The Book of the Law

The "Book of the Law" is held in the left hand of the Statue of Liberty, for there can be no liberty without law. Her torch is the light of the world, and the hope of the ages. There can be no science and enlightenment without the law, to protect intellectual freedoms, and intellectual property. Her laws are all contained in a single volume. That is good, because "less is more" when it comes to law. If the laws are plain, and the instruments of the law (such as wills and contracts) are simple and easy to use, there is no need for lawyers. In the USA, we have a legal system which benefits lawyers, but no one else.

Change is bad when it comes to the law. Get it right the first time and it may go for centuries without requiring any change. That is why I have made it hard to create new laws in this proposed constitution. It must be something wanted by the overwhelming majority (3/4 of all Citizens), because the majority who register and show up on voting day constitutes a small minority of Citizens. If "less is more" what is really in that three foot stack of law just for taxes? You guessed it! Loopholes for fat cats, the people who finance elections. Aristarchy has no campaigns, no politicians, no political parties, and you can be arrested for giving money or gifts to members of the Aristarchy.

Is A Written Constitution Necessary?

This is not an idle question. The UK has no written constitution, yet it is a reasonably well-ordered place. They rely on "Common Law," which is what everyone knows and agrees is the law. They also place reliance on precedence. I suggest that all we need to write down as the Constitution are those features which are new.

We begin with a preamble to the Constitution, in fact, exactly the same preamble we have now. The Founding Fathers had the right idea and the best of intentions, and created the best government that the existing thirteen states could accept.

We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

The Constitution of the Third Republic

Article One: All previous forms of governance in the USA, public and private, are hereby disbanded, and all laws, regulations, licenses, rulings and judgments made by them are declared null and void. The Executive, Legislative, Judicial and bureaucratic branches of government are dissolved, on state and local levels as well as the national level, and their laws, orders, decisions, licenses and regulations are made null and void. Public and private boards of regents and accreditation agencies are hereby dissolved, and their decisions declared null and void.

Article Two: The Third Republic assumes responsibility for its own debt, but not for the debts of the former Second Republic. When governments fall, their paper becomes worthless.

Article Three: The new form of democracy shall be a particular form of Aristarchy, deriving its just powers from the consent of the people. A recall petition shall be offered to the people after 10 years of the Third Republic. If signed by three-fourths of the Citizens of the USA, Aristarchy shall be considered rejected, and a peaceable return to the previous form of government, known as the Second Republic, shall be made. A similar recall petition could peacefully bring about the transition from the Second Republic to the Third Republic. If a Citizen fails to sign the recall petition within a reasonable amount of time, that shall be considered consent. Laws other than those in this document shall only be created by a petition signed by three-fourths of the Citizens of the relevant jurisdiction.

Definition One: A Citizen is age 8 or more, either born in the USA, or a naturalized Citizen. A person is not considered a full Citizen with the right to vote, if they are a convicted felon, or a person judged by a magistrate to be incompetent to administer his or her own affairs. A naturalized Citizen must have entered this country on a valid visa, must speak, read, and write intelligible English, must not be guilty of any felonies, here or elsewhere, must be mentally competent and must demonstrate an adequate knowledge of the Constitution and Laws of this Nation. Residents and visitors who are not Citizens shall enjoy the full protection of the law, but shall not have all the rights and responsibilities of a full Citizen, such as the right to vote.

Article Four: The Aristarchy shall combine executive and judicial functions, and make the decisions formerly left to bureaucracies. Furthermore, the law shall consist in the decisions of the Aristarchy, based on the well-established ideals, a body of knowledge which may change.

The local magistrate shall license teachers, craftsmen, medical technicians, and any other trade where the public needs protection from untrained and unscrupulous charlatans.

The local magistrate shall hold competency hearings, and appoint guardians for those judged incompetent to manage their own affairs.

The local magistrate shall decide who receives Social Security money for disability or retirement, and decides how much it shall be. The money required will be taken out of local taxes collected by that magistrate.

The local magistrate will be head of police and of government within the precinct and will have full power to summarily hire and fire.

The local magistrate will be the judge of the local court, where all criminal matters taking place in that jurisdiction shall be tried. The judge's decision is final, and execution of sentence is carried out quietly, secretly, locally, and immediately.

The local magistrate is protector of the weak and innocent. Anyone who considers themselves the victim of a crime and wishes recompense or justice may come forward and present his case to the court, which will then adjourn to investigate.

It is the duty of the magistrate to foster a sense of community within the precinct and to that end will have one or more picnics, faires, olympics or any sort of public event, where citizens may ply their wares, exhibit their skills, and meet the magistrate.

The Aristarchy consists in magistrates, metropoles, governors and archons. The First Archon appoints other archons and governors. Governors appoint metropoles, who appoint magistrates. The First Archon may become that by being the Second Archon, and the death or resignation of the First Archon. First Archons may also be appointed or deposed by a three-fourths vote of the electors. All appointments shall be for three years, but may be renewed an indefinite number of times. In most cases, people will change jobs after 3 years, often at the same level in the hierarchy.

