Chapter Eleven The Ideal Unified Society


The original intention for proposing and establishing a unified society was for the overall survival of mankind; however, establishing a unified society to limit the development of science and technology and ensure the continued survival of mankind is only the first step. The ideals of mankind far exceed the survival instinct. As intelligent and civilized beings, mankind also has demands of happiness, enjoyment, pleasure, and so on. The social system of humanity should fulfill and maximize all values of humanity.

As a brand-new social system, the unified society will have no precedent in human history. This not only indicates the numerous challenges that we may face, but also the beautiful possibilities offered by a blank slate. Without the heavy burden of history, we can design and create a most ideal society for humanity.

SECTION ONE: THE OVERALL VISION OF THE UNIFIED SOCIETY

From today’s point of view, the unified society should be the ultimate social form of human society. It is the only social form that can limit science and technology development and save humanity from extinction. At present, humans are still not fully rational when it comes to the use of science and technology; perhaps we may reach this state one day through further evolution. If that day does come, the conclusions of this book will no longer be necessary. Although we sincerely hope for such a miraculous occurrence, the lengthy time required for advanced evolution makes such a situation difficult to hypothesize.

Our design for all aspects of the unified society should be based on one starting point: the unified society should not only prevent human extinction, but also be an ideal society that meets all the needs of mankind. The unified society will no doubt extend for hundreds of millions of years, longer than all previous human history. We cannot suppose that the needs of future generations will be the same as they are today, so the unified society will always be subject to adaption and change.

All of our research on the unified society will be based on a contemporary perspective. Our conclusions will be based on the methodological systems and values universally accepted today. We may only establish a framework for the idea; as conditions of humanity and human society change, its content will change accordingly.

One: A New Non-Competitive Society

In order to establish the unified society as an ideal society, we must first determine the concept of the ideal society. We will hypothesize that a society whose system is in conformity with the principle of maximum value (Chapter Two, section two) is an ideal society. This tells us that from the perspective of all mankind, a society in which the greatest possible number of people can realize the greatest possible values is an ideal society.

The values of survival and happiness are the most important human values, and the overall survival and happiness of humanity is especially important. In order to design an ideal society, we must first consider the issue of overall human survival and then contemplate the subject of universal happiness.

The transformation of human society from a country-based society into a unified society is in consideration of overall human survival. This is the only option that can restrict scientific and technological development and prevent human extinction. The main momentum for extreme science and technology development is the competitiveness of countries. Countries will take all actions necessary to maintain a competitive advantage in the fiercely competitive international environment. For example, countries will mobilize the competitive enthusiasm of enterprises to improve labor productivity and innovation; countries will encourage schools to produce more research results and more talented personnel; countries will motivate all members of the nation to work towards improving national strength. Since every country will act in these ways, the entire human society will be enveloped in a competitive atmosphere. That is why human society has become the competitive society it is today.

A competitive society not only threatens the overall survival of mankind but individual and group survival as well. War and terrorism are all such examples. They were all results of political, ethnic, or religious competitions that led to massive loss of life.

A competitive society is also very damaging to the happiness of all people. Today’s historians generally agree that our ancestors were happier than we are. Even the people in the late Paleolithic age were happier than we are today. People at that time were more easily satisfied and had ample time for entertainment.

Today’s society has become increasingly competitive. With the explosion of knowledge, people are under constant pressure to learn more every day. A culture of comparison has also formed in this competitive environment. People compare their education, wealth, and social status, and as a result, no one is ever satisfied. At the same time, due to frequent competitive social wars and vicious crimes, people must constantly bear the pain of loss, both physically and emotionally; therefore, it is hard to find happiness in a competitive society.

Competition brings harm to human values in multifaceted ways, as it can lead to direct threats and challenges to people’s survival and happiness. When it comes to humanity’s overall, fundamental, and long-term interests, it is hard to keep a calm and rational attitude.

For the above reasons, it is extremely difficult for countries to rationally handle overall, fundamental, and long-term issues concerning resources, the environment, population, and poverty. The reason is very simple. In a fiercely competitive international environment where survival and happiness may be jeopardized at any time, it is hard for anybody to balance the interests of future generations to control the exploitation of non-renewable resources; it is hard for anyone to truly ignore current development and invest in environment protection instead; it is difficult for anyone to sacrifice their own interests to aid and support poor countries and disadvantaged groups.

As the most intelligent and civilized creatures on Earth, humans are far superior to all other species. Our only and biggest enemy is ourselves. As a species, our biggest threat comes from intraspecies competition. In order to maximize the realization of all human values, we must first dilute this type of internal competition.

In order to guarantee the overall survival and maximum happiness of humanity, we must transform our current competitive society into a new, non-competitive society. This new society should provide a safe and peaceful environment for all mankind. We must note here that eternal competitive ness is an inherent part of human nature, which means that competition will always be present in human groups. The non-competitive society we speak of will not be void of competition but will only seek to bring competition levels as low as possible.

