Strategic direction for United Voices

This reflection is my part of my contribution to the strategic direction of United Voices. As a delegate to the Founding council, I have the responsibility to help draft the manifesto, identify key goals, priorities, and next steps for growing the movement. As highlighted by харизма and Jan in a past virtual meeting, we need to define our objectives and beliefs so that people of various political opinions can work together to further human unity. I also propose this reflection to serve as the introduction to our manifesto, if agreed by other members.

A changing world.

We live in a time of rapid technological, social, and environmental change. Change creates instability, as the tools we have developed in the past become outdated. Our institutions were made for a different time, for different technologies, and, frankly, different people. Since the Covid pandemic five years ago, we have seen how the current status quo is failing humanity : Human beings around the world are deprived of food, freedom, and peace. Climate change creates raging fires and multiplies droughts. New technological advances like artificial intelligence are not regulated and benefit capitalist interests rather than most of us. Authoritarianism and bigotry gain popularity, as our democracies cannot keep up the pace. War is back in Europe for the first time since the end of World War II. As time goes on, more change will come, and if we do not update our tools to deal with change, we will see even more bad outcomes - democracies will stagnate, economies will fall into recession, and the environment will degrade even more. But we live at particular times. Yes, there is a lot of change, but we also have the opportunity to affect how the world will change. With current communication technologies, small groups have a lot of power. New ideas are not confined to a single continent, and they can spread around the world in minutes rather than centuries. With change comes opportunity and opportunity to steer this change.

Our place as an organization.

Few people who ever lived will have as much power to influence the future as we do.

Our generation is uniquely important because we live at a moment of extraordinary power and responsibility — the first era where humanity can meaningfully shape the entire future. We stand at the cusp of transformative technologies like AI and bioengineering, face unprecedented global risks, like nuclear war and ecological collapse, and may be living through a “hinge of history” — a narrow window where our decisions could determine whether civilization flourishes for millions of years or ends prematurely. Future generations may inherit the trajectory we set, but lack the power to change it. That makes our time not just significant — but possibly the most consequential in all of human history. United Voices must play a role in this pivotal moment in history, and help humanity to survive the current time and even prosper.

The Indominable human spirit - the normative nature of man.

The act of defining an objective is a uniquely human gesture. To prefer a state of the world above another is how our species came to dominate planet earth. This normative ability is part of the human spirit - that all human beings are born with. Without humanity, the world would just be. With humanity, there is a voice stating how the world should be. United Voices should embody the normative nature of man, and define the future we want.

So how should the world be?

United Voices is open to all - so our members will inevitably disagree on politics, economy, religion, etcetera. To ensure a cohesive movement, we need to accept a set of common values and objectives. These core values and objectives will unite our movement despite our differences.

Our common objective, our core beliefs.

First, here are two fundamental beliefs for our organization :

• We affirm that no institution today fully defends the interests of mankind, and no institution fully represents the will of Mankind.

• We affirm that the interests and the will of Mankind ought to be defended and represented by a global democratic federation.

Our allegiance lies not only in our family, our community, and our nation, but also in our species. We must define the interests of humankind and the will of humankind. Then, we must build a global institution that will defend the interests of mankind, and represent the will of mankind.

Defining the Interests of Mankind.

Every human being is a member of a global community, with equal moral worth and responsibility toward others. This global community is interested in the recognition of the equal moral worth of all of its members. Every human being has intrinsic moral worth, as brothers of the same species. Defending the interest of Mankind means defending the following rights of all individuals : the right to life, liberty, and security, the freedom from torture and inhuman treatment, the freedom from slavery and servitude, the right to recognition as a person before the law, equality before the law and equal protection, freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, freedom of expression and opinion, freedom of peaceful assembly and association, the right to participate in government and free elections, the right to work and just conditions of work, the right to rest and leisure, the right to an adequate standard of living (food, clothing, housing), the right to education, and the right to participate in cultural life.

The interests of Mankind thus include the protection of all those individual rights and freedoms. But individual human rights are already recognized by much of the political community so we can also define the interests of humanity as a whole, which is done less often. The human species has intrinsic moral worth, and should be defended from existential threats. The interests of humanity as a global community are those shared goals and values that support the survival, dignity, and flourishing of all people, regardless of nationality, race, or culture. These interests arise not just from our biological needs, but also from our capacity for reason, empathy, and imagination - what sets us apart as a species. Humanity thus has an interest in : preventing existential threats (nuclear war, climate collapse, unaligned AI), global health security (pandemic prevention), peace and the resolution of large-scale conflict, protecting the environment for current and future generations, ensuring access to clean water, air, and arable land, managing the Earth's resources responsibly and equitable, cybersecurity and protection of vital infrastructure.

The Will of Mankind.

We are destined for greatness. The human species has already accomplished so much; we have brought to this world philosophy and ethics, Architecture and engineering marvels, artistic masterpieces, and we stepped on the moon. Whether by god or by nature, humanity was given the ability to rise above the chaotic state of nature and value something greater than survival. The will of mankind refers to the achievements our civilization is able to accomplish. As we are a creative people, the will of mankind could be the promotion of artistic and aesthetic life. The human will also includes the furthering of knowledge, as we are a curious people. Human beings are daring, so space exploration and settlement are part of the will of mankind. A world federation is not only about stopping injustices, but also about enabling greatness, enabling the might of a united humanity.

A world federation. A cosmopolitan manifesto.

A manifesto has the goal of setting the ideological basis for a political project. Our political project the a world democratic federation, that needs to be defined further in a constitution. The creation of a world federation is about updating our tools to better deal with the changing world we live in. But whatever the form of the world federation to come, it must defend the interests of humanity, and embody the will of humanity.

Those who recognize the dignity of all human beings have the responsibility to help the unification of all. Members of our organization may disagree on politics, economics, religion, etc. But lets agree on our collective goals and ideals. By being a member of United Voices, you pledge to work towards the unification of our great species. For the forceable future, we ask all members of United Voices to participate in the creation of a cosmopolitan manifesto that will formally describe our goals and core values.

And for those who thinks that world unification will bring trouble : Maybe, but for once in history, we will face trouble together, as one.

Primehumanity - founding council delegate.

humanity first.