By Craig Runde
Introduction
At first blush, it may seem strange to have a chapter on global constitutional principles in a book on macroeconomics. In a traditional macroeconomics text, that might be true, but this book concerns a new macroeconomic model, which encompasses values that depend on reforms embodied in a new framework provided by a global constitution. In a highly automated, interconnected world, the sustainable well-being of humans and the natural world will require protections not automatically provided by market mechanisms. Additionally, as mentioned in Chapter 6 (of the book), new laws are necessary to ensure that artificial intelligence (AI) enables a more collaborative socioeconomic system over a predatory system.
A constitution is defined as “the basic principles and laws of a nation, state, or social group that determine the powers and duties of the government and guarantee certain rights to the people in it.”1 As social groups have become more complex, so too have the problems that they face. As a consequence, they have experienced the need for more refined laws and principles to address these challenges.
This chapter will look at the journey human society has taken, which has eventually led to the need for a global constitution. It will examine how our institutions and the problems they have faced have become ever more complex and interconnected. In the 20th century two world wars eventually led to both governmental and private efforts to create global approaches to protecting global peace. In more recent times similar work has arisen to protect the world’s environment against threats that could jeopardize future life on earth.
In the era of AI and robots, issues of economic justice, environmental sustainability, and safeguarding peace will require the need for global constitutional safeguards to ensure humanity’s progress. As technology and automation play an ever-increasing role in our society, a global constitution will require a new mindset that emphasizes our common good as opposed to elements that divide us.2 It will also have to address new issues caused by these revolutionary technologies.
A Long Journey
Since the advent of modern humans, most of our existence as a species has been spent in small groups or tribes. These groups developed rules for managing social interactions of their members. Even today, people living together in small groups develop rules or codes of conduct governing their interactions.3, 4 Once humans developed agriculture they began to live in larger communities, and the complexity of the societies increased. People began to engage in different occupations beyond hunting and gathering. Rules were developed to govern and manage these more involved economic affairs. As communications and transportation technologies improved, communities expanded in size and new systems were developed to create consistent ways of governing the geographically dispersed populace.
As of a couple of thousand years ago, large empires in China, India, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and the Americas had emerged that required complex governing systems. The emphasis of most of these early governments was on maintaining the power of the monarch. At times, resistance grew to these power structures, and documents like the Magna Carta arose to limit the powers of the sovereign.5 In many places wars between kingdoms caused great disruption and suffering. In Europe, this eventually led in 1648 to the Treaty of Westphalia, which established a legal foundation with sovereign states recognized as the political actors.6 Over time, this concept spread and became the basis of international law. The nations eventually developed constitutions to provide legal frameworks for governing their own territory. The U.S. Constitution is generally seen as the first such modern constitution and one whose structure had significant influence on others until recent times.7
Of course, this new international framework did not ultimately keep the peace. In the 20th century, humanity endured two of the worst wars in history. By the time the Treaty of Versailles ended World War I, almost 9 million soldiers had been killed and over 20 million had been wounded. Civilian casualties were estimated to be even higher.8 The horror and revulsion at the devastation caused by new technologies led people to attempt to develop an international system that would end wars. In 1920 the League of Nations came into being for this purpose but was unable to fulfill its mission.
World War II enveloped even more countries and led to the deaths of over 60 million soldiers and civilians.9 The atomic explosions that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of the war brought humanity’s survival into question. The countries of the world tried again to establish an institution to prevent future wars, and the United Nations (UN) was born in 1945. The charter of the UN and its ancillary agencies became a kind of world constitution.10 The structure of the charter, though, was principally an agreement among nations and not focused on the rights of the world’s citizens per se. In 1948 the United Nations released the universal declaration of human rights.11 While the declaration described a lofty and inspiring set of rights for all humanity, it did not have effective mechanisms for actually protecting or guaranteeing those rights.
In addition to governmental efforts to address the scourge of war, private citizens began exploring options. Distinguished academicians from Harvard, Yale, and the University of Chicago wrote about reining in military expenditures and even suggested creating a world constitution to restrict individual countries from instigating aggression.12, 13 Regular citizens joined together to create organizations to promote world constitutional development and the creation of organizations of federated states to prevent war.14
While peacemaking continued to be a prime focus for the UN and many private groups, over time additional issues came to the fore. The devastation and displacement caused by World War II immediately led to humanitarian and relief concerns that became a standing part of United Nations’ work. Later in the century, global pollution and environmental issues caused the United Nations to convene an unprecedented global gathering in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.15 The Rio Earth Summit and meetings that followed eventually led to the 2015 Paris Agreement that set global limits for greenhouse gas emissions. In a comparable manner, the UN has addressed various transnational issues such as terrorism and war crimes.