There have been non-competitive societies in human history. During the primitive migratory stage of society, land was vast and people were few. Land was not some precious treasure worth fighting over. Human groups were isolated from each other, and peace was established both between and within social groups.

Of course, the preconditions for a non-competitive society have changed drastically. We are certainly not willing to revert to the primitive, uncivilized ways of our ancestors. Today the scale of mankind has become enormous. Various means of transportation and communication have brought all mankind into a global village. Human civilization has reached a high level, and people’s ideological understanding far surpasses our ancestors’. There will be a huge difference between the global non-competitive society established on this basis and the non-competitive society of primitive times. For example, the primitive non-competitive society was formed naturally, but the future non-competitive society will be the result of rational and scientific design; the primitive non-competitive society had low living standards, low productivity, low civilization, and was small-scale, but the future non-competitive society will enjoy high living standards, high productivity, a high degree of civilization, and be large-scale. The future non-competitive society will be a brand new noncompetitive society that will bring universal happiness to all people.

Two: The Possibility of Establishing a Non-Competitive Society

In the 1970s, isolated tribes were discovered in places like the Philippines, New Guinea, and the Americas. The fighting characteristics of these tribes varied greatly from place to place. For example, in 1971, twenty-seven Tartars were found in the Philippines as part of an isolated tribe. This tribe was characterized by a total lack of conflict; there were no such terms as “arms,” “war,” “anger,” or “hostility.” After learning about tools and weapons likes knives, spears, and bows from the outside world, the tribe was only interested in items that were useful to daily life and production. They totally rejected weapons like spears and arrows. The tribe evenly distributed the various foods they collected to all members of the tribe, and conflicts seldom took place.

The Native American Hopi and Zune tribes also acted in such a peaceful manner. The tribespeople lived in complete peace for many centuries.

Conversely, some tribes are highly competitive and combative. For example, the thirty-member Fentou tribe discovered in New Guinea was fiercely aggressive and extremely fond of fighting. Native American Comanche and Apache tribes are similarly aggressive, and they are keen to train their children as fighters.

These examples show that the character of human competitiveness is flexible and can be influenced by many factors. Human society does not have to be naturally competitive but can be adapted according to social systems. In small tribal groups, these systems may be decided through the demands of tribal chiefs or rules of historical continuation. In our contemporary society, social systems will contain broader content and cover politics, economy, culture, military, society, and other aspects. All forms of policies, institutions, and measures will fall under the category of social systems.

Due to historical continuity and various inevitable and accidental reasons, isolated groups may become either competitive or non-competitive; however, once two groups come into contact, they will inevitable evolve into competing groups. This competition will spread to all other groups, and non-competitive groups will either be destroyed or forced to react in self-defense; thus, a competitive community will naturally emerge.

This is precisely how human society evolved from a non-competitive society into a competitive one. When humans settled into villages and entered the tribal stage, they acquired more wealth and increased their contact with each other. Some of these tribes were originally non-competitive groups, but they were forced to adapt after repeated attacks from competitive tribes. As the atmosphere of competition spread through the whole society, a large scale society embroiled in competition was created.

The above characteristics were retained and further intensified once human society entered the country phase. Though some countries were initially peaceful, they quickly lost the characteristic due to the generally competitive environment; thus, the country-based society became a competitive society as well.

Of course, even in this competitive country-based society, competitive awareness varies between different regions and groups and even within the same country. For example, the Southeast Asian country Laos and the country Bhutan, located in the Himalayas, are both small, landlocked countries. The citizens of these two countries have had little interference from the outside world, and they generally subscribe to the Buddhist belief. Therefore, the people here are purer in their ways and live more peaceful lives.

Within every country, competition is generally more intense in cities compared to the rural areas. This is because cities are usually closer to the centers of competition, and people there experience more psychological pressure. City dwellers are generally more indifferent to their fellow citizens and experience less happiness. Meanwhile, people in rural areas are removed from the centers of competition and retain traditional habits and customs. They experience less psychological pressure and are generally closer to their neighbors, granting them a higher level of happiness.

Regardless of these differences, the country-based society is highly competitive in nature. This competition stems from the rivalry between countries; however, the unified society will fundamentally change this situation. The emergence of the world power as a singular authority will remove all possibility of equal competition, thus creating the most important condition for a non-competitive society.

We know that the nature of a society is dependent on its social system. The world power will be the only authority qualified to determine the social system of the unified society. The singular nature of the world power will allow it to design a unique and non-competitive society for all mankind. Because this society will be exclusive, its non-competitive nature will last for a very long period of time.

In order to establish a non-competitive society, the world power may mobilize all its mechanisms to this end. A series of institutional measures can be devised and implemented to promote non-competitive moral values. The concept of happiness can be promoted; a unified policy of ethnic and religious tolerance can be implemented; non-competitive lifestyles can be introduced; a peaceful and friendly social atmosphere can be created; and a society of equalized wealth can be designed. With the continuous implementation of these institutional measures, a non-competitive society will ultimately be established.

