Political Values

1. transitional, well-being

We aim to describe political processes that can be used in transitional forms of society, whose objective is a world order composed of societies in which, as far as possible, everyone has a good life by their own standards. Such standards can legitimately be different for different people. However, we assert that human well-being is inseparable from the well-being of all life on Earth.

Justification: I think well-being for everyone is the only possible coherent goal of any social or political movement. All such movements respond to people's dissatisfaction with the way they (and/or others) live, or to people's concerns about how they'll live in the future. They must all attempt somehow to improve or protect people's quality of life, i.e. their well-being.

2. proportional decision/effect

People's influence over a decision should be proportional to the decision's effect on them. Effects of decisions should be determined by those who believe they are affected. This means that what societies produce, and how they produce it, should be decided collectively, with those who are most affected having the most influence. Economic arragements such as private ownership of land, which gives landowners far more influence than many others who are much more seriously affected by land use (e.g. those who do not have enough food), are not compatible with this principle.

Justification: I think this is the basis for both self-management and accountability.

3. preference for practice

We have a strong preference for processes that have been shown to work in practice.

Justification: We need processes that work. Cf. RFC 1925, 2.1.