Achieving Peace

Let's assume for a moment that the goal is total peace among humans.

I'm going to go with the most extreme definition that I can think of:

"every single human is content to the point that they cannot be roused to commit an act of violence against any other human" *

That is an unbelievably high standard. Impossible to achieve. But if we got only part of the way towards that goal, wouldn't we be dramatically better off than if we achieved some lesser goal? Wouldn't any worthy goal be on the line towards that high standard?

So, if we were to set that high goal, what would we have to do to reach it?

The goal is from the perspective of each individual. So can we list out a series of minimum requirements for a person to achieve that zen level of contentment? Here's my first stab at the list:

1. Security. Everyone I care about, and all of our possessions, has to be physically secure.
2. Hope. I have to expect that tomorrow will be better than today, for everyone I care about.
3. Freedom. I have to be free to say and do what I want.
4. Quality of Life. I have to have more resources (money) today than I had yesterday; and I have to have reasonable expectation that tomorrow will be better yet.
5. Justice. I have to be convinced that if I am wronged I can get justice; and I will be genuinely compensated instead of just the lawyers making all of the money.
6. Life. Everyone I care about has to have their basic needs met: food, shelter, clothing, and healthcare.
7. Opportunity. I have to be treated completely fairly in all matters of contracts and trade--no discrimination on any grounds.
8. Ancient Hatreds. I have to be satisfied that all of the grievances committed against my ancestors and everyone I care about have been appropriately justified--compensated justly.
   

That is a short list, but it is massive in scope. That is appropriate for such a lofty goal. And so how can we achieve these things?

Can we build a central government vested with all power to plan and organize this result? Can we trust a benevolent dictator to provide this? Can we expect it to just happen by sheer dumb luck?

No.

So maybe we can design a social-political-economic system that will give us all of this. It's going to take lots of work. And it won't be easy.

I think that the social-political-economic system that we build will probably have to have all of these features:

1. Absolute Equality. Every person is treated absolutely equally in all matters of law, contract, and trade. No one is above the law, especially public servants. Citizens and non-citizens are held to the same standards.
   
2. Absolute Freedom. Every person is completely free in the spheres of religion, speech, meetings, vocation, contracts, and trade.
   
3. Fair and Honest Free Markets. Every person and every business is free to enter into any business that they choose and conduct their business with as little interference as possible. Several basic business laws will be enforced strictly, including "No lies or deceptions", "No coordination among competitors", "No monopolies", "No bribes or coercion of public officials."
4. Open Government. The government is not allowed to have secrets of any sort for any reason. All public work must be done in public.
5. Zero-Corruption Government Workers. Strong anti-corruption laws. Government-funded elections--no campaign contributions, slush funds, etc.
   
6. Limited Government. There are many powers that we simply have to deny the government, like making war and the ability to increase it's power.
   

My lists aren't near complete. But I think that the direction I am leading is valid and will actually work.

So where do we go from here?


* I omit violence in self-defense on purpose. Real peace at this level requires zero crime--war is just large-scale crime. Self-defense is a response to crime, and so becomes moot in the absence of crime. That applies in small scale, for an individual; and in large scale, for a nation.