A Constitution for Places Unknown

One day Man will colonize Mars, and we will need a way to govern ourselves on the red planet. A new territory requires a new constitution - an update to our social technology to accompany our technological advancements.

Moreover, new nations will undoubtedly be formed in the next century. The climate will change and open up new territory. Abundant energy may allow for cost-efficient desalination and habitation of deserts. Demographic collapse may leave existing nations hollowed out with a young generation that wants to form something new. The tundra, Australian outback, Atacama desert, South Korea, or Quebec may all see dramatic changes.

National projects #

• A safe and peaceable location for our people to seek their destinies. For this reason, we establish a defense-only military.
• Mastery over life itself and exploration of the universe. To these ends, we create a state-sponsored university to be unparalleled in human history.

Rights and duties of the people #

• Right to bear arms - this is the right by which you defend all other rights

• Right to exit - government will pay cost of emigration if desired (along with loss of citizenship)

  • Sub-federal political units must allow their borders to flip if individual property owners choose it (i.e. a household on the border of modern South Dakota could choose to become part of North Dakota if they find the governance there appealing. This change would allow additional landowners to do the same if they wish)

• Right to sell your body parts/organs/fluids (kidneys, eggs, sperm, plasma, blood, sex)

• Right to freely express one’s beliefs

• Right to charge others any price of your choosing for anything which belongs to you (no minimum wage, no rent control; ‘price gouging’ is legal)

• Right to participate in elections for those adults and only those adults who have had children (some will argue that service in the military, police, etc should garner you this benefit, but ultimately the point of selecting leaders is to build a better future, and that means judgment by the people with skin in the game. Many service members will have children anyway; if they do not then they should be well compensated by other means.)

• No right to other people’s money (i.e. no direct welfare subsidies at the federal level)

• Basic military training required of all males by age 25

Choosing leaders #

• Presidential candidate must have previously served in a high-level government position (governor, ambassador, general, or director of a federal agency)
• General election for president will be performed like jury duty - randomly selected jurors from around the nation will convene to hear testimony and debates from the leading candidates over a period of weeks.The jurors will vote individually once the ‘trial’ has been completed.
• Executives will serve a single 10-year term and appoint their cabinet (who also serve 10 years) halfway through their term
• No congressional districts - all seats are allocated from the national pool (many candidates will find it beneficial to campaign for targeted demographics, which may or may not be clustered geographically)

Public finance #

• Tax negative externalities to fund their corresponding positive externalities: use of natural resources fund environmental protection; property tax funds defense spending; taxes on IP fund scientific research and education; fines fund the justice system and regulators; consumption tax funds development of new technologies
• No other tax types ever permitted to be implemented
• Salaries for elected officials are pegged to the national median income; pay is divided evenly between salary and 25-year government bonds

Population control #

• Immigrants must be free of genetic and transmissible diseases and must be mentally and physically fit to work
• Murderers and rapists will be executed within 24 hours of their conviction
• Violent and repeat offenders will be exiled to a penal colony. Each individual will be offered government-issue survival gear for their time on the colony. The colony will otherwise be isolated and untouched.
• Other criminal infractions will be punished by large fines. Criminals may reduce their sentence by offering a valuable organ or by participating in a medical or pharmaceutical trial

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