SECTION TWO: SOME SPECIFIC PROBLEMS

SECTION TWO: SOME SPECIFIC PROBLEMS

We will now design and look ahead to some specific problems in the unified society based on the maximum value principle. There are many problems involved in the unification of world society, so we will only select some of the most important ones here.

One: Problems of Country, Ethnicity, and Religion

In the history of mankind, the most stable and powerful groups have always been countries, ethnicities, and religions. The country in particular is the supreme authority in the nation-based society.

The concept of country, ethnicity, and religion is deeply rooted in the hearts of people. People of the same country, ethnicity, and religion feel a natural kindred spirit with each other; they may travel all over the world, but these three concepts will always accompany them. People will naturally draw the line between friends and foes based on nationality, ethnicity, and religion. We will call this characteristic the “group identity function.”

The group identity function of countries, ethnicities, and religions is inherent and intrinsic. This function can serve to integrate society and unite different groups into one. We will refer to this as the “social cohesion function” demonstrated by countries, ethnicities, and religions.

Correspondingly, countries, ethnicities, and religions can also demonstrate a “group exclusion function,” or a “social division function.” For example, if a large country were comprised of a number of smaller, formerly autonomous countries, these smaller countries may be mutually exclusive and hostile towards each other. (The Soviet Union split for this exact reason.) In a country with multiple ethnicities, different ethnic groups may clash and seek independence of their own. (The Kurds have been attempting to separate from Turkey to form an independent country for this reason.) The same applies to a country with multiple religions—religion will often be used as the common link in the struggle for independence. (The frequent skirmishes in the Middle East are a result of conflict between the Islamic Shiite and Sunni factions.)

The group identity function, social cohesion function, group exclusion function, and social division function are all part of the basic makeup of countries, ethnicities, and religions. The two sets of mutually opposed functions are both present in the function of countries, ethnicities, and religions.

These unique functions have allowed countries, ethnicities, and religions to exercise irreplaceably positive influences on the formation of human society. They have promoted cultural exchange and social development, and they have brought humanity from barbarity into civilization. However, these functions have also brought about some of the bloodiest wars in human history. The majority of brutal terrorist attacks have also been caused by these three forces. It is therefore an inherent fact that countries, ethnicities, and religions have both negative and positive effects.

In order to prevent the negative functions of countries, ethnicities, and religions from deterring the progress of global unification, we must focus on properly handling these three major problems. Comprehensive analysis shows that the negative functions of these three problems vary in seriousness.

After entering the unified society, all countries will have vanished—only country awareness will remain. This type of country awareness will inevitably lead to regional division and discord. To eliminate the negative effects of country awareness, it is necessary to eliminate the concept of country from the minds of people. To this end, we should first seek to dilute and eventually eliminate the regional concept of the country. This portion of country awareness usually arises from people’s consciousness of their original living area. The most effective way to dilute this awareness is to encourage people to move freely, especially over long distances. Many measures can be employed to encourage free movement of the population. For example, encouraging global economic activities and integrating global economy can both be conducive to the free flow of people.

The other portion of country awareness stems purely from a desire for independent governance. To eliminate this feeling, the harms of individual state rule should be widely disseminated. In addition, balanced development should also be further promoted. If global development in all fields of economics, culture, and society can be balanced and equalized, sectoral sentiment and the distinction between regions will naturally disappear.

The negative effects of ethnicity must also be considered. In order to effectively eliminate the negative impact of ethnic dissent, we must eliminate the concept of ethnicity. This requires the continuous integration and assimilation of all ethnic groups in the world until they finally form a whole. The concepts of “you” and “me” should be replaced with the one concept of “human.”

In a world void of ethnic differences, ethnic hatred and separatist sentiments will also disappear. At the same time, negative emotions like ethnic superiority, ethnic discrimination, ethnic inferiority complex, and ethnic resentment will all fade as well.

Ethnic fusion should include two aspects: blood integration and cultural integration. In terms of blood integration, the unified society should encourage marriages between different races and ethnicities. Cultural fusion will contain many contents; it will not be limited to cultural identity, but will also include language, beliefs, moral and ethical awareness, and a unified code of conduct. The unified society should vigorously promote all the above factors. Only when all humans achieve blood and culture integration can we declare the elimination of ethnicity. At that time, “mankind” will be the only term in the world.

Religion will be even harder to integrate than ethnicity. We often see that people are more willing to accept a spouse of a different race than a spouse with different religious beliefs. At the same time, we can also see that it is near impossible for a Muslim to convert to Christianity, and just as difficult for a Christian to convert to Buddhism.

