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« on: April 01, 2015, 10:41:29 PM »
Right, an opening from the WTA. Given the necessarily polemic nature of our brief initial statement, I shall here attempt rather to explain the reasoning behind our beliefs on an intellectual level wherever possible rather than simply stating them. Our initial statement was intended to, in a few paragraphs, gain the votes of those we thought were most likely to come to us, a mostly Gondorian loyalist population, as well as those at the right disenchanted by the other parties present, drawing them to our centrist position relative to the other left-wing parties. That statement necessarily gave a one-sided view of our policies. Here, in this longer and more considered piece, I am utterly open. I take the opportunity to appeal not to the anger of the disgruntled, but to the intelligence of the informed reader, in the hope that my belief in the fundamental goodness of all races is not misplaced.
Core beliefs
The Alliance's core item on our manifesto is, of course, in the hereditary monarchichal system's suitability for continuing, at least for now, as the primary system of government for Middle-Earth, at least on a large scale. From a wider viewpoint, our goal is to create a morally sound, fair and prosperous society for the citizens of Middle-Earth, and of this our support for monarchy is simply one aspect.
We are not moral relativists. The WTA, as far as meta-ethics goes, believes in the existence of objective morality, that there is a single correct moral analysis of every scenario, although it is often difficult for we people to see that moral truth. We hold that the primary responsibility of a government is to make the morally right decisions. While many alternative ideas, such as democracy, show great promise, we are unwilling to trust our entire society to utterly untested political systems. We advise caution. We advise that when dealing with something as important as the society in which we live, we should move tentatively, with small-scale trials and with significant research and inquiry, exploring all the options. This is especially true when, as now, the status quo is not entirely awful. There may be a need for swift action, and this would be the case under, say an oppressive dictatorship. But it is not the case now. The tragically brief reign of King Elessar showed us prosperity, fairness and justice to an extent unseen for a millenium, and we believe that it is by building on his work that we can make the most effective progress with the least risk of disaster. Middle-Earth has just begun its recovery from the devastation of the War, and to throw ourselves decisively into immediate drastic action would be gravely irresponsible at such a time.
In short, don't be hasty.
On Democracy and Monarchy (with a bit more Core Beliefs)
We acknowledge the theoretical advantages of a democracy - it fulfils the criterion that the responsibility of government is to make the morally correct decisions, if we assume that the morals of the people are likely to be a good approximation to true morality, and that this will result in a democracy making the correct decisions. Believing as we do in the fundamental redeemability of all peoples of Arda, at least the first assumption seems probable.
However, democracy is an almost entirely untested system. While its use in the Shire has been effective, we do not belive that there is anywhere near sufficient evidence of its efficacy and stability to allow us to endorse its introduction in Middle-Earth at all. Its hasty adoption would go entirely against our doctrine of caution as outlined above.
The WTA would like to investigate democracy, and suggests that we begin a comprehensive program of research, headed by our most distinguished loremasters. We would like to move several local authorities to a representative democratic system, encouraging on a small scale the transfer, in these few test regions, of powers from the monarchy to elected councils. Evaluating the results of democracy across various cultures will enable us to make an informed decision as to whether it could work in Middle-Earth as a whole. We would also welcome suggestions of other possible systems of government, to undergo similar trials.
Giving the people the power to bloodlessly oust poor leaders is a phenomenal advantage of democracy. Its potential for long-term stability, we admit, looks like it could be superior to that of hereditary monarchy. We acknowledge history's example of the countless noble dynasties that fell to desire, greed, pride, and petty squabbling. However, consider history's example of the timescales over which this occurs. NĂºmenor's ruling Kings were exemplary for a thousand years before greed began to sow its seeds. The line of AnĂ¡rion in Gondor suffered only gradual decline for a similar period. Even among the shorter-lived races, it is clear that it takes at least a few generations for evil to sow its seeds in a noble line of kings and queens. But consider the timescales over which we could cautiously experiment with forms of government, with policies. A comprehensive evaluation of democracy (or something else) could easily be carried out within a century - far within the time we are allowed before the risk of monarchy wavering looms.
In short, in this as in all other matters, we do not advocate mindless conservatism, but rather caution, caution when dealing with the society that is dear to us. To achieve greatness enduring without falling into darkness, we must be open-minded whilst remaining tentative, rational while remaining compassionate. Only then may we progress without losing what is dearest to us.
On more specific policies
Here we step down a level. Here we stop talking about how decisions should be made and start talking about deciding. Everything I say hereon is the WTA's opinion on what we currently think is a good idea to implement in Society. In line with our core beliefs, every recommendation that we cite below should be taken as our current idea of what might be a good plan. Our party would consider every major step, probably conducting small-scale trials of all the alternative, taking advice from cross-social opinion polls, from both Houses of our proposed parliament, from the King's councillors. Getting to the point, our non-core policies are mutable. If they don't seem a good idea, we'll change them. If there's a lot of criticism, we'll take that into consideration, always erring on the side of caution. With that little caveat out of the way, here we go:
The WTA believes in a society where no citizen is in poverty, where everyone has a chance to succeed, where everyone is guaranteed a minimum standard of life, where one's start in life, one's race, one's beliefs, have no effect on what one may achieve; but also a society where talent, intelligence, and hard work are rewarded, where people may make of themselves what they will. A society where sanctions for rulebreaking are given not to personally punish or to chastise, not to morally condemn, but rather to to rehabilitate and to protect society from personal actions that are dangerous to it. A society that is unafraid to use its resources while managing them sustainably and with due consideration. A society where people may back to their ancestors with pride, benefitting from their knowledge and sacrifice without meaninglessly repeating their actions. A society where knowledge informs action. A society that for guidance looks neither upwards nor backwards, but outwards. A society where moderation is our adviser without being our captor.