Definition Two: The electors consist in all archons, governors and metropoles.

Magistrates shall be in charge of 1000 to 10,000 households. Magistrates shall administer justice and collect taxes, using those taxes as needed for public necessities on the local level, such as Social Security, passing any left over to their superior, a metropole.

A metropole is usually in charge of a Metroplex and the surrounding countryside to the edge of jurisdiction of other metropoles. In lightly populated areas, metropoles may live in a small town, in charge of numerous magistrates, scattered over an area as large as a state. States and counties shall cease to have any jurisdictional significance. Metropoles shall hire and fire magistrates, or move them around to other jurisdictions.

The country shall be divided into several large secure provinces, each the responsibility of a governor. Governors hire and fire metropoles or move them around to other jurisdictions. The nation as a whole will be led by the Archons. The First Archon has the power to appoint other Archons, as well as hire and fire governors or move them around to different jurisdictions. The First Archon may be elected or deposed by a vote of three-fourths of the Electors.

Candidates for the Aristarchy are students who have passed the oral and written exams, but have not yet been appointed to office. They will find employment as assistants or secretaries to office-holders, while growing in maturity and experience. Exams will be open to those who have scored in the top five or ten percent of standardized exams, such as the SATs or GREs (the dividing line is flexible and will be set by the local metropole). A great breadth of knowledge is expected of candidates, especially a knowledge of world history as it applies to Utopian Analysis. Essay questions will help to determine the student's ability to use historical knowledge to solve hypothetical problems, or real problems faced by rulers in the past. The essay exam will also test the student's powers of organization and communication. The Oral exam will test the student's people skills, such as their ability to carry on conversations with strangers.

Definition Three: There will be five major secure provinces: (1) Tidewater East shall extend from the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico to the Mississippi on the West end, to the Continental divide between tidewater and Mississippi drainage elsewhere. (2) East Central shall extend from the borders of Tidewater East to the Mississippi, and Western shorelines of the Great Lakes. (3) West Central shall extend from the border of East Central to the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains; (4) Basin and Range shall encompass the land between the Continental Divide and the Cascades and Sierras; while (5)West Coast shall be everything from the Cascades, Sierras and their extensions, to the Pacific Ocean. There will be several minor secure provinces, one being Alaska, another Hawaii, and Puerto Rico a third.

If the provinces of Canada should decide to join the Third Republic, they would be very welcome. The Tidewater Province would then end at the St. Lawrence Seaway to the North. West Central would then expand to include all of Canada east of the Rockies, and Alaska between the ranges. West Coast would then extend northward to include all the West coastal areas of Canada and the South coastal region of Alaska, including Anchorage and the Knik inlet. North of the Brooks range would be a minor province, and that part of Alaska which faces the Bering strait would be another minor province.

Definition Four: A metroplex, town, neighborhood, subdivision or province is secure if it is surrounded by physical or electronic walls and entrances capable of identifying all who pass through.

Article Five: The government shall recognize the validity of "Common Law," those laws which have come down to us by tradition, by word of mouth, which may never have been written down. The government shall also recognize the validity of case law, the precedents set by the individual decisions of Juries and Magistrates, although the Magistrate is not bound by either Common Law or precedence. Only a jury may decide what comes under the heading of "Common Law."

Article Six: The Aristarchy must know Utopian Analysis, and its well-established ideals, and continue its development. All their decisions must be based on well-established ideals, and need no other justification. How the ideals are applied will vary with time, place and technology. This is just the opposite of the 2nd Republic, which insisted on the letter of the law. In the 3rd Republic, we insist on the spirit and intent of the law, and do not care if it violates the letter of the law, or violates common law, or violates all past precedents. The whole idea of Aristarchy is to pick wise, well-read and experienced Aristarchs, who will have the wisdom to make the right decisions. No specialists, academics, members of the overclass or underclass need apply.

Article Seven: As in the UK, the Head of State shall not be the Head of Government. The Head of State, known as "Mr. Secretary," will be the highest ranking member of the professional corps of diplomats, and shall live in the White House, fly in Air Force One, greet and entertain visiting heads of state or government, attend funerals of heads of state or government, receive Ambassadors, and in general conduct all the ceremonial duties now performed by the President in the Second Republic. It is the Head of State who shall have press conferences, interviews, and who shall make all public speeches to the nation.

The Head of Government will do none of these things. He or she will be too busy actually running the country. The Head of State will be appointed by the Head of the Government, and will take no action without consulting with the Head of Government.

Article Eight: The human genome shall not be changed except to eliminate specific defects which cause fatal disease such as Cystic Fibrosis or Huntington's Chorea. Our genome has evolved for the survival of the species, which requires, among other things, a natural longevity of about 80 years or four generations. This should never be changed, even if we learn how, because it would lead to extinction.

Article Nine: Mankind shall never take orders from machines.

And so ends the Constitution and the Book of Law. Of course, a great deal more law is required, but it shall be "Common Law," as the British understand it. The Aristarchy shall be trained by example and precedent to apply the Universal Ideals of Mankind in a wise and compassionate way.