Photo of Chris Widholm

Autonomism

www.myspace.com/autonomism

is a theory intended to control governments into serving the common good, from the ground up.Mood: determined determinedat 7:58 PM Nov 4, 2007 view more

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  • Chris Widholm

  • 42 / Male
  • NEW CITY, New York, US
  • Last Login: 6/28/2009

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Interests

  • General

    We, the governed, have been fed a vicious pack of lies, and many of us know it. What social contract? Which citizenry had any real choice as to the type of constitutional agreement that they supposedly entered into with their government and fellow residents? What democracy? Which people of which nation truly govern themselves? What profit motive? Where is the land where people are paid in any reasonable proportion to the quality and quantity of the work they perform? What equal protection? Which country is it that doesn't afford special legal privileges to the wealthy and well connected?

    The truth these lies are meant to conceal is an ugly one - the fact that every nation on Earth is operating to allow a few members of a small owning class to exploit and subjugate a much larger working class. They have been able to get away with this because the theories that underlie operative governments allow them to do so. Whether it be Authoritarianism or Republicanism, Capitalism or Keynesianism, Conservatism or Liberalism, Communism or Socialism, each of the operative ideologies is debilitated by fallacy. They have all left the door wide open for the privileged to exploit the working class - it is no wonder that they continue to walk through it. Autonomism would close that door and open up many new ones, including the door to real democracy.





  • Music

    In operation, Autonomism would:

    1. Establish a Right to Individual Autonomy: It is designed to give people what they want governmentally, as long as they do not violate the rights of others. It would guarantee residents the opportunity to decide whether to enter into certain social contracts with others, and ensure that all reasonable options are on the table in the process. In addition to the existing governmental objectives, citizens would be able to to choose whether their administrations are structured to serve as a conduit for self-determination politically, a facilitator of income based on labor economically, and an impartial arbiter legally.

    2. Expand Constitutional Law to Enforce that Right: It would subject public contracts to the same rules of fairness that apply to private contracts. Rather than continuing to pretend that ancient creeds agreed to by small numbers of politicians amount to social contracts between living populaces, citizens would have the right to "offer and acceptance", "consideration", "bargained for exchange", and certain defenses when formulating and ratifying constitutions.

    3. Encourage Nation Building Based on Philosophy to Enhance that Right: The more of the people whose interests are represented by their government, the more democratic it is. And the more that the citizens of any state agree with each other, the more that their government can be structured to represent their interests. Rather than continuing to let state boundaries be defined by history or the prevailing winds, and to settle for governments that barely satisfy barely half the people at best, this theory would promote organized democratization - the separation of citizenries according to the type of government that they desire, and the establishment of corresponding states.

  • Movies

    As a systematic theory of government, "Contractual Autonomism" is not related in any way to other entities that refer to themselves as Autonomists.


  • Television

    THE 300 MILLION LITTLE PIGS

    Once upon a time, there was a mother pig, who had 300 million little pigs. The little pigs grew so big that their mother said to them, "You are too big and you disagree too much to live here together any longer. You must go and build houses for yourselves – and because there are so many of you and you need so many things, you will need to build economic systems to help you. The best way to do that is to figure out what your goals are first, and then you can figure out the best way to achieve them. But take care that the 6 million wealthy wolves do not catch you."

    The 300 million little pigs set off down the road. Soon they met a Capitalist who was carting some straw. "Please will you help us?" asked the little pigs. "We want to build an economic system for ourselves."

    "Yes," said the Capitalist. Capital is the best foundation for an economic system – to create ways for those with money to use it to make more money – and to allow those who use their capital to buy businesses to charge whatever prices and pay whatever salaries they want. Then competition will naturally ensure that everything works out fairly. Some of the pigs were persuaded, and proceeded to build themselves an economic system based on capital. This first group of little pigs was very pleased with their economic system. They oinked, "Now the 6 million wealthy wolves won't catch us and eat us."

    The other pigs were not impressed. "This makes no sense whatsoever. We shall build a stronger house than yours," they said, and they went on along the road. Soon they met a Communist who was carting some sticks. "Please will you help us?" asked the little pigs. "We want to build an economic system for ourselves."