Mutual denial, mutual exclusion, and mutual denudation are inherent characteristics of religion. The more mature and established a religion is, the more exclusive it is likely to be. Realistically speaking, the only thing that will be able to truly integrate different religious beliefs is atheism. The opposition between atheism and various religions is often much smaller than the opposition between different religions.

The transition towards atheism will be a long and arduous process; however, as time goes by and people’s understanding of nature becomes clearer, the concept of God will fade naturally. The idea of a non-existent God cannot be worshipped forever, but the morals and values of religion can be borrowed as standards for civilization and social order.

Two: Problems of Economy

On the economic front, there are at least two important aspects that will separate the unified society from the country-based society. The first is the economic environment. The contemporary economic environment of countries relies heavily on science and technology, and economic levels are often vastly uneven between different countries. The unified society will seek to adopt a unified and coordinated mode of economic operation. The second difference lies in the goal of economic action. Currently, almost every country in the world seeks to make its economy sustained, stable, healthy and strong so as to ensure that they will not be eliminated in international competition. In the absence of national competition, the unified society will not require rapid economic growth but will emphasize the wellbeing of people instead. Based on this, we can develop this following overview on the economic situation of the unified society:

First, the unified society will enjoy a level of equalized wealth. Unbalanced economic development is usually caused by a number of factors. The first is a historical factor. Some countries were isolated for long periods of times and were stuck in a primitive state after the rest of the world entered the industrialized era. Other countries were enslaved through colonialism and lost their economic autonomy as a result. Therefore, the economic starting point of countries was already vastly different.

The second is the difference in economic policies. Policymakers can determine the efficiency of economic development. Usually the poorer a country is, the less talented policymakers they will have. A wealthy country will have the educational resources to produce an abundance of exceptional policy makers; therefore, the gap between rich and poor countries will widen even more.

The third is the difference in ethnic characteristics. Different ethnic groups will have different cultural traditions, different living conditions, and different moral values. Some ethnic groups may be hardworking and good at economic development while others many not. Obvious ethnic disparities will result in uneven economic situations.

The fourth is the unbalanced promotion of science and technology. The main driving force for economic development today is science and technology. Production efficiency will be vastly different depending on the production personnel and methods. Developed countries have made extensive use of various high-tech production methods, and they continuously strengthen their own research and development capabilities; however, less developed countries are only able to adopt the most primitive methods of production. Naturally, this will produce quite a gap in economic capabilities.

The unified society will change the characteristics of human society on a fundamental level. First, it will support and aid the development of poor and less-developed countries. In the interests of balanced power and equal governance, the world power will be able to employ global resources to narrow the developmental gap between different regions.

Second, the unified society will generate universal policies for the entire globe. When establishing universal economic policies, the world power will take into account the different economic conditions of the world and balance resources accordingly. This will equalize the development of the world and ensure a more balanced global economic situation.

Third, the unified society will facilitate ethnic, religious, and regional integration. Once successful integration takes place, the gap between people’s living conditions and moral values will narrow as well. All of humanity will exhibit common intrinsic qualities, and this will be an important factor in balanced economic development.

Fourth, while restricting further development of science and technology, the unified society will also promote and apply existing mature technological achievements. As this promotion is further consolidated and deepened, the world will share in the benefits of science and technology on an equal scale. The productivity levels of different regions will converge and the personal wealth gap will be significantly reduced as well.

To sum up, all the basic characteristics of the unified society will promote equilibrium and the fair distribution of wealth. The unified society will be a society of balanced wealth. In such an inclusive society, people will no longer feel the need for excessive comparison, and happiness will be easily obtained. Moreover, the narrowing of the wealth divide will also decrease crime rates and promote a better sense of social security.

Second, the unified society will enjoy a stable economy. The most important step in achieving global economic equilibrium will be the universal pro motion and application of mature scientific and technological achievements. If this can be achieved, it will signify the maximum utilization of science and technology. This will be one of the world power’s major economic goals.

In the process of achieving this goal, the pattern of economic development will inevitably present the following characteristics. First, existing mature technologies will be spread to the furthest possible corners of the world; second, production scale will be simply expanded based on existing scientific and technological levels. Both of these factors will promote economic growth.

Economic development will still be subject to the needs of the market. Due to the limited development of science and technology, no new products will be generated. All productivity will be devoted to the manufacture of existing products, which will generate enough products to satisfy the needs of all humanity. In particular, the unified society will advocate frugal living and oppose extravagant moral values, making it possible for humans to consume the same item for a much longer period of time; thus, the consumption rate of mankind will also decrease.

In consideration of the limited resources on Earth, the world power will maintain the size of the population at a stable level. The stability of the population, lower overall product consumption rates, and efficient productivity will all contribute to a society where everyone may obtain necessary provisions. The demand of the world market will stabilize along with the global economy itself. This economic stability will be built on the premise of overall human sufficiency (food, clothing, basic necessities).

