Freakcity

Reverse PyromaniacProbability engineer of renown!

Abeneplacito’s blog

Pluritas non est ponenda sine necesitate. Carpe Diem. Cogito Ergo Sum. A Bene Placito.

Tuesday June 6th, 2006 at 22:14pm

I’m only really publishing the following to gratify my ego, but hey why not. Having seen the Euston Manifesto, I thought I’d compile a list of some of the changes if I were elected Prime Minister of the country. Undoubtedly many folk would be very pissed off at some of the content, but hey who am I to care? It is entitled “Axioms” and each are simple statements of belief and intent. I don’t honestly believe I’ll ever be able to achieve them, but hey it’s worth a try. Wilful ignorance is not acceptable in a liberal democracy. All citizens within a democracy are responsible for the well being of that democracy. Government should not be an alien concept to anyone; all citizens ought to have a basic understanding of how their country operates, who can redress their grievances and how they can become involved in government. Social apathy and “disillusionment” is one of the greatest enemies to a healthy democracy in the modern world, allowing potential tyrants to amass only small amount of support in order to snatch power. Information regarding both local and national government should be more widely available, and routinely updated and redistributed. Voting should be compulsory on penalty of a considerable fine, in all Government elections, including local and European elections. Of course all voters retain the right to spoil their ballot, or leave it unmarked, however, their attendance at a polling booth should be compulsory. Options for voting should be expanded, possibly including more days for balloting, increased remote voting options, possibly including postal, proxy and internet voting, and exceptions to the above made for those unavailable to vote, for example, those outside of the country at the time. The duty of medicine is to comfort and cure, not to prolong. There are circumstances under which it is cruel and unnecessary to prolong the life of someone wishing to end it. Medical practioners should be able to aid patients wishing to end their life when such a patient can meet the following criteria; (a) The patient is terminally ill, with no chance of recovery other than spontaneous remission, (b) The patient has a very low chance of recovering spontaneously, (c) The patient is in extreme pain, constant discomfort or has such a low standard of living that the patient believes that ending their life is a preferable option, (d) At least two medical professionals familiar with the case concur that the patient is of sound judgement and is fully aware of the implications of any such request, (e) The patient gives a full written request, signed and witnessed by a medical professional. These circumstances should prevent any potential misuse of these regulations, and allow patients wishing to, die with dignity. Whilst this may offend many of a religious persuasion, ultimately humanism should be the first consideration in such matters. Education should be an exercise in humanism, not economics or religious indoctrination. It is unethical, perhaps immoral, to educate children solely on the basis for preparing them for the workplace. The duty of the state education system is not only to provide students with vocational skills, but also to teach them about the world in which they live. Similarly, the state education system does not exist to indoctrinate children with one religion or another. All members of a society have the right to choose their religious disposition free of uninvited outside interference, especially from state education. Those who claim religious superiority means that their religion should be taught in schools should have enough confidence in their faith to believe that those deserving of it will come of their own accord. All religious schools should be abolished, and the National Curriculum be changed to be completely secular. Religious Education, Citizenship and Physical, Health and Social education should be replaced by a single class, examined at

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