Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

This is probably the most important sentence in the American declaration of independence and one of the most important lines written in the history of mankind. While it doesn't list all human rights, it does list the three most important from which all others are derived. And it lists these three in order of importance.

All men are created equal. This is all humans have equal right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Nobody's rights come before anybody else's. Where a conflict of interests occurs the rights of the protagonists should be balanced according to their order of importance in resolving the dispute. This means that where the pursuit of happiness would result in another's loss of freedom or where one persons freedom would result in the loss of life of another then the judgement should go in favour of preserving the greater right.

1. Life. This is the paramount gift to be cherished and protected above all things. One person's life is above the liberty and happiness of the many. No person should have to fear for their safety or health and well-being. No war or other act of violence can ever be justified if it is not conducted for the protection and preservation of life. All threats to liberty or happiness must be repelled by other means. No person should ever be punished by forfeiting their life. The basic requirements of life are food, clothing, shelter and healthcare. A sufficient level of these should be provided to all and not be subject to price gouging or extortion.
2. Liberty. All individuals should be afforded freedom of movement, thought, belief, sexuality, and to be who they truly believe they are in as far as this freedom doesn't impinge upon the right to life or the freedom of others. No person should ever be considered the property of another. No person should be contracted or indentured or otherwise retained without a fair and reasonable option to exit the contract. Minors in the care of adults and those suffering an impairment which prevents them taking full responsibility for themselves should not be subjected to any loss of liberty beyond that which is necessary for their safety.
3. The pursuit of happiness. When a person has life and freedom they will want to make that life better. To do this they need education, an opportunity to contribute to society and to acquire better possessions and life experiences than they already have. Those who employ others to help them achieve greater success through business or other endeavour should do so without denying those person's their liberty or opportunity to pursue a happier future.
4. The rights of the group do not supersede the rights of the individual. This is where the surrender of one's conscience to the 'will of the group' leads to acts of evil and where absolute power corrupts absolutely. In the history of humanity murders, torture, genocide and other acts of brutality have been sanctioned and carried out by individuals pursuing a 'greater' cause. Be it an organisation, institution. religion or country, following orders is never justification for denying others their fundamental rights.
5. A crime committed against an individual is more serious than the same crime committed against a group. This is because the consequences to the individual are more severe. The members of a group share those consequences. When judging a crime the consideration should be to how much each individual victim has been affected. A person who steals $100 from a pensioner commits a greater crime than a person stealing $100 from a bank. If the bank robber commits the crime by brandishing a gun then this act of violence against the bank teller is an entirely more serious matter and should be judged according to the affect on the teller as a human being than upon the bank.
6. Organisations and institutions exist for the collective good of their members. Organisations should therefore be transparent and accountable to their members. While organisations are made up of people with needs and desires, organisations are not people and should never be treated on an equal footing with any individual human being. In disputes between an individual and an organisation the counsel for the organisation must prove that individuals within that organisation would suffer a greater injustice than the individual with whom they have a dispute.

Greed - It makes the World go Round

Is money the root of all evil or is the love of money the root of all evil? What makes one person richer than another.

There is definately a great divide between the world's wealthiest people and the world's poorest. In western countries the working classes enjoy lifestyles that were beyond the imagination of kings and emperors a few hundred years ago. It's not that they're richer than those kings and emperors but that science, technology and manufacturing have brought us a phlethora of new gadgets, foods and sensory experiences. We are also more educated and able to see the world around us in different ways.

But the poor of developing and undeveloped countries still live peasant lives, victims of the elements, unscrupulous landlords and corrupt officials. They are no better than the poor of any era going back to before the Romans and ancient Egyptians. And even though western workers live comparative lives of luxury they still struggle under the burdens of debt and inflationary pressures on the cost of living.

A great number of people desire wealth and the benefits of no longer having to worry about money. But what is it that makes a person wealthy or rich? Is it purely having a lot of money? Is it the cars, mansions and private jets that the mega rich own?

What makes one person richer than his peers is simply having more of something everyone around him wants. If you gave everyone a huge pot of money you wouldn't get a lot of rich people. Instead you'd get hyper-inflation as they have in countries like Zimbabwe. The modern economy is built around supply and demand. Money itself is just a commodity that is bought and sold based on its perceived value. The Federal Reserve has been stimulating America's economy by over supplying money and in the process devaluing the US Dollar. This makes US products and services cheaper relative to its international competitors. Conversely Chinese demand for the Australian coal and metals is driving the Aussie dollar up.

China has a cheap resource—human labor. There are other countries that may be able to match it for price but China has the authoritarian resources that enable it to mobilise its workforce in ways no other developing country can. Its grand structures from ancient times such as the Great Wall and the buried army tell us that with cheap or slave labour humans can achieve anything. Even many of America's greatest construction achievements like the Hoover dam and Golden Gate bridge were built during the Great Depression when many Americans would work for any price. These days many western countries struggle to budget for new infrastructure while China builds dams, bridges and modern buildings that defy belief. 

But China's rise has also allowed westerners to buy most of their material needs at prices we couldn't imagine 10 or 20 years ago. Yet it has a negative impact on the lives of poorer people. Cheap commodities frees up money of wealthier middle class for other pursuits such as investing. And property is an important portfolio asset. So the houses that cost $100,000 when toasters cost $100 now cost around a million in the age of the $10 toaster. More and more people are becoming enslaved to their mortgage.

The huge amounts of funds being channelled into the financial markets through noble schemes like superannuation and 401K has caused rampant inflation in the sharemarkets over the last 30 years.  It has allowed speculation and greed free reign. Fund managers are given billions of dollars to play poker with. They pour it into rapidly rising equities focused only on their bonus and commissions and not on the future ramifications of the over inflated bubbles they help create. The only share purchase that actually helps the economy is the IPO. Its the only time the company represented by those shares actually gets a payout which in turn allows it to invest in research and development and jobs. If you aren't getting a reasonable return from dividends for your share purchases then you are speculating, hoping your supply will be outstripped by someone elses demand.

As Bob Katter the Australian politician puts it free markets are greedy people doing what they want. And he has a point. Too much government control stifles innovation. But too little allows money to be concentrated in too few hands. There are the arguments for socialism and there are the arguments for free market economies. Each side argues that its position is the right one. But like the world's weather system which tries to balance heat and cold through El Ninos and La Ninas the movement of money should also be rebalanced by moves from socialism to capitalism and back again. It was socialism that pulled England out of the mire of post WWII. It was Thatcherism that allowed it to emerge from the stagflation of the 70s and 80s. But the greed is good mentality has lead to the Global Financial Crisis and brought the west to its knees.

When the free markets are powering the economy upwards governments need to increase its tax revenues and put funds into paying down debt and into building future funds. When the inevitable crash comes the government needs to use that money to build new roads and infrastructure to keep the economy ticking over. Governments needs to identify the shortages and develop policies to increase supply. The housing shortage in Australia's main centres is a prime example. Australian builders are among the best paid tradespeople in the world, it is almost impossible to find Sydney property for under half a million and rents are soaring.  Everybody needs a place to stay. So Australians are working longer and harder to give more money to landlords and banks. We are slaves—but not our bosses.