Three: Problems of Society

We will strive for a unified society that is “peaceful, friendly, and non-competitive.” It should also advocate for “moderation, frugality, and surplus” as a philosophy of living. The reason for this design is that such a goal is most conducive to the stability of the whole society and the universal happiness of all humans. The policies and measures in the political, economic, cultural, and social areas of the unified society should serve this goal and design.

A peaceful and friendly non-competitive society cannot be achieved in the country-based society today due to the competitive nature of countries; however, the advent of a unified society will rectify the situation on a fundamental level. With the demise of countries, the integration of ethnicities and religions, the restriction of science and technology, and the ensuing dilution of competitiveness, a friendly, peaceful, and non-competitive society will become reality.

Realization of the above goals and designs paints us this picture: In a peaceful society, people will live quietly and simply. Societal pressure will be less intense. As mature science and technology achievements are universally promoted and applied, people will only need to expend moderate efforts to achieve sufficient gains, but people will still uphold a frugal lifestyle and thus obtain surplus income. Life will be safe and practical.

At the same time, people will become friendly towards their neighbors, colleagues, classmates, friends, and even strangers. It will be common for people to voluntarily help out each other and interact in an amiable manner. Though people will be frugal, they will be generous when others face financial difficulty. Frugality will not be equated with stinginess, but rather with a noble way of life.

People will be generally indifferent to fame and fortune. They will not experience huge emotional upheavals in the face of loss or gain. Stable, harmonious life will be valued above material gain. In such a society, there will be few occurrences of war and crime, and the consumption of Earth’s resources will be balanced.

We will discuss some more specific issues in the following paragraphs.

First, good universal social welfare will be one of the basic characteristics of the unified society. This will enhance people’s sense of security and also weaken social competition. This kind of social welfare and social security system will undoubtedly require material backing. The unified society will build such a material foundation by popularizing and promoting mature scientific and technological achievements. Such promotional efforts will not only narrow the wealth gap but also provide an abundance of material wealth. This will provide reliable resources for the social welfare and social security system of the unified society.

Second, the unified society will broadly support secondary education. Higher education, especially higher education involving natural sciences, should be strictly limited. The more people who study the natural sciences, the more difficult it will be to limit the development of science and technology.

Third, the unified society will emphasize population control and the balance between human consumption of Earth’s resources and the reproducibility of Earth’s resources. With the limitations on scientific and technological development, humankind will not be able to rely on science and technology to obtain new alternative resources. The long-term existence of humanity will depend on the balance between resource consumption and resource reproduction. To maintain this balance, the population cannot be too large. A large population will naturally consume more resources.

Four: Moral Values

In a unified and fully integrated society, all mankind will share a unified system of moral values. Only a unified system of moral values can promote organic integration among all people. At the same time, the characteristics of a large unified society also objectively require the need for a comprehensive set of appropriate moral values. Such a moral value system will be different from the value systems of the independent countries.

In the following paragraphs, a series of moral values will be proposed based on the characteristics of the unified society. We should note here that these will only be the major criteria for the unified society. The universally recognized moral values, such as the rules against stealing, adultery, and murder, will not be discussed here. In the author’s opinion, there are eight main moral values that should be emphasized in the unified society; they are peace, friendliness, frugality, industriousness, tolerance, kindness, honesty, and righteousness.

Peace refers to calmness, simplicity, harmony, and modesty. It refers to the calm acceptance of loss and gain, joy and sadness. It refers to an emphasis on harmony, humility, and moderation.

Friendliness refers to a sense of amiableness that is reflected both internally and externally. It differs from mere politeness in its pure genuineness and unpretentiousness. Friendliness should be selfless and quietly expressed from the heart.

Frugality refers to thrifty spending and simple living. Frugality opposes the waste of energy, time, and money; it emphasizes reasonable arrangement of personal expenses and good saving ethics. Under this value, items should be utilized to their full potential and not prematurely abandoned.

Industriousness refers to diligent labor, conscientious work, and a down to-earth attitude towards exertion. Hard work is not contradictory to peace and frugality; in fact, it emphasizes the fact that effort is necessary for gain. Industriousness does not mean over-working; it merely refers to a no pain, no gain work ethic.

Tolerance refers to leniency, forgiveness, forbearance, and acceptance. It is opposed to holding grudges and narrow mindedness. It requires people to embrace things with an open mind and forgive others with an easy heart. Tolerance requires faith and understanding in the face of conflict. Without tolerance, a harmonious and peaceful society will be impossible.

Kindness refers to benevolence, consideration, and compassion. Kindness is a demonstration of voluntary sacrifice for others; this sacrifice should be sincere, generous, and undemanding.

Honesty refers to scrupulousness, sincerity, and credibility. Honesty means real communication between people, genuine products provided by the enterprise, and 100 percent realization of the government’s promises.

Righteousness refers to integrity and candor. It requires people to have a sense of justice and responsibility as well as the courage to uphold social justice.