    "Yes," said the Communist. Need is the best foundation for an economic system – to take from workers according to their abilities, and to give back to them according to their needs - that way, everybody will be able to work and have everything that they need. Some of the pigs were persuaded and proceeded to build themselves an economic system based on need. This second group of little pigs was very pleased with their economic system. They oinked, "Now the 6 million wealthy wolves won't catch us and eat us."

    The other pigs were not impressed. "It is ludicrous to design an economic system to reward pigs based on their needs. We shall build a stronger house than yours," they said, and they went on along the road. Soon they met a Socialist who was carting some soil. "Please will you help us?" asked the little pigs. "We want to build an economic system for ourselves."

    "Yes," said the Socialist. Equality is the best foundation for an economic system – to financially reward everyone equally regardless of what they produce - that way, there will be no disputes about money or property, and everything will be fair. Some of the pigs were persuaded and proceeded to build themselves an economic system based on equality. They were very pleased with their economic system, less worried about the wolves, etc.

    The remaining pigs didn’t buy it. "This doesn’t sound right to us, either. We shall build a stronger house than yours," they said. “But what will you use for your foundation? There are no other options left”, asked the third group of little pigs. “We don’t know, but none of these arguments add up. We will keep looking”, they replied. The fourth group of little pigs went on along the road. Soon they met an Autonomist who was carting some bricks. "Please help us build an economic system", they asked.

    "Yes," said the Autonomist. Labor is the best foundation for an economic system – to financially reward citizens according to the quality and quantity of their contribution to society - that way, everyone will be motivated to do their share because they will prosper if they do. This sounded right to the fourth group of little pigs, who proceeded to build themselves an economic system based on labor. The little pigs liked it – seemed wolf retardant, etc.

    The next day the 6 million wealthy wolves came to the economic system based on capital. When the first little pigs saw them coming, they ran inside their Capitalist house of straw, and shut the door. The wolves knocked on the door and said, "Little pigs, little pigs, let us come in." The pigs answered "Not by the hair of our chinny chin chins." "Then we'll huff and we'll puff and we'll blow your house in," said the wolves.

    So the wolves huffed and they puffed and they huffed and they puffed. Because the system was designed to reward those with capital, the door blew right open. The biggest problem was monopolization. The wealthy wolves used their money to buy up all of the businesses. Then they overcharged their customers, underpaid their employees, and pocketed the vast majority of the profits. Competition didn’t help keep things fair because the wealthy wolves colluded together to keep prices high and salaries low. Most of the wealthiest wolves never worked at all, while the little pigs who actually worked were given the minimum amount that they would accept. In order to sustain the illusion that all little pigs could become wealthy through asserting themselves, a few of them were paid highly. But the little pigs who were rewarded the most were not the ones who saved lives or invented things that improved society the most. The most highly paid little pigs were an odd conglomeration of entertainers and businesspigs. Given the weakness of the straw foundation, the economic system based on capital fell down and the wolves ate up the first group of little pigs.

    The next day the wolves came to the economic system based on need. When the second group of little pigs saw them coming, they ran inside their Communist house of sticks, and shut the door. The wolves knocked on the door and said, "Little pigs, little pigs, let us come in." They answered "Not by the hair of our chinny chin chins." "Then we'll huff and we'll puff and we'll blow your house in," said the wolves.

    So they huffed and puffed and huffed and puffed. Because the system was designed to reward need, someone needed to have the power to identify the needs of citizens and decide how to reward them – and because the wolves were wealthy, they were able to buy these positions of governmental authority, and use them to protect and enhance their wealth. As for the little pigs, by taking from them according to their abilities and giving to them based on their needs, they all became less able and more needy. Very little was actually produced, and the place was riddled with shortages and resentment. Most pigs had neither what they wanted nor what they needed. Given the weakness of the stick foundation, the economic system based on need fell down and the wolves devoured the second group of little pigs, with applesauce on the side – the oinking was horrific.

