ss 1,2

prout.econ

Inter-Regional Equity

October 15, 1995

Q: How would the Prout society deal with one local area being extremely resource poor, unable to produce enough food for example, and another area being very wealthy and resource rich? How do you create a local economic base in the poor area and still have equitable resource availability and humanitarian base?

This is a very good question. Say there is an area where there is a population development, and that area also has a cultural autonomy, a cultural identity from ages past, but it is economically unsuited to self-sufficiency. The question comes, should a samaj be developed or should that area become part of another samaj which may be large in area but will be covering the needs of an entire grouping of people? Suppose one samaj may be area wise very small and another be area wise very large,

because it may include great expanses which are basically uninhabited. So in this case, a samaj may cover many, many parcels of land, because the land itself may have a per capita population of perhaps three or four per square mile.

Now, the samaj may cover an extensive area, and you will find that areas that are resource poor or in which the resources have not been developed in the past, will have a small population because they cannot sustain large populations. In such areas, it would be best to combine a number of maybe culturally different historical peoples in order to form one samaj rather than have perhaps four or five samajs which are historically contained in a single culture but cannot provide sufficient resources to maintain a viable samaj. So in order to form a samaj, one of the prerequisites must be that there are sufficient resources within the given area to sustain the society through a locally based economy. If the resources are too thin to base it, then the area must be expanded until there is sufficient wealth in the area to maintain a samaj.

Now, let us say that in the northern African area there would be a rather large samaj that may cover some of the desert areas but that may not be a wealthy area. We are taking this as an example. Now a samaj may be formed, there is sufficient resources to form a samaj, but many of the people are not so educated; they are living a subsistence existence. The question comes, how are these people to be given a life that is equitable? Let us say a samaj in northern Europe, where there is a highly technologically developed society, many resources are at hand - good food production, good farming land. How can this discrepancy between one area and another be resolved in a locally based economic model which has a world confederation as a government? You see, first of all the samaj will not be formed unless there are sufficient resources to sustain an economy. If not, then the area must blend with another nearby area until such a time that a full economy may be developed. At the same time, though there is a blending of different areas until a larger samaj is formed, still that samaj may not have all the resources of another as per the example. In this type of world based society with local economic development, there are two aspects: one is economic control, but the other is world based society. So it is a world based society, not a locally based society. The confederation of samajs will govern the world, and each will have a say, each will have a voice - the wealthy samaj in northern Europe and a somewhat poorer samaj in north Africa. Both will have an equal say, and there will be a world peace keeping and regulating force that will be governed by the world confederation in which all of these samajs will have equal say.

Now if there is one area that is suffering, they may bring their plight to the attention of the world federation and seek the assistance of the advisors of that confederation. A proposal may be made for assistance to that area from all of the samajs around the world. They may ask for assistance so that they may develop themselves and in fact be given assistance in a systematic fashion where they are given, step by step, a program for developing their area. Then perhaps the confederation will vote that they be given technological assistance so that they may develop their undeveloped resources and increase their wealth, or that they be given food in a time of famine, or that they be given various other types of assistance in training and developing - assistance setting up educational development for their people, assistance in urban planning. All of these things they can get assistance for from the confederation. And the confederation, once it has decided to give assistance, will draw upon all the samajs and say, "Each of you will give a certain percent of this assistance." And then they will develop the program and they will utilize the resources of all the samajs to help the one that is having difficulty. But the one that is having difficulty will not be assisted as a free ticket on which they may ride. They must come up in their society, and they must utilize this development that is being given to them in a proper way. And this will be closely monitored by the world confederation. If it is found that the local leaders are not properly utilizing the resources and taking care for their people in a proper way, if they are mishandling the aid they are given, they will be deposed, by force if needed. So there will be a regulation by the world confederation and no society will be allowed to go astray.

If the leaders of a society have become despotic and are not meeting the needs of the people, and even do not go to the confederation asking for aid, if the confederation knows there is poor leadership, then there will be warnings and they will tell them that they must take better care of their people, and if they do not, then they will be defeated. So you see, in the political arena there will be regulation so that no despotic regime will be allowed to misuse their own people. A certain standard will be required, and if that standard of humanitarian development is not met, there will be intervention. It will be because it is first and foremost a world society, one world society, one humanity. Though it is independently controlled economically, it is a one world society, and if there are people in that world who are suffering, then it is the duty of the society at large to look to their needs. And if there are perpetrators of that suffering within that samaj, it is the duty of the world society to assist. All the leaders will know that they are in the mercy of the whole of the collective, and if they do not treat their people fairly and keep the minimum humanitarian standards, then they are in danger of being removed.

So in this way the resources of the collective society at large will come to the samaj that is needing assistance. But if it is considered by the confederation that a particular samaj is not sustainable due to lack of proper resources and balance of fundamental qualities to maintain a viable samaj, then also the confederation may inform the people, "We know that you are very attached to your cultural identity, we like it very much, but you are not economically viable and so you must join with these others and make a larger samaj." And they will reconstitute the samaj, if necessary redefining the boundaries. But that will only be done when it is proven that the society cannot make a go of it even with assistance. So, many steps must happen before that final step occurs. And the people of that society should be actively engaged in all of the decisions.