Five: Problems of Politics

1. The Principle of Popular Sovereignty

The maximum value principle will be most concretely embodied by the principle of popular sovereignty. This principle regards every member of humanity as an equal member of society with corresponding representative power. Under the principle of popular sovereignty, everyone is entitled to the same rights of freedom, survival, happiness, and justice. These rights can never be wrested away.

In the unified society, the principle of popular sovereignty will place special emphasis on the equal political rights of all citizens. Every citizen in the world will have the right to express their opinion, vote, and be elected. The successful implementation of popular sovereignty will largely depend on the structure of the political system and the rationality of power.

2. The Standards of Government

Today’s democratic theories generally accept Montesquieu’s ideas of decentralization. Montesquieu believed that the power of a country could be divided into legislative power, executive power, and judicial power. He believed this to be the best way to prevent abuse of power.

In Montesquieu’s view, the abuse of power was a common phenomenon—even in democracies where the government was elected by the people. If power were too concentrated and beyond the control of the people, it could be derived from the people. State power could be transformed into a tool for autocratic rule, and it would inevitably lead to various official drawbacks, such as corruption and the abuse of power. In order to avoid authoritarian rule, states had to separate power into executive, legislative, and judicial branches and allow the three powers to mutually restrain and balance each other. Montesquieu’s theory of decentralization was coined the “separation of powers.”

We agree with two of Montesquieu’s views. First, political power can be divided into executive power, legislative power, and judicial power. Second, power can only be restrained and balanced by power. If the three powers are not divided, dictatorship may easily occur.

Nevertheless, two hundred years of democracy has also highlighted many problems with the system:

a. Democracies have poor implementation capabilities. In a democracy, all major administrative decisions require repeated debate and discussion by the parliament. Different political parties oppose and dismantle each other’s arguments, further impeding the progress of decision-making.

b. Power is easily usurped by manipulative and eloquent politicians. Politicians will often lie and spin yarns to serve their own interest, thus leading the entire community astray.

c. Excessive democracy may be problematic. Demonstrations occur frequently in democracies. When social sentiment is used by opposition parties, social disruption may occur and even lead to bloody conflicts.

d. Frequent changes in governing bodies may lead to inconsistent policies. Newly appointed leaders will often dismantle the policies of the previous administration, regardless of whether they are effective or not. This may result in the waste of resources as well as general social confusion.

The above problems can be easily avoided in non-democratic countries; however, non-democratic countries have their own flaws:

a. There is no guarantee that the designated leader will be upright, hard-working, and devoted to the people. If a tyrant or dictator emerges as leader, the people suffer. If the regime is hereditary, the suffering of the people will never end.

b. There is no guarantee that regime change will be smooth and orderly. Without surveillance and testimony, bloody killings may occur between potential succession candidates. Additionally, if candidacy for rule is very limited, or designated through kinship, truly qualified people will never gain the leadership position.

c. There will be no restraint of power. With an excess of power and a lack of supervision, even wise rulers will be prone to power expansion, decision errors, and management mistakes.

d. There will be no opposition mechanism or public opinion apparatus. If the public is not allowed to express grievances, social injustice will accumulate until major social crises erupt. This may culminate in massive and brutal conflicts in which the regime must be overthrown through violence.

Some research has been conducted to determine the advantageous combination of the two governing systems. For example, the elitist-governing method designates that the national leader will be recommended by a group of elite thinkers. The new leader need not be related to the previous leader, but only needs to have good political experience and exceptional work performance. Another system designates that the leaders of the country be a committee of several people, rather than one individual.

We believe that a good governing system should have the following characteristics:

a. It should have strong executive power with minimal interference but also be subject to supervision and restraint.

b. Legislative power should not be manipulated by politicians. The most important legal principles of the unified society should be long-term and unwavering (such as the restriction of science and technology development).

c. The judicial power should be legal, fair, and effectively supervised.

d. Military power should be subject to many levels of balance and restraint to avoid military intervention in political affairs or military dictatorship.

e. The fluctuations and transfers in power should be orderly, reasonable, and fair.

3. The Design of the Governing Body

a. Political Principles

The unified society should be based on the principles of limited democracy, limited freedom, and full equality. It will be different from both the democratic and the autocratic countries that exist today. The unified society will be an equal society. Whether you are rich or poor, whether you are a senior official or a civilian, whether you live in the present or future generation, you will be born equal and no one should deprive the rights of anyone for any reason.

b. Legal Society

We must particularly emphasize that the unified society must be a legal society where everyone will act according to law. No one will be allowed to violate the principles of law, and any offenders will be subject to legal sanctions. The legal society will be an important part of the political system.

The legal society cannot be separated from the balance of power. If power is not restricted and is allowed to inflate indefinitely, law will no longer have restraining capacity. If political power is not checked and balanced, there will be no way to guarantee a legal society. Without a legal society, there will be no unified society.

