Posted on by Nathan Riley

FDR’s Four Freedoms

It’s June and time to step back and ask what are the Freedom Democrats trying to do? The plan is that Freedom Democrats throw weekly parties to give people the opportunity to meet, become friends, and help people confront the difficulties of life. By throwing a party it doesn’t matter what people believe, just that they like to have a good time together.

This is what I propose to get the Freedom Democrats started.

  1. End illegal drug hysteria. Some people do drugs that are currently banned. It shouldn’t surprise or shock us. Drug users aren’t criminals, any more than gay men are child molesters or blacks are robbers. Drug users include Miles Davis and Billie Holiday, two users whose genius have brought beauty and goodness to the world. Other drug users are bankers, plumbers and schoolteachers whose jobs are endangered if their private habits become public. Many are unhappy and use drugs to ease depression. They all should have the right to medical care without supervision by the Drug Enforcement Agency or the criminal justice system.  A drug user should have the same access to doctors as everyone else. If that includes prescriptions for opium-based medications that is a private decision between the doctor and the patient. There should be no need for drug users to buy drugs in the illegal market.
  2. Society, which currently forces people to buy drugs illegally, should provide 24hr safer use sites allowing users to take their drugs within the sight of people who know how to stop accidental overdoses. Safe drug facilities are in place all over the world and recognize that people have always used drugs and that their lives should be protected is a fundamental belief of the Freedom Democrats.
  3. Freedom Democrats want its members to demand world peace by turning the United Nations into a world government, compelling nations to obey international laws.
  4. Franklin Delano Roosevelt rallied public support against the dictator in World War II by calling for world government. His fourth freedom—freedom from fear—called for “a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor—anywhere in the world.” His other freedoms—freedom of expression, freedom of religion, and freedom from want—added up to a program that Roosevelt believed would receive world-wide support. This program became a foundation for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the U.N. General Assembly.
  5. Undoubtedly, the U.N. as world government should give equal importance to the dangers from climate change. That is one new task that wasn’t on the agenda in 1941. Supporting the rights of women and the LGBTQ+ community are equally important and deserve the support of world government.

Developing the foundations of international human rights law was a major task of the U.N. in its early days in 1946 and 1947. The preamble to the universal declaration of human rights includes FDR’s Four Freedoms.

The world is not governed by human rights laws. War in Ukraine and Palestine are particularly egregious examples of violations of basic human right to be free of fear. Undoubtedly women in Iran and a sizable part of the population in Afghanistan have seen their human rights stymied.

Prisoners, drug users, and homeless persons in the United States have valid claims that their rights are violated.

The idea behind the Freedom Democrats is that supporting the rights of sex workers, porn watchers, and drug users would prove popular. The people who party become a new group advancing U.S. democracy, just as gays and lesbians did.

People who didn’t do well in school and idealists who want to change the world would find common ground by joining the Freedom Democrats. So far, this idea is a tiny infant. That is where we stand in June 2024.

Posted on by Nathan Riley

World Government Could Prevent War in the Middle East

During my college years I concluded that in Vietnam the United States was the bad guy. I still believe that.

The October 7th massacres in Israel ironically happened in areas well known as centers of support for those Israelis working to improve relations between Israel and Palestine.

Current standards in international affairs give Israel, the victim, free rein to punish its attackers.

The wisdom of this arrangement is doubtful. If my sister is attacked the law stops me from punishing the attacker. A neutral party, the police, investigates, and their findings are reviewed by lawyers and judges. The victim may be heard but is sidelined.

That didn’t happen in Gaza, Israel, the victim, imposed the punishment. The Israeli Defense Forces were told to meet violence with violence and punish Hamas, designated an Iranian proxy.

Almost simultaneously, it came to light that Israel had sent millions to Hamas. A finding contradicting the notion that Hamas is an Iranian proxy.

There is no world government to investigate this complicated relationship. Israel controlled the facts and determined the punishment without any neutral investigators intervening. Well-organized groups in the United States prevailed on the President and Congress to assist Israel’s war against Hamas, as if Hamas were a sovereign nation, and Israel’s conclusion that war against this group was the best course of action.

A world government would have prevented Israel from striking back and from deciding the facts and imposing the punishment.

“Draconian” does not do justice to Israel’s conclusion. As a secular Jew I keep silencing the voices in my head saying Israel is proposing a final solution, or, as the Israeli Defense Minister promised, “to remove the evil threats against us.” They are using violence to destroy Hamas. This war aim makes peace doubtful; Hamas is in a fight to the death.

