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21st Century Economic Bill of Rights

Whereas economic security is the foundation of true liberty;

Whereas concentrated wealth, ecological collapse, and technological disruption threaten the rights of all to dignity, democracy, and shared prosperity;

Whereas the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, must guarantee both individual opportunity and collective responsibility;

1. Now, therefore, the following rights are affirmed as inherent to all citizens, to be secured by the full power of government and the active participation of the people:

   1. The right to adequate access to clean water, healthy food, and proper hygiene.

      1. Access may come through any combination of wages, ownership dividends, and transfers of monies or direct distribution from the government.
      2. Congress shall determine the standards for clean water, healthy food, and proper hygiene. Proper hygiene must include climate-appropriate clothing.

   2. The right to safe, habitable housing, and secure storage.

      1. Congress shall determine the standards for safe, habitable housing, and the minimum space for secure storage.

   3. The right to quality healthcare.

      1. Congress shall determine the standard for quality healthcare.
      2. Congress shall enact no laws granting them higher quality healthcare than that is determined herein.

   4. The right to an education of public knowledge, expertise, and governance.

      1. Public knowledge includes civic literacy, scientific reasoning, and media discernment.
      2. Public expertise is the expertise required to operate the means of producing the goods and services required by both the people of this country, and the operations of local, state, and federal governments.
      3. Public governance is to understand the skills, operations, and responsibilities required to effectively hold publicly elected offices.

   5. The right to a well regulated democratic market.

      1. States legislatures, under standards set by Congress, shall enact laws to ensure markets: promote the health and safety of the people, ensure equitable access to market participation, to ensure essential market activities are performed, and to protect models of shared ownership and governance.
      2. A democratic market includes models that provide ownership and governance to employees that may be proportioned according to time contributed, and/or provides ownership and governance through patronage that may be proportioned from money spent.
      3. No entity shall penalize workers, patrons, or enterprises for adopting or operating under such models.

   6. The right to sound financial services.

      1. Congress shall determine the standard for sound financial services.
      2. Minimum financial services to be provided must include: a safe place to keep national currency, the ability to receive monies, and the ability to spend monies in a well regulated democratic market.

   7. The right to an equitable and fair justice system.

      1. Courts shall apply the law equally to all citizens regardless of what public office they may hold.

   8. The right to a clean environment and a healthy planet.

      1. Congress shall determine the standard for a clean environment and a healthy planet.
      2. Congress and the President shall seek cooperation from nations abroad in an effort to adequately address global environmental issues.

   9. The right to peacefully resolve conflict, domestically and abroad.

      1. No law shall restrict the peaceful pursuit to resolve or prevent conflict, domestically or abroad.

   10. The right to cultural and civic involvement in democratic life.

       1. States shall have every resident registered to vote on all federal, state, and local ballots.
       2. States shall provide every resident with adequate time and a fair wage to vote.
       3. Congress shall prescribe and fund elections for all the states. No prescription shall distinguish between states, and funding shall be proportionate to the population of the state thereof.
       4. Congress and State Legislatures are prohibited from voting on legislation where it is challenged in court and proven by clear evidence that they have an economic conflict of interest. Such prohibitions can be removed by a two-thirds majority vote of their chamber.

2. The standards determined by Congress shall be voted upon annually, separately, and independently from all other legislation.

Power of the People has a clear agenda: amend the United States Constitution to include a 21st Century Economic Bill of Rights, and to enact policy and legislation that upholds the amendment.

There is a lot to do, and there are many ways you can get involved. It doesn't have to take a lot of time. If every citizen in our country set aside 2 hours a week to be civically engaged, can you imagine how much more functional our society would be? Power of the People can help you make the most of your civic engagement by helping to organize and coordinate your efforts with others who have joined the movement.

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