Challenges That Transcend National Competence
The United Nations and groups of countries have developed agreements on a wide range of common issues like policing (Interpol), postal services (International Postal Union), and global trade policies (World Trade Organization). At the same time some of the biggest issues facing humanity seem particularly challenging to resolution by multinational treaties. The Global Challenges Foundation has delineated several of these major issues to include global warming, other environmental degradation, war and other forms of violence, extreme poverty, and overpopulation.16
It took 27 years to get from the Rio Earth Summit to the Paris Agreement on climate. Some of this time involved actual research but much of the delay was caused by political infighting among the countries involved in the treaty and this continues to threaten its vitality.17 During this time, carbon dioxide concentrations rose from around 360 ppm to now over 400 ppm, a measure that scientists have warned will lead to serious repercussions for humanity.18, 19 Mounting environmental pressures are also seen in areas such as ocean pollution,20 soil erosion,21 and water depletion.22, 23
The UN has done a great deal to prevent the scourge of war and to resolve conflicts through its peacekeeping missions. At the same time strife has continued to plague the Middle East and many other areas of the world. The rise of terrorism and other forms of asymmetric warfare have presented new challenges to the world. Some of the worst atrocities in recent times have occurred in civil wars within sovereign states.
Although there has been some improvement in the relative numbers of people living in extreme poverty, the World Bank estimates that there are still more than three-quarters of a billion people, almost 11 percent of the world’s population, who still live on less than the equivalent of $1.90 per day.24 Beyond poverty there is also a growing issue of economic inequality through much of the world.25 The level of inequality is shaped by both national policies and infrastructure in different countries.26 Such inequality is closely correlated with a host of social ills such as incarceration, drug and alcohol abuse, mental and physical health problems, violence, and educational deficits.27 It is also associated with a decrease in social mobility which creates long-term class divides.
All of these current problems will continue to confront the world as it evolves technologically. AI and robotics can play a role in either improving or worsening these problems depending on the social, economic, and political choices made regarding them. Given the slow and sometimes clumsy way with which such issues are dealt through multilateral treaty negotiations, the development of a global constitutional framework may prove more effective.
On top of these matters, new problems will arise that are either caused by or are directly related to the new technologies. For example, it has been estimated that between 2018 and 2030, robot automation will cause hundreds of millions of workers to lose their jobs.28, 29 These losses will be more focused on developed economies furthering the rising inequality in society, but the ability of a country to adjust to these changes will be greatly influenced by its social policies.30
Automation and AI will also present privacy issues. Companies like Amazon, Facebook, and Google already collect substantial amounts of information about their customers’ online activities and preferences. Employers are also expanding the types of information they collect and the way they use it to monitor employees.31 China is going even further in setting up a system to monitor and rate citizen trustworthiness. The Social Credit System will award citizens who behave in accepted manners with a variety of economic perks.32 Critics suggest this will result in a sinister “big brother” outcome, while advocates suggest it will help foster high levels of trust and cooperation.
As automation reaches into wider arrays of daily life, it will also be essential to determine not only who benefits from the technology but also who is liable for its unintended consequences. As momentum for driverless cars grows so will inevitable accidents related to programming or other design flaws. These accidents will be disturbing and will require policies that hold the proper people accountable.33
A Global Constitution for the Age of Artificial Intelligence
In drafting elements of a global constitution to address these various issues, it will be critical that the process be guided by key social, economic, and political principles and values. In this new macroeconomic model, automation is seen as permeating all aspects of the economy and helping to bring about an improvement in the standard of living for all people. It will reduce total work hours and lessen the need for people to do repetitive, monotonous work. People will be able to spend their extra time in creative, educational, and recreational pursuits. The new macroeconomic model must also address the environment. Without environmental sustainability, the economic and social advances will come to naught. The model will emphasize decentralized growth and reduce the size and power of large corporations and financial institutions in order to usher in true free markets. With these principles in mind, this section will present sample constitutional sections dealing with human rights and governmental structures. It will touch on some new legal aspects related to the rising role of technology. Finally, it will explore how a global constitutional framework could be established.