In turn, Israel, like the United States in Vietnam, becomes the bad guy. Israel is way more powerful than the Palestinians, just as the U.S. was over Vietnam. Using bullets, however, brings unpredictable results—the U.S. was forced out of Vietnam.

A simple empirical test will help clarify the reason Israel has decided to punish all Palestinians for the acts of Hamas. When the fighting stops, will the Palestinians return to their homes or will Israelis live in what used to be Gaza?

Posted on by Nathan Riley

World Government Could Prevent Palestinian Crisis

No matter what happens. Freedom Democrats will grapple with the U.S./Israel invasion of Palestine.

As I write this, police across the nation are arresting protestors angered by the displacement of the Palestinians in Gaza. As you read this, it is clear I am no friend of the Israeli counterattack following the mysterious October 7th massacre by Hamas. I am no expert on the Middle East, and the U.N., which possesses such skills, is being ignored. My gut feeling is that when Israel has moved the Palestinian population Israel will move and rebuild the destroyed neighborhoods in Gaza. With this big difference, Israelis will replace the Palestinians.

My conclusion sees this conflict as a real estate deal. The Palestinians are being replaced, just as settlers replaced the American Indians.

This affects Freedom Democrats because although it is still early in this conflict, it appears that the Democratic coalition could split. The Vietnam War tore apart the Democratic Party and ended the Roosevelt coalition that started during the Great Depression in 1932. The split over Vietnam followed a split between Segregation Democrats and the progressive forces demanding that racial distinctions end and that the U.S. integrate everybody regardless of skin color. In the long aftermath following the Warren Court striking down school segregation and the passage of Civil Rights legislation, the Democrats lost the South. It became Republican, and the Democratic party gained support in the Black and Hispanic communities. Democratic hawks and peaceniks learned how to work together.

Right now, it appears that the Democrats will split over Palestine just before the election in November. Freedom Democrats, like all voters, will have to decide whether to stay loyal to President Joseph Biden, with Donald Trump as the alternative. Their other choices are staying home or hoping that Cornel West will get on the ballot. None of this is good news for Democrats.

The point is that Freedom Democrats would have serious decisions to make and be able to enter into conversations with thoughtful people. It would be a way to expand contacts and win converts.

My perspective is radical. The 250th anniversary of the American Revolution is two years away, and founders like Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and the dozens of other people who created the first European style government without a hereditary ruler are still celebrated. The American colonists who created first the Confederacy and then drafted the Constitution of 1787 devised a system of term limits. Members of the House of Representatives would need majority approval every two years, Senators every six years, and the President every four years. In Europe, many of these positions were inherited, but the U.S. rejected this approach. The leaders of the new nation would be selected by majority rule.

Over the decades, the system has changed dramatically, but the founders of the United States are still prominent figures.

I believe it is time we find new heroes that will make the United Nations a global government. This is a daunting task. If the U.N. is the world sovereign, then the United States government becomes subordinate to this world government. A prospect guaranteed to generate hostility in the United States.

The advantage of making the U.N. sovereign is that member nations would have to hire lawyers to settle their disputes. If Vladimir Putin feels threatened by the changes in Ukraine, he can start a legal action. The United States and Ukraine would, under international law, be compelled to respond.

This is only possible if the U.N. has the troops to enforce its orders. Russia, the United States, and Ukraine lose their ability to ignore U.N. decisions. Member nations, including the U.S., must agree that their troops will be commanded by the U.N.

This is a huge step. But it holds out the promise that missiles and bullets will stop being a way to settle international disputes.

A major and immediate task of the U.N. is to protect people from being removed from their homes. Whether it’s drought, tribal hostilities, or the hope of living better in a rich country, people should not be forced to leave their homes.

The U.N. must have the funds and expertise to create stability in nations all over the world.

The people who do this will become as famous as George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. The reward for the creators of this new world will be that their fame lasts generation after generation.

If the U.N. were running the show, the Israelis would not be able to invade Palestine, and Hamas would be hunted by U.N. police. Their object wouldn’t be to kill Hamas or eliminate it as the Israelis wish. They would have a more reasonable goal: arrest and trial.

In short, giving the U.N. sovereign power would allow lawyers and diplomats, rather than soldiers and drones, to solve problems.