Freedom and Credentials

Secrecy and deception are primary tools that enable SDAPs to commit acts that harm The People in the name of protecting their band from dangerous outsiders, or to enrich themselves. In order to prevent them from committing these acts, we must deprive them of these tools. The People also require complete information in order to make optimal decisions. The freedom of the press shall therefore not be infringed.

There should be no government restrictions on the press, and that includes judicial gag orders and information withheld in the name of national security with the limited exception of coverage of current or planned military missions in a declared war. This is a far greater level of information than is available in any country today, but an obviously necessary upgrade (are any of them free of the kinds of problems SDAP leadership causes?)

The People’s rights to complete freedom of belief and action, including the right to free speech and assembly shall not be infringed to the extent that exercising those freedoms does not directly infringe on the freedom or safety of others. To the extent that exercising these freedoms may infringe on the freedom or safety of others, individuals will require Credentials. Credentials shall be the only means of controlling access to resources, and using age or other obsolete or ineffective qualifications shall be discontinued. To ensure the People’s freedom and safety, an individual’s list of Credentials shall be publicly available.

This is not much different from current practice in most countries: One must have Credentials to drive a car or pilot a plane, practice medicine or law, or use certain technology (e.g., explosives and ham radio). This design just expands the range of activities that will require certifications, and simplifies and organizes the practice of granting them. Want to smoke tobacco or drink alcohol or take other drugs? You will have to have a Credential that shows you have a complete understanding of the substance to be consumed and the risks to the individual and the People associated with it. Abuse that freedom? Get your Credentials suspended or revoked, and therefore your right to purchase or use those substances.

One common, almost universal, denial of individual freedom is the use of age to restrict it. For example, there are many 14 to 16-year-olds, and a few even younger individuals, who are perfectly capable of participating in the process of government, yet they are prohibited from doing so. On the other hand, there are some 21 year olds who are clearly not ready to be given the responsibility that comes with drug (including alcohol) consumption. It is therefore both an abuse of individual freedom and an ineffective means of protecting the rights of others to regulate freedom by imposing age restrictions. Instead, the credentialing process should be used to provide freedom based on knowledge, ability, maturity, and other characteristics that vary among individuals not as a function of age, but of experience and the relative strengths and control they have over their replisms.

The Standard Adult Set of Credentials would include a knowledge set roughly equivalent to a high-school education, but with an emphasis on skills necessary to be an active and participating citizen including assimilation of some subset of the Matchism Code and mastery of The System. Immigrants would also be expected to meet these requirements before they could become citizens.

As discrimination is the primary tool SDAPs use to infringe on the freedoms of others, it shall not be permitted except on the basis of competence, possessing the relevant Credential being the minimum standard.

Rather than try to enumerate all the ways an individual may differ from any other, let’s instead turn the whole thing around and outlaw any discrimination unless there is scientifically valid reason for it. Conversely, there are a very large number of freedoms people have now that when abused have severe negative consequences for other individuals and/or The People in general. Some of the more significant among the List of Credentials: parenting, running a business, and voting. All of these things require skills that not everyone has and they shouldn’t be doing them until they can show the rest of us that they have acquired the necessary knowledge and skills.

Until an individual has been granted the Standard Adult Set of Credentials, or if they are ever revoked for any reason (imprisonment, declaration of mental incompetence, etc.), the care of that individual shall be the responsibility of The People.

More on this in the section Children and Families.

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