The Pirates Constitution
Pirate Bady
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Hi all,
I've made use of the right described in Article 2, Section 8 of the Indian Pirates Constitution to fork the Constitution itself and created The Pirates Constitution.
I must emphasize that the idea/reason behind this is not to branch off from the current community to form any new group/community on the basis of new Constitution. Instead, the idea is to demonstrate some suggestions/improvements in the current Constitution without changing the core values so that if the collective finds it acceptable the new Constitution can be merged with the current Constitution or vice versa (for example I've written it in such a way that 'The Pirates Constitution' can be easily changed into the 'Indian Pirates Constitution' by replacing every occurrence of 'Pirates' with 'Indian Pirates' throughout the document).
I've tried my best to improve rationality and objectivity of the document and to reduce ambiguities as much as possible. Having said that, the two major changes in the new Constitution are:
Brought a new structure by adding:
->Preface to give an introduction to the Constitution and Pirates.
->Preamble to explain the aim, vision and purpose of Pirates.
->Chapters to organize Articles.Introduced new Articles to show the stand of Pirates on Environmental Issues (Chapter 1, Articles 6 & 7).
The new Constitution has only two Chapters, one about the Basic Principles and the other about Membership. A third Chapter about Rights of the Members needs to be added but only after necessary discussions.
Pirate Praveen Fri 3 Jun 2016 6:36AM
@ambadyanands let the current proposal pass, I'll propose preamble then.
Ryan LM Mon 12 Dec 2016 4:34PM
Hi everyone, forgive me if this is not the thread to place this comment, but do you believe the following would help for the constitution?
Add to Guiding Principles
Solidarity: All members of a society should generally work towards the common good of society
Subsidiarity: The responsibility of tasks must be disseminated to the lowest possible tier of society or to that group most closely related to the issue.
These were ideas I picked up from my faith and the Army (my short employment with the Canadian Forces).
Solidarity in action: Essentially, when society works together, it works best when they share the same goal because their separate actions will contribute to the common good of society(solidarity). This allows for free association (freedom to assemble) free press (free speech). It prevents patent trolling, censorship, international trade agreements that help the government but destroy the people, etc.
Subsidiarity in action: Further, when society encounters a problem, it is best that the group closest to the issue should solve it. For example, national defense, foreign policy, international trade should be handled by the federal government. Policing, agriculture should be handled by the state/city. This principle is important because it prevents the federal government from taking on roles it does not need to. For example, if the federal government takes up policing, the potential of a surveillance / police state becomes very real (Aadhar). If the federal government takes up education, we have the potential for political indoctrination and the abolishment of free thinking. If the states handle national defense, when we will have a segmented military.
Pirate Praveen Tue 13 Dec 2016 8:28AM
Solidarity: All members of a society should generally work towards the common good of society
I'm reluctant to put any kind of responsibilities/duties in the constitution, because it will end up as instruments of oppression. See the current issue forcing people to play national anthem before every movie. It is derived from the duties mentioned in the constitution to respect national symbols. We talk about rights because we delegate some powers to the government, the rights are there to make the power accountable. On the contrary, duties are to give power excuses to suppress. Solidarity has to be come from within, like respect, love we should not be forcing it. Common good is also a slippery slope, it is the same excuse used to displace people, take away people's lands for development etc. Subsidiarity seems good. It goes well with our idea of peer to peer society and voluntary collectives.
Ryan LM Tue 13 Dec 2016 2:23PM
That's true! I did not mean for it to be law, but rather a voluntary and internal principle, but if it were in the constitution, it is true that it could be usurped by a tyranny.
Pirate Bady · Wed 1 Jun 2016 7:43PM
@praveenarimbrathod i request you to sponsor the suggestion of adding preface to the current Constitution. you can find a sample preface here.
also, i see a proposal here to add an appendix asking everyone to suggest amendments. since it's the amendments which make the Constitution a living document, i think it's important to state that straight in the preface instead of placing it in the appendix.