Guaranteed Purchasing Power
In 1986, Indian social philosopher, Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, gave a talk titled “The Requirements of an Ideal Constitution,” which described a charter of human rights that addressed important rights at the heart of the new macroeconomic model. One enumerated right was that “each country must guarantee purchasing power to all its citizens.”34 Since the new macroeconomic model posits an improved living standard for all people, and increased automation can result in reduced work, there needs to be a method for reconciling these points. One way is for national governments to guarantee purchasing power to their inhabitants through creation of opportunities rather than offering “doles.”
The concept of guaranteed purchasing power involves a number of elements. On the one hand, it means that people should at least be able to afford to purchase the minimum necessities of life, including among other things food, clothing, housing, medical care, and education.35 The cost and nature of these items will differ in various parts of the world, but the underlying principle is that people will be able to purchase them in order to lead a healthy existence. Generally, this means that people must have sufficient money to afford them. In some cases, services like medical care and education may be provided at subsidized rates or free of charge as a way of guaranteeing overall purchasing power.
The various necessities must also be available to be purchased. If markets naturally provide them, so much the better. If market imbalances lead to a surplus of luxury items to cater to the wealthy and insufficient amounts of the necessities to meet the needs of the poor, then local governments will need to step in to ensure an adequate supply of those fundamental elements.36 If there is a lack of personnel like doctors or teachers to provide key services, then the government will need to act to create incentives to overcome this shortfall.
How will governments determine the level at which the guaranteed purchasing power should be set? The concept of guaranteed minimum necessities is not meant to suggest a low bar for purchasing power; rather people should be able to live a dignified life with ever growing purchasing power with advancements in technology.37 This notion combines practical concerns about the physical requirements that people need to live along with psychological concerns about how people feel about their condition.
In their book, The Spirit Level, researchers Wilkinson and Pickett find that huge economic inequality leads to a host of social ills including health problems.38 The rationale underlying this connection is that people judge the quality of their own life in part by comparing their status to that of others. In societies where inequality is high, social problems arise when people become dissatisfied with their conditions because they judge themselves less well off than those who are much wealthier.39
This suggests that the purchasing power of people should be set high enough to lessen social ills caused by significant income inequalities. In the present U.S. economy, a more progressive tax system could lessen income inequalities and provide additional funds to support the purchasing power initiative. However, it is possible to lower income taxes on all by means of economic restructuring as explained by Apek Mulay in his Mass Capitalism: A Blueprint for Economic Revival. At the same time, Shrii Sarkar suggests that there is benefit in maintaining economic incentives for individuals whose productivity contributes to the betterment of the society. Research has shown that an optimal level can be calculated for such incentives.40
How will a government go about guaranteeing purchasing power to all its citizens? One recent suggestion is for the provision of a universal basic income (UBI). This concept has emerged as it has become evident that technology will be displacing large numbers of jobs. UBI involves governments providing people unconditional cash payments.41 Shrii Sarkar suggests that it is psychologically better to guarantee purchasing power by ensuring that people are able to find jobs that pay enough to meet their needs. When people have the opportunity to earn their own living, it creates a more positive sense of self-worth and overcomes any tendencies toward idleness.42 If adequate jobs are not available from market sources, governments would act to create such jobs to provide the necessary purchasing power. In cases where people are physically or mentally unable to work, provisions would still be made for them to acquire necessary purchasing power.
How can governments afford to guarantee purchasing power to their people? Some have argued that providing a UBI would be extremely expensive.43 Guaranteed purchasing power through the media of guaranteed jobs, however, is a different proposition. Since people are providing productive work for their income, there will be less overall cost because supply and demand will grow in proportion. As long as economy has been restructured to a balanced economy as described in Mass Capitalism, the real job creators would be both producers and consumers. As there would be no overproduction in the economy, there would be no additional costs to this approach. Additionally, taxes could be raised in case of government needing additional revenue to compensate for money spent for any economic relief in case of natural disasters.
If income taxation were insufficient to manage the guaranteed purchasing power system, some have argued that an additional wealth tax be used to create sufficient funding and further lessen the problems associated with wealth inequality.44 However, the wealthy can also afford expensive financial advisors who can show them how to park their money into tax advantaged accounts. The middle class and poor cannot afford such expensive advisors. Hence, the rich end up paying a lower tax rate despite progressive tax policies. Hence, progressive taxation is not an answer to this problem. However, taxation at source as prescribed in Mass Capitalism may be a solution to this crisis. Additionally, there should be opportunities created to offer free financial advice to the middle class and poor to educate people about savings and investments.