The more specific policies themselves
Economy, commerce, welfare, and public services
The markets are neither a blessing nor a curse. They are forces and effects. Any view that places "the markets" anywhere on a good-evil axis is undoubtedly making a rushed and uninformed decision. The WTA sees the remarkable power of money to enable an ensemble of people acting selfishly to benefit the prosperity of all. We also see the power of money to grossly neglect some while propelling others. The markets are phenomenally efficient as a tool for assigning resources where they are required: they co-ordinate needs and wants with supplies and resources with far more efficact than could any co-ordinator. Yet their merciless cycles can fling many into the depths of poverty.
The WTA therefore seeks to regulate what must be regulated for the good of the people and for society as a whole, while leaving free what can be left free, and removing restrictions where restrictions are unnecessary. Aspects of this include creating an unconditional monteary allowance for all citizens, large enough to allow an acceptable, while not luxurious, life. We propose universal healthcare free at the point of use, and universal free education to the end of childhood for all, and further for the brightest. The simplicity of these policies will reduce bureaucratic cost compared to the complexity of means-testing &c. A moderate armed force will be maintained as a cautious measure due to the youth of this period of peace, and police and firefighting services will be created where possible. Through these policies, everyone will have access to clean water, to a warm room to live in, to the food they need, to education, to healthcare and to a safe society.
We will not impose any kind of minimum wage, as the personal allowance means that the lowest wage is high enough. However, the allowance's existance will increase wages by forcing employers to pay enough that employees' marginal gain in living standards in getting a job is worth the extra effort, as a job will no longer be a requirement of survival. The need for workers should drive the labour cost high enough to ensure that a large majority choose to work.
Public services will be funded by progressive income taxation. The taxation will be present from zero income, again because of the personal allowance, but will be low enough at low incomes to ensure people have good incentive to work. It will be higher at high incomes to be fair, but remain low enough to encourage increased wealth. The decision on whether the provision of public services is better achieved by awarding contracts to the private sector or by nationalised efforts will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. As always, we intend to in the name of efficiency leave to the free market what we can, while restricting what could be damaging. At the moment, we intend to award contracts for building and maintaining infrastructure to the private sector while maintaining public ownership of the infrastructure itself. We will adopt a mixed approach to healthcare, but we will run education, policing and the military on a nationalised basis.
We will attempt to remove barriers to free trade and improve infrastructure to allow strong commerce to develop in Middle-Earth. We will be removing Middle-Earth from the gold standard and establishing a central bank to control the supply of money, allowing for a more stable economy. We will use the current period of prosperity in the wake of the War's ending to save money in a central wealth fund, to be used to ride out economic slumps in the future without accruing large national debts.
Middle-Earth's economy badly needs modernising. While Mordor and Isengard embraced industry, the rest of the continent has remained a dominantly agricultural economy. Subsidies will be introduced for land reform and for innovation as well as for exploration far afield to open new markets to commerce. We will also invest significant resources in research into more efficient methods of manufacturing, mining, and farming.
Nobility
The WTA recommends the maintenance of the nobility as a historical institution, to be used to honour the most prominent and accomplished members of our society. The hereditary nature of existing noble titles will be maintained, although no special privileges of monetary inheritance will be permitted, meaning that only well-managed estates will survive. New noble titles, however, will be created for life only. The King will bestow such honours on the advice of his councillors, giving them to the great in our society, for great accomplishment within a profession, especially for those in academia, in law, in politics, and in the military. Also considered will be great work for charity, otherwise greatly serving the nation through political, or economic efforts or anything else.
Legislature and Judiciary
A bicameral central parliament will be established in Minas Tirith, our capital, where appointed nobility in the upper house and elected commoners in the lower house may legislate while advising the King on matters of State. The King will appoint ministers to his Cabinet, whom Parliament will have the power to dismiss with a large majority, as well as giving assent to legislation (and withholding it where necessary). A hierarchy of criminal and civil courts will be created, preserving where possible the heterogeneous systems currently in existence. The judiciary will exist in concert with central and local legislatures. While large-scale decisions must be centrally made to ensure fairness across our realms and to ensure the stability of our shared economy, power will be devolved to local government wherever possible. A written legal consititution will be eschewed in favour of a non-binding statement of purpose for society, in order to better prevent its misinterpretation, and to reduce the power of the judiciary to interfere with the legislature.
Equality
Matters of equality will be treated seriously. A combination of regulation and economic incentives will be used to ensure an egalitarian society for all. Examples of our policies in equalities include forcing all new commercial builds to allow sufficient doorway and ceiling heights to admit all races entry, from hobbits to Men and Elves, with an additional requirement to allow sufficient height for Ents and Trolls if the representatives of those races in local government request it. While the personal allowance will cover maternity pay, the State will (as well as requiring employers to grant maternity leave), grant an allowance to employers of mothers to offset the administrative costs of finding replacements. Equalities officers of all races will be recruited to act as inspectors at all levels of society, ensuring fair access to all insititutions regardless of race.
Environment
While our current civilisation has little environmental impact due to our sparse population, the environment has the potential to become a very serious issue. The need to limit barriers to industry and commerce must be balanced by the need to protect our environment and responsibly manage our resources, which, like equality, will be accomplished by an informed combination of regulation and economic incentives.
Culture
Local governments' budgets will include allowance for cultural spending, such as museums, arts funding, cultural centres, protection of minority languages etc.
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We encourage citizens to vote White Tree for a fair, prosperous, and above all, sensible society. Hopefully I haven't bored anyone with this somewhat-lengthier-than-intended manifesto. Don't be hasty, vote White Tree for moderation and good sense!.