return to top page CHARTER OF REAL NATIONS To draw up a plan or a blueprint for the creation of a human-scale non-centralised global order would be as foolish as it would be futile.
If the principle of the human scale is accepted then clearly each human scale community will be concerned to work out its own way of life, in accordance with its own judgements. Any suggestion of acting in accordance with a centralised plan would be the extension of a disease rather than the application of a remedy.
People will only act in accordance with a principle if they understand and accept the principle itself and to that end a major and multifaceted drive to educate and to generally promote the principle of the human scale is now a task of the utmost urgency.
Since everything must have a start and a point of origin somewhere what follows is simply certain proposals for action which could advance the principle to wider acceptance; they are neither comprehensive nor exclusive, they are the product of a number of trends already beginning to emerge, trends which appear to be moving in the direction of human control by means of the human scale and away from giantism, and to yield the promise of further useful developments.
It is proposed that membership of 'The League of Real Nations' will be confined exclusively to those nations whose population numbers less than ten million and its objects shall be as follows:
1. To defend the political, economic, geographic and cultural integrity of its member nations, especially against the expansionist tendencies of the bigger nations and those afflicted with giantism.
2. To do everything possible to promote the principle of the human scale throughout the world.
3. To give support to ethnic or other human scale groupings, such as regions and bioregions, in their struggle for autonomous independence either individually or in concert with fellow members with economic or financial support and by giving diplomatic status and recognition to such peoples who may wish if need be to establish a government in exile.
4. To achieve the maximum degree of non-centralised political and economic operation in each country within its own frontiers, with particular reference to the empowerment of village communities whether urban or rural.
5. To reduce global war dangers by refusing to participate in any military, political or economic alliance with bigger nations.
6. To withdraw from membership and to refuse to give any further support to the United Nations Organisation, it's specialist agencies or any of its subordinate or associated bodies and to promote the principle of neutrality in foreign relations.
It should be understood that what is being proposed here is not some kind of incipient mini-world government or any similar form of totalitarian global inanity. What is proposed instead is that in those areas where a clear functional need for an international body and for a common global acceptance of specific regulation exists...such as a postal union, maritime law, the use and control of oceanic resources, pollution controls, the containment of epidemics, emergency and disaster contingency provision, some forms of crime prevention etc...that separate bodies for each of these needs shall be established and that each should have a clear locus of control stemming from the basic unit of government within each nation in its village communities.
It does not follow that there need be a representative of every village in the world on the governing councils of such bodies. What does follow is that the means must be established whereby any substantial body of citizens of any region should be able, if it feels the need, to make its views known and be able to secure changes through its voting power if it so wishes.
How this shall be done will doubtless vary considerably from one body to another. What humankind dare not risk is the danger of the kind of global tyranny on a world scale of which the Nazi and Communist dictatorships of the 20th century have shown is all too feasible if we are foolish enough to permit the present centralised forms of power to continue and to coalesce around one centre.
The emphasis of the organisation will be on the human scale and on human control.
To that end the new body will be simply an association with absolutely minimal executive powers. The nearest comparable structure which comes to mind is that of the Commonwealth...formerly the 'British Commonwealth of Nations'...yet even here there appears to be an undue emphasis on its secretariat and a disposition to develop organisationally in an increasing number of directions as is common to governmental bureaucracies everywhere.
The new body will be wise to insist on an annual change of presiding officer and perhaps a triumvirate of senior executives, each of whom will serve a maximum of three years and one of whom, each year after serving as top executive, will resign.Discussion Papers are available from
Dr. Aidan Rankin
Peter Etherdencopies of all these document may be obtained from 26 The High Street, Purton, Wiltshire SN5 4AE, UK
Tel: 01793 77 22 14 Fax: 01793 77 25 21
e-mail: john.papworth@btinternet.com
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