This article was originally written on December 12, 1996 and published on Google Knol. It is republished here as a historical document and reflects the author’s ideas at the time of writing.
This is part of the Project Policrateia series.
The New World is the alternative for a state with a community of citizens and can easily be adopted in the Project Policrateia. The New World will contain anarchistic, communistic, socialistic, altruistic and kibbutzim ideals combined with a strong pacifistic and environmentalist feeling. The community exists out of small colonies (kibbutzim) of approximately 50 persons. The membership is voluntary: if you like the way of life you can join a colony; if you do not like it anymore, you leave. The people make up together some targets and create a constitution in which they put basic rights for all life and all sentient beings. This is to prevent chaos as would otherwise happen with anarchism.
If there are more kibbutzim close together in a region, it is possible to create a co-ordinating council in which every kibbutz has one or more deputies. This council can encourage trade between the communities by creating MOECs (Medium of Exchange Currency), and by making an industrial task list wherein every kibbutz has its product to fabricate. The council will not be the highest organ in the sea of communities — that will be the individuals and the individual kibbutzim themselves. Deputies have to return to their kibbutzim and discuss every item with the other members. The community members have to approve every proposal before it can become legislation; they can also demand changes in the proposal, but every other community has to approve these changes too. Because of this system, deputies may travel from kibbutz to council and back several times — but there is no need for speed, only for democracy, so it does not matter.
The New World communities can live within existing nation states. Nevertheless, the members have chosen not to be part of these nations anymore. They respect the nations and want respect from these nations. The kibbutzim do not use the facilities of the nations in which they exist and do not buy products from them. With their MOECs they can survive. As recompense for having some territory they can sell or grant products to the nation — and of course they deliver new ideas and new ideals to the nations.
The New World communities will be intellectual, scientific and artistic places where new ideas will see their first daylight. The properties within the kibbutz belong to the community. All belongings are free of charge. This counts for the machines for production (which the members use communally) but also for consuming products (bikes, computers, etc.). For the last category: whoever comes first in the day has the first right to use the product; nobody can claim anything. The kibbutz shall try to be self-sufficient in the production of food and materials. There will be agriculture and small-scaled industry. The production will be as large as the needs for necessary materials. The kibbutz can trade agricultural surpluses for products which it does not grow itself, and/or for materials for which the knowledge and/or tools do not exist. This is one of the main reasons why an erected council should create MOECs. For industrial production — and less so for agriculture — there is a need for electricity; the kibbutz will try to produce energy with an ecological method.
As said in the first paragraph, the community members do not use violence against each other and will not be violent to the outside world. Because the communities are small and everybody lives and works together, social control will be great; criminality is non-existent and quarrels are fought out by words. On the other hand, enemies from the outside world with serious aggressive intentions will meet the kibbutz resistance group (KRG). These are community members who will even give up one of their most important ideals — pacifism — and fight against the aggressor with the same means.
The New World is an initiative for a New World community, based on pacifism, socialism and environmentalism. Heiko de Graaf and Erik van Luxzenburg created it on December 12, 1996 after a period of discussion about how a New World order should look, with additions by Ronald Visser. Erik van Luxzenburg completed this report on December 12, 1996, and made this translation on February 29, 2000.