basis of restrictions, if there are activities against enlightened human beings, against humanity. If destruction and davastation are intended, science and art should be stopped officially by the democratic state.

Otherwise science should be free to decide on aims and goals, on methods and financing options. No ideological, religious and political pressure should be accepted in state-run as in private institutes and universities.

The scientific basis for understanding is the logical and causal thinking, responsible for all facets of life. Emotion, psyche and physical basis are logical-causal research disciplines that require regulated qualifications to avoid false doctrines and miracle belief. There is no science on the basis of faith.

IV  Health And Private Sphere

Once I wrote “Health is an infectious market.” and characterized in this way the capitalistic health system to which money is a matter of priority. For example, in Germany a two-class-medicine is installed for health-service patients and private patients, the latter preferred by the doctors because they bring more cash.

The pharmaceutical market is also money-orientated, the pharmaceutical companies dictate arbitrary prices and are healthy by the patients’ suffering. Further more there is a flourishing market of adventurous quack medicine that is sold by pharmacies, drugstores and reform houses.

A real democracy needs monitoring bodies. This is also evident with the supervising of the food-markets focussing on the usually underestimated adulteration of the food chemistry. In addition, a better duty of care is to be enforced in all of the plastic industries concerning the long-term side effects and health compatibilities.

Health should not be questioned as a private right as long as nobody else is jeopardized. In the case of emerging diseases and danger of infections objective and not only propagated findings need to be given before the private sphere is to be restricted or repealed for the protection of the community or the individual himself.

Health and private sphere are corresponding with the right for life which in a democratic state cannot, under any circumstances, be infringed.

Presently we experience the threat to the private sphere especially by failings of the data protection. But it will be inevitable that every detail of our citizen life will be laid bare due to the unbroken development of informatics. Those who are interested in us will find all data, that is our fate already. Most important will be how a democratic society will regulate the dealing with the available data. In best case-scenario the arising transparency could lead to more honesty, to a real socio-political further development.

I am drawing the conclusion from that in presenting the cosmonomic philosophy in a way which is fully open and without any “diplomatic” coding. Thereby I am predictable for anyone who is interested. All fellow citizens can be sure that, because of cosmonomy, I favour non-violently the powers of persuasion by the carefully considered word and its unvarnished meaning.

For example, I am writing right into the conscience of all apparent democrats: Peace is really meaning the exclusion of war – without exception!

V  Emancipation And Conflict Management

Emancipation in a past-capitalistic-communist society returns to the primary concern: Equal rights to every human being. Every interpretation of exceptions intends the turning away from ethnically binding values.

Religions and ideologies do exclude, condemn, do torture and kill, join in coalitions with the capital ever since.

Capitalism embodies historically the most victorious world-outlook of mankind, declaring men and nature as cheap possessions; no conflict, no war is unwelcome because capitalism makes money from the human blood. Capitalism is living from conflicts.

Nowadays the money greed is getting into conflict with itself, heavily indebted, swimming without orientation.

Handling conflicts is regarded merely as culture, it is simpler to fight. Somewhere a foe image can be found to encourage the profits of armaments.

And of course, never ever did a do-gooder reach his illusions – and certainly not as a politician.

So what at all is the purpose of this striving?

In the knowledge that the right for life of every citizen cannot be questioned, mankind is challenged to keep consequently the commandment of not killing human lives. However, a true moral like this is based less on religion and secular ideologies so far but preferably and very explicitly on social insights into humanity and human dignity.

In other words: Not to kill means non-violence, means democratic discussion culture with a view to reaching conflict resolution, fair compromises and bringing emancipation – as the highest social value-system – into harmony with the factual circumstances.

In this sense the democratically untruthful capitalism is representing a drastic aberration, a definite hopelessness of solving the swelling problems of an increasing world population.

In long terms only cosmonomic or adequate benchmarks will assert themselves as philanthropic and humane.

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 ORIZONT LITERAR CONTEMPORAN  03/2012