How can people enforce their government’s guarantees of purchasing power? An important distinction among human rights is between those which are justiciable and those which are not.45 For example, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says that “Everyone has the right to work” and “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family.” These and similar clauses in certain national constitutions are nonjusticiable in that there are no enforcement mechanisms available to individuals specified in the documents.46 Shrii Sarkar mentioned that the right of individuals to sue the government to enforce their right to purchasing power to acquire minimum necessities should be enshrined in the constitution.47,48 In many instances access to litigation could be so expensive as to be out of reach for common citizens. In order to ensure that justiciability is a practical right, as opposed to just a theoretical one, governments should cover the costs of legal services required to enforce this provision.
With these various concepts in mind, a section in the global constitution on guaranteed purchasing power could read:
Section: Guaranteed Purchasing Power
(a) Each country must guarantee purchasing power to all its citizens sufficient to procure the minimum necessities of life adequate for health and well-being.
(b) Each country will provide this by insuring that all able citizens will have the right to obtain work that affords the necessary purchasing power. Citizens who are unable to work will be provided with direct resources to ensure their purchasing power.
(c) Citizens can sue their government to enforce the provision of guaranteed purchasing power. Governments will provide citizens with free access to legal services necessary to enforce this provision.
In addition to the mandates on individual countries, a method will need to be established to help countries that may be financially unable to provide for adequate guaranteed purchasing power. A number of very poor countries, most of which are located in Africa, do not have the means to be able to meet the proposed constitutional requirements. For such countries, an approach would need to be created to help them successfully guarantee purchasing power until they are able to meet it on their own. Funding for this approach could be derived from taxes or tariffs on international trade or some similar source. It would also incorporate planning help to strengthen local economies to the point where they can provide guaranteed purchasing power.
Safeguarding the Environment
A safe environment is essential for sustained human progress and prosperity. People have become more aware of threats to the environment such as greenhouse gas emissions, desertification, collapse of wildlife habitat, and the like. There have been efforts to make changes like the Paris Climate Accord, but there have also been private and governmental resistance to addressing environmental issues. This resistance has slowed down and sometimes reversed gains made to improve the environment. A global constitutional provision would strengthen these protections.
In his proposed charter of rights relating to the environment, Shrii Sarkar states that “complete security should be guaranteed to all the plants and animals on the planet.” This provision derives from Shrii Sarkar’s philosophy of neohumanism, which is an extension of the philosophy of humanism to include all created beings. It is meant to expand human sentiments beyond narrow tendencies that divide us based on categories such as race, gender, nationality, and even species.49 Giving constitutional protections to plants and animals underscores his belief that all beings share the desire to live.
Bringing attention to the rights of all beings to live increases human sensitivity to the importance of a sustainable environment. This is particularly important given that earth may be facing its sixth mass extinction event, this one caused in significant part by human activity. Recent findings suggest that dwindling population sizes and degradation of ranges amount to a massive erosion of biodiversity and the ecosystem that is critical to civilization.50
Our planet has a large, yet finite, capacity to sustain life. As more forests are destroyed, more waters polluted, more topsoil lost, the Earth’s carrying capacity is eroded. The outcome of human economic activity has become large enough to threaten the sustainability of animal, plant, and even human life. We are already seeing significant effects on both plant and animal populations. We may soon reach a point of no return for human populations as well.51
These factors lead to a global constitutional provision on the environment that could read as follows.
Section: Environmental Protection
(a) All countries must guarantee complete security to all the plants and animals within their borders and must prevent activity that would harm plants and animals in other countries or within areas of the global commons.
(b) This guarantee shall not be construed to permit activities that harm human beings.
The second clause is included to guarantee that protections for the environment are not designed in a manner that hurts humans.
Protecting the Peace
Global military spending in 2015 was estimated to range between one-and-a-half and two trillion dollars.52 Yet, these tremendous expenditures do not seem to bring humanity much peace. Wars and conflict in the 21 century have continued to claim lives, create ever-growing numbers of refugees, and cost huge amounts of money.53
Professors Grenville Clark and Louis Sohn created a plan for world peace that included provisions for total disarmament of national militaries and the development of a United Nations Peace Force to take their place.54 This plan included a phase-wise elimination of all military forces and supplies in all countries. Small amounts of light weapons would be allowed to be retained for use by local police forces. The plan would be overseen by an international inspection group. Shrii Sarkar also believed that the development of a world militia was an important aspect of creating a federation overseen by a global constitution.55 These provisions could be included in a global constitutional section:
Section: Protecting the Peace
(a) A world militia shall be established to keep peace among peoples of the world. It shall be made up of representatives from the different countries and funded by them. It shall eventually replace national militaries.