As far as the overall objective of human society is concerned, the unified society is far more significant than the country-based society. The unified society aims to save all humanity from extinction; there can be no goal more important. The purposes and important principles of the unified society cannot be violated or undermined.

The long-term nature of the unified society not only requires the legal system to be perfected, but also that it be fairly stable. In particular, the existence of a stable and strongly binding world constitution will be required. As the fundamental law of the world, the world constitution should be multi-faceted in content. Not only should it limit the development of science and technology, but it should also regulate the world political system, economic system, social system, and moral values. Parts of this content can be changed and adapted with the times, but other parts must remain unwavering. For example, unless mankind evolves on a fundamental basis, the restriction of science and technology development cannot be lifted.

How can we ensure its principles to be insurmountable, its content to be adaptable, and its binding power to be absolutely binding? It reasonably follows that the world constitution must be different from national constitutions. For example, national constitutions can often be amended through specific procedures as long as a sufficient number of parliament members agree to do so. In contrast, some portions of the world constitution will never be open to amendment and must also be extremely binding. In order to provide credible guarantee for this most important principle of the unified society, we believe that there should be a Constitutional Safeguard Law on top of the world constitution.

The constitutional safeguard law will set forth binding requirements for any amendment of the most important principles of the constitution; these requirements will be far more rigid and exacting. Under the protection of the constitutional safeguard law, the most important principles of the constitution will be extremely binding, and anyone who violates these principles will be severely punished. Every person will think twice before attempting to challenge such principles, especially those with supreme power.

At the same time, the most important principles of the constitution will not be amended by the usual constitutional changes. Under the constitutional safeguard law, the inherent codes of the constitution will remain untouched, except in the event of tremendous change or terrible catastrophe.

4. The Design of Power

Based on the above discussion, we can design a specific power framework for the unified society.

a. Executive Power

The highest executive power of the unified society should be in the hands of a world committee (hereinafter referred to as “the committee”) consisting of three, five, or seven persons (i.e., singular numbers). The chairman of the committee will be the convener of the committee, and the position will rotate every half year or one year. The members of the committee will divide executive responsibilities, but a collective vote will be required on any major issue. Every member of the committee will have one vote; if there are abstentions, the convener’s vote may count as a 1.5 vote for strictly tie-breaking purposes.

The establishment of the executive committee is in consideration of two main factors. First, a one-person chief executive system will easily result in dictatorship. Second, the adoption of a stable institution with rotating members will promote balanced power and a stable political environment. The rotation of the committee members will happen gradually and one at a time. For example, if the committee has five people, each person will have a term of five years, and one member will be updated every year. This way, there will always be fresh voices and new energy on the committee, but policies will still be maintained.

The members of the committee will only be allowed to serve two terms in their entire life, either in succession or separately. This will prevent the formation of power groups and dictatorship. If a committee member must leave their position midterm for any reason, it will count as serving one full term.

After establishing the above restraints to prevent dictatorship, the executive ability of the committee should also be guaranteed. Once a decision is made by the executive committee, it should not be stopped by any other institution except in extreme cases. Such extreme cases may be: if over four fifths of the parliament votes against it (excluding military actions); if over four-fifths of the federal court judges declare it unconstitutional; or if over four-fifths of the general population opposes it.

b. Legislative Power

The parliament of the unified society will be both the legislative branch and the participating government branch of the unified society. The unified society will adopt a representative system in which the general population will elect representatives to participate in politics on their behalf. Parliamentary representatives will be elected through an equal process from all over the world. They will be allowed to occupy for successive terms, but they will not be allowed to hold simultaneous executive positions. At the same time, the members of the executive committee will be elected by the parliament as well. Committee candidates do not need to be parliament members, but if they are, they must resign their parliament positions once elected to executive office.

c. Judicial Power

The judges of the unified society’s Supreme Court will be nominated by the executive committee and voted on by the parliament. Judges may hold longer terms (lifetime terms may also be considered), but at least two-thirds of judges should not be nominated by the executive committee members in power. For example, if the committee was composed of five members and one member is rotated each year, at least three members should have not participated in the nomination of more than two-thirds of the incumbent judges.

d. Military Power

The unified society should possess one centrally controlled army; however, due to the demise of countries, external defense operations and external wars will disappear. Therefore, the role of the military will also change accordingly. Military expenditure will vastly decrease, and weapons of mass destruction will be seldom equipped. The role and characteristics of the military at this time can be broadly summarized as follows:

First, it will serve to safeguard world unity and prevent separatist movements; second, it will calm unrest and stabilize social order when ordinary police forces are inadequate; third, it will participate in major disaster relief operations (this will be one of the major tasks of the military); fourth, it will deal with threats like alien invasion and asteroid impact. (Although these threats are highly improbably, in the unlikely event that they do occur, the military has a sacred duty to defend Earth.)

