The Other Manifesto of Mankind

Prelude

We, mankind, are making an experience that is important for us, both individually and collectively.

That experience is life.

Still, our experience is unnecessarily narrow. We are out of touch with our environment and we are out of touch with each other; we underestimate spirituality and we overestimate the scientific method; we misunderstand the roles of death and disease; we lack principles and priorities; we abide by economic, political, and legal systems that are biased and exploitative; we oppress and spy and torture and murder; we idly watch as others suffer.

We, mankind, can change individually and collectively. Together we can make a deeper, more constructive, more fulfilled experience. We do not have to fear and ail; we can instead be courageous and content.

This manifesto is as much vision as it is constitution. It serves as inspiration as much as guidance. It is not set in stone—and yet it cannot bear much compromise, for there are goals and values in life and for mankind which compromise would kill. And with that, compromise would kill life and mankind, too.

This manifesto (for which only for limited periods of time adjustments and exceptions are acceptable) represents our rights and our duties—rights and duties without which life should not be deemed worth living.

We want to live.

The Other Manifesto

We, all living beings, are here to learn.

We all are acquainted with psychical and physical reality, and sometimes other realities through our dreams and imagination.

We create our individual and collective realities. We will and wish and think and believe and feel.

We all get what we give, if not in the future, then in the past, if not by others, then by ourselves.

We all are free.

We all shall always be free as long as we do not intentionally, significantly, or repeatedly infringe on others and their rights.

We all have dignity.

We all have equal rights.

We all have the right to our lives.

We all have the right to peace.

We all have the right to nourishment and shelter.

We all have the right to growth and fulfillment.

We all have the right to reason and unreason.

We all have the right to freedom of thought, conscience, spirituality, and religion.

We all have the right to freedom of opinion and expression.

We all have the right to freedom of movement and residence.

We all have the right to respectful and fair treatment.

We all have the right to privacy.

We all, when of full age, have the right to found a family.

We all have the right to choose and to decently express our gender and sexuality.

We all have the right to peaceful assembly and association.

We all have the right to information and knowledge.

We all have the right to education. All education shall be free, offer choice, aim for high and unbiased professional, spiritual, and scientific standards, and be customized to each learner if feasible.

We all have the right to care. All care shall be free.

We all have the right to own property, including land unless it is scarce, to be used for the well-being of more people, or its ecosystems to be protected.

We all have the right to work and to refuse work.

We all have the right to rest and leisure.

We all have the right to a standard of living that allows us to enjoy our rights.

None of us shall be subjected to arbitrary violations of our privacy, family, property, communications, reputation, or honor.

We all shall respect each other and all other life.

We all shall take responsibility for ourselves and others.

We all shall allow exceptions and second chances.

We all shall favor forgiveness over strictness.

We all shall favor social norms over laws.

We all shall cooperate instead of compete, in business and in play.

We all shall avoid conflicts of interest.

None of us shall be violent. (Aggression is not violence.)

None of us shall torture or experiment on life.

None of us shall kill life.

In the free world which we envision, use of natural resources is free for humanitarian and modest personal use, but nature to be cared and provided for with commercial use.

In the free world which we envision, technology is never used against man nor nature.

In the free world which we envision, there is no artificial scarcity (and, thus, no intellectual property).

In the free world which we envision, there are no taxes on ownership.

In the free world which we envision, there is no interest on borrowed capital.

In the free world which we envision, there is no commercial advertising.

In the free world which we envision, work is welcome and honorable, especially when it is useful for others or healthy for oneself.

In the free world which we envision, no one is allowed to earn more than one hundred times the global average minimum wage, nor to own more than one hundred times what the global average person owns.

In the free world which we envision, profit is a responsibility.

In the free world which we envision, social status is to be determined by how one inspires and helps and improves others’ lives.

In the free world which we envision, there is no binary “right” or “wrong,” “good” or “bad,” but there is also everything in between.

We strive to be tolerant of each other and of frustrations.

We strive to strengthen our faith and trust.

We strive to be kind.

We strive to be forgiving.

We strive to love.

We strive to grow.

We all are here to learn.

We all need each other.