    The next day the 6 million wealthy wolves came to the economic system based on equality. When the third group of little pigs saw them coming, they ran inside their Socialist house of soil, and shut the door. The wolves knocked on the door and said, "Hey pigs, come here a minute. Open up that door." The little pigs oinked, "No, I don't think we will be doing that." "Then we are going to come at you heavy, with the huffing and the puffing - won't be good for you" said the wolves.

    So they huffed and puffed, etc.. Because the system was designed to reward everyone equally, a strong government was just as necessary as in the other systems – and once again the wealthy wolves were in the best position to establish control over that government, and use that power to try to make things equal for everyone but themselves. As for the pigs, everyone spent most of their time trying to avoid doing their share of the work because they knew they would get paid the same no matter what - lots of pigs tried to find secret ways to get more than others, and many succeeded through crime and corruption. And there were certain jobs that none of the pigs wanted, so the authorities assigned professions, often to the little pigs’ chagrin. Given the weakness of the soil foundation, the economic system based on equality fell down and the wolves feasted on the third group of little pigs – it is said that the survivors still wake up in the dark, to that awful oinking of the pigs.

    The next day the wolves came to the economic system based on labor. When the fourth group of little pigs saw them coming, they ran inside their Autonomist house of bricks and shut the door. The wolves said, "You pigs - open up the frigging door, and let us in." The pigs said "Not." "Then we'll blow it to kingdom come, make bacon out of you, and eat you with a nice chianti," said the wolves.

    So the wolves did their huffing and puffing thing. Yet because the system was specifically designed to reward citizens for the quality and quantity of their work, the foundation was strong. An actual profit motive and an actual social contract were created. Knowing that they would profit more if they contributed more, citizens tried to contribute more – to find ways to use their abilities to do productive things, and to do their share. Those little pigs who used their time, minds, and bodies to do more difficult things were rewarded more, but everybody was able to live well, relax often, pig out at will, and enjoy the fruits of their efforts. When the wolves tried to use their wealth to buy their way in, the fourth group of little pigs ignored them – they assigned the wolves’ currency no value because it did not represent any labor on their part. Things weren't perfect. There was still conflict. But at least the pigs were arguing about whether nurses and teachers should be paid more than businesspigs, rather than the appropriate rate to tax businesspigs who make 100 times more than nurses and teachers.

    No matter how hard the 6 million wealthy wolves huffed and puffed, the economic system based on labor did not fall down. After a while, the wolves gave up, hungry, riddled with swine flu, and went back to mess with any pigs that they missed in the other houses – or maybe they went on to target deer or monkeys. It doesn’t really matter. And the little pigs who based their economic system on the brick foundation of labor lived happily ever after.

    As of the writing of this story on 4/20/09, the current population of the United States is projected by the U.S. Bureau of the Census to be 306,157,059.


Details

  • Status: Single
  • Zodiac Sign: Virgo
  • Occupation: Political Theory

Blurbs

About me:

Political Systems Based on Consent
Economic Systems Based on Labor
Legal Systems Based on Equality

www.autonomism.com

Autonomism is designed to serve the common good by facilitating self-determination and giving people real choices regarding whether and which types of social contracts they enter into with other residents. Most simply put, the theory is comprised of the following arguments:

  • That governmental systems, like any other, should be specifically designed to pursue certain goals.


  • That the public pursuit of certain objectives would serve the common good more effectively than any other - namely, political systems based on consent, economic systems based on labor and legal systems based on equality.


  • That the powerful typically act to keep such objectives out of the equation when constitutions are framed and interpreted.


  • That certain mechanisms would constrain the powerful from continuing to keep governmental options limited to those that allow them to exploit the rest of us.





Who I'd like to meet:

This theory (more specifically known as "Contractual Autonomism") was formulated by Christopher T. Widholm, a public interest lawyer and activist from New York State. It is the subject of a book entitled "The Autonomist Precepts: A Systematic Theory of Democratic Government", which is expected to be finished soon. The theory is described in greater detail at autonomism.com.



Capitalism


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