Military power will be subject to executive power, but there will be corresponding restrictions on executive control of military power. The executive committee will not have the absolute and comprehensive right to deploy military forces.

First of all, the military power of the unified society should be subdivided. For example, the military forces of the world may be split into fifteen equal shares to prevent military dictatorship.

Second, there should be a dual-control system in regard to military power. The control of all armed forces should be divided into two equal parts: decision-making and command to action. The decision to participate in an operation should be made by the military’s decision-makers, while specific commands of the operation should be issued by the commanders. This separation of power is intended to prevent army control from becoming overly centralized or adversely manipulated.

Third, the decision-makers and operational commanders of each army should not be allowed to stay in term in the same army for too long; at the same time, any commanding officer should not be allowed to stay in a position of power indefinitely. Such considerations are intended to avoid formation of private armies by high-ranking officers.

Fourth, the decision-makers and commanders of each army will be nominated by the executive committee and voted on by the parliament in stages. No more than half of the in-power committee members can participate in more than half of the nominations.

Fifth, strict rules and regulations must be placed on the mobilization of armed forces. There should be a clear limit on the maximum number of troops that can be dispatched by the committee at one time. Any dispatch of troops will require a proposal from the committee and a vote by the parliament. When excessive numbers of troops are to be mobilized, a substantial number of votes will be required simultaneously from both the parliament and the Supreme Court.

e. Police Power

Police power will also be subject to executive power, but the executive power will not be permitted to fully dictate the movements of the police either. Moreover, the decision-making power and operational command power of the police force must also be separated.

In the unified society, the police will only be lightly armed and governed by regions. The global police administration will only be a law enforcement coordination department.

f. The Local Administrative Heads of the Unified Society

The local administrative heads will be appointed through a semi-appointment system to prevent both executive dictatorship and executive weakness.

The general design is as follows: the local parliament will select no less than three candidates according to the number of votes they each obtain, and the higher-level administrator will fill the position from the three candidates. If the appointed candidate is incompetent, their supervisor may remove them from their position and request a new list of candidates at any time. This way, there will always be three candidates in place awaiting appointment. If any candidate must leave their position, the local parliament may elect new supplement candidates as needed.

g. Summary of the Power Design Principles

The unified society will adopt a system of “three-dimensional separation of power” to ensure both balance of power and effectiveness of implementation. The three-dimensional separation of power has three aspects. First, power will be divided within the same level, like the separation of executive, legislative, and judicial power. Second, the same power will be controlled by different persons, like the separation of decision-making power and operational command power in the military and police. Third, power will be decentralized and separated in hierarchy, like the separation of power between the centralized government and local states.

The above designs are all established to prevent dictatorship; however, a truly good government must also have strong, effective implementation of power. To accomplish this goal, the following designs are proposed: First, unless over four-fifths of the parliament votes against it (excluding military actions), over four-fifths of the federal court judges declare it unconstitutional, or over four-fifths of the general population oppose it, executive decisions cannot be changed or reversed. Second, local administrative heads will be “semi-appointed” through a combination of equal election and final appointment. Third, the executive committee will maintain “institutional stability and member rotation” to ensure the consistency of policies and decisions.

5. The Political Culture

Contrary to the country-based society, the unified society will be a “friendly, peaceful, and non-competitive society.” It will last for a very long time and will strictly maintain the restriction on science and technology development; the unified society will also advocate stable economic growth. The political culture of the unified society must serve all these goals.

a. Peaceful Political Participation and Election

As a “friendly, peaceful, and non-competitive society,” the unified society will advocate peaceful political participation and oppose fierce political debates and attacks. Political participation should be mainly conducted through written word, TV appearances and radio. Direct confrontation and mass gatherings should be discouraged.

Since the executive committee of the world power will be comprised of multiple members—likely from different parties—specific party opposition should be discouraged. Political candidates should focus on personal conduct and political ability when mounting campaigns; party-led campaigns will not be supported.

b. Peaceful Political Discussion and Demand

Political opinions and demands should be expressed in a peaceful and friendly manner. Written statements, television appearances, and radio broadcasts will all be encouraged. Large-scale political gatherings will be discouraged, especially large-scale rallies and political demonstrations. Although free speech and different political opinions will be encouraged, they must be expressed in peaceful, non-confrontational ways.

c. Prohibition and Censorship

The goal of the unified society is to prevent humanity from extinction; thus, some of its fundamental principles can never be changed. The strict restriction on science and technology development is one such principle; however, there will always be people who manipulate truth for their own purposes and disregard the overall interests of all humanity. To prevent the principles of the unified society from being slandered by nefarious conspirators, some degree of prohibition and censorship must be established. Doubt can never be cast upon the most important principles of the unified society. Society should not be allowed to question these principles, and political participants will not be allowed to debate them in any negative manner. All public officials must take a sacred oath and swear to uphold these principles.