There has always been much discussion around the appropriate legal status of things. Just a couple of years ago, New Zealand had a referendum on the subject of repealing cannabis prohibition, and the crudeness of the processs angered many. This essay suggests a more sophisticated approach.
The system suggested in this essay assigns all goods, services and non-economic actions into one of five categories of permission: prohibited, discouraged, indifferent, encouraged and mandatory. The legal status of any good, service or non-economic action falls into one of these five categories, and can be shifted up or down the spectrum of permission as the situation demands. This system has the advantage of solving many of the problems with existing valuation systems.
Most common valuation errors come from assigning something to the wrong category of permission.
Cannabis prohibition is an obvious example of this (as was alcohol prohibition). Because of misinformation about its medicinal value, cannabis was prohibited all over the Western World. As more accurate information came to light, cannabis has been shifted into the ‘Discouraged’ category in most places, where it sits alongside alcohol and tobacco.
Alcohol and tobacco were once in the ‘Encouraged’ category, but as medicinal information about their harmful long-term effects became widely understood, they have gradually been moved into the ‘Discouraged’ category. To some extent, cannabis itself is further up the spectrum of permission than both alcohol and tobacco, as there are now hundreds of varieties of medicinal cannabis, whether THC-based, CBD-based or otherwise.
Other common failures of accurate valuation stem from overcorrections of previous errors.
For instance, just because something that was prohibited is no longer prohibited, does not mean that it must become encouraged or mandatory. Homosexuality was prohibited up until 1986 in New Zealand, and since then, through the ceaseless encroachment of pride fashion into every aspect of life, it has gradually progressed to becoming officially encouraged.
The danger with this is apparent to everyone who understands the extent to which morality follows the whims of fashion. The official encouragement of homosexuality disgusts a large number of people, who now want to see it banned again. So there exists an ever-present danger of overcorrecting. As the Kybalion states: the measure of the swing to the right is the measure of the swing to the left.
Another class of failures of the current valuation system stem from incorrect subgroupings of the population.
For example, hippies in Nelson should not lose their rights to grow cannabis just because god-botherers in South Auckland believe it causes demonic possession. There’s no reason why a country with the diversity of New Zealand needs to have uniform laws from Cape Reinga to Bluff. But all of New Zealand is currently legally administered as a single unitary zone.
To give another example, the South Island is much less diverse than the North Island, and as such has a much higher degree of kinship intensity. This may mean that wealthy South Islanders are less resistant to paying taxes than wealthy North Islanders. It could be argued therefore that overall tax rates should perhaps be slightly higher in the South Island, and a commensurately greater investment made in education and health.
A future system of valuation might look like the following.
All final decisions about national matters would be made by the National Valuator, who would otherwise be known as the Valuator-General. This person may or may not have a council of advisors, and these advisors may be elected or appointed.
The Valuator-General would have the final say on all national matters, i.e. those issues which impact the entire nation, such as defence, foreign affairs and immigration.
Underneath the national level would be a regional level akin to what existed during New Zealand’s Provincial Parliament era. Here the system is replicated, fractal-like, from the national level above to the regional level below.
As such, the final say on all regional decisions would be made by the Regional Valuator. If the region was Canterbury, this person would be known as the Canterbury Valuator.
Regional decisions would relate to all the moral issues that are not matters of national security. The legal status of drugs, homosexuality, abortion etc. would all be set by the Regional Valuator, who could move them up or down the spectrum of permission as needed. Such moves would perhaps come after a vote by the Regional Council or a referendum of local residents.
This regionalisation of permission is a solution to the crudeness of the current centralised approach. The diversity of the various regions of the New Zealand nation would be enabled to express itself through a diversity of legal approaches to various moral issues.
Certain issues, like taxation, would be both national and regional. Such a split already exists in America and Sweden. The national government would levy a uniform national tax, and each regional government would levy a regional tax that would vary. This way, each region can pay and receive the most appropriate level of funding.
Underneath the regional level would be a ward level, which would be another step of the fractal: from nation down to region down to ward. This would be similar to what already exists with city and town councils. At this level, issues of minor importance would be decided.
The Ward Valuator would make local decisions such as speed limits on certain streets, noise injunctions, what trees and flowers are planted on public property in the area, where to place monuments and paint murals, alcohol and drug licencing, etc.
This tripartite division of the responsibilities of government should allow for greater sophistication when it comes to passing laws impacting the cultural needs of the local populations. It would make it much easier for a government to, in the spirit of the American Founding Fathers, return power to the people through regional and ward councils.
Whether the various Valuators and their advisors are elected by the populace, appointed by a superior (such as a king), or chosen by sortition is a matter for another essay.
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