(b) Responsibility for police functions will be retained by countries.
Beyond addressing military disarmament, Shrii Sarkar also proposed a series of constitutional guarantees that would lessen tensions among people, which can lead to violence. These guarantees of fundamental rights included spiritual practice, cultural legacy, education, and indigenous linguistic expression. Cultural, religious, and linguistic differences lie beneath much of the strife seen in the world. By providing expressed protection, and thereby respect, for these different aspects of human identity, a global constitution could promote the overall cause of peace.
We human beings have an absolute control over but one thing, and that is our thoughts. If one fails to control one’s mind, he may be sure to not be able to control anything else. Our mind is our spiritual estate. Human beings should protect and use it with care to which divine royalty is entitled. Humans were given will power for this purpose. Unfortunately, there is no legal protection against those who poison minds of others by negative suggestions either purposely or by ignorance. This could destroy someone’s self-confidence and hence such forms of destruction should be punishable because it may discourage a person to even acquire material things that are needed for his or her survival due to loss of self-confidence.
The relevant constitutional provisions could read: Section: Guarantees of Human Rights
Countries shall:
(a) Not abridge the right of people to engage in spiritual practice
(b) Permit people to engage in cultural expression
(c) Provide universal, free access to public education, and
(d) Protect the rights of indigenous peoples to use their own languages
Again, none of these rights should be construed in a manner that cause harm to human beings either physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually.
Technologically Related Provisions
While some issues like liability for injuries caused by automation can probably be dealt with by traditional tort and products liability law, the question of personal privacy will become so significant as to require constitutional protections. Recent privacy issues concerning Facebook Inc. have caused widespread concern among citizens and even criticism from within the technology field.57, 58 The European Union has established new data privacy requirements that apply to member states in order to create a consistent standard throughout the union. The rules also apply to companies that market goods and services to EU residents.59 We shall learn more about General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Chapter 12. On the other hand, the United States has been more lax on data protection requirements, and China has been developing ways of using data to modify their citizens’ behaviors.
Given these developments and in line with the values underlying the economic renaissance in the age of AI, a provision in a global constitution could provide the following:
Section: Data Protection
(a) Each country much ensure that data on individual citizens gathered by the government and by other organizations will not be used to the detriment of those citizens.
As technology continues to advance it will be necessary to address a variety of new issues. Deliberations have already begun regarding lethal autonomous weapons systems. Longer-term agreements regarding other aspects of AI will also grow in importance.60 Further in the future, robots and AI may advance to the state where they themselves will be treated as having some rights.61 The participation of a classless society of Sadvipras (as discussed in Chapter 13 of the book) is critical for making decisions with regard to the rights of future advanced robots.
Establishing a Global Constitution
Many obstacles stand in the way of the establishment of a global constitution, most notably the desire of local politicians and business leaders to hold onto their power. With such entrenched resistance, it is natural to ask how such a constitution can be realized. One view suggests that humanity will not take such steps until it is faced with calamity. In this view, environmental and political crises will become so great that they will spell impending doom to humankind and force major political changes.62
Shrii Sarkar offered a different approach, which focuses on creating positive momentum for such a change through constructive service. As he said,
The question is whether the establishment of a world government or universal fraternity is practicable without staging any fight. To this I will reply in the affirmative. The extreme welfare of the human race can be achieved by mobilizing the living spirit of those people who are desirous of establishing world federation, not by political rivalry but only by means of selfless service and constructive work.63
The idea of mobilizing people’s spirit to call out for global constitutional reform is in keeping with the growth of civil society organizations across the planet. These organizations bring people together to work on social, economic, environmental, and other causes. They also seek to increase people’s awareness about the key issues in their purview. As the urgency of global issues increase, the need for collaboration among the civil society groups grows as well. This coupled with the expansive outreach of social media to connect people around the world will accelerate efforts toward development of a global constitution to address tomorrow’s challenges. While work toward a global constitution may take quite some time, efforts of civil society groups can also address constitutional changes in more local governmental settings. Success in these venues can build momentum for larger global changes.
Taken from the book Economic Renaissance in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, with permission. Economic Renaissance in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, Apek Mulay (Ed.) Business Expert Press, LLC (2019), 222 East 46th Street, New York, NY 10017. www.businessexpertpress.com
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