American Independence Movement: Summary of Position on Major Issues

(Draft 11 September 2001, updated 31 May 2016)

Mission: The American Independence Movement (AIM) is committed to a strong military, economic self-sufficiency, political and social stability, an independent foreign policy, and preservation of the global natural environment.  Below is a summary of AIM’s position on major issues.  The AIM will work within the law to change the law to support the following positions.

Rationale: The industrial world has, in the past few decades, consumed approximately half of the world's petroleum.  No one knows exactly how long petroleum reserves will last, but at current rates of consumption, they will likely be exhausted by about 2050.  At that time, the age of global industrialization will be over.  World coal supplies will last beyond 2050, but they are concentrated in a few countries (e.g., the US, Russia, China), and they will not delay the demise of global industrialization.  Within 50 years, the world political structure will change dramatically.  The industrial age will end and the world human population will plummet from its current level (six billion and counting) to a few hundred million or less.

Within 50 years, the industrial age will be over.  The current global political structure of 200-odd nations will end.  The only really significant issues to resolve are: (1) what will be the state of the biosphere at that time (e.g., will there remain no other large animal species, apart from man); and (2) who (what nation) will be in charge.  It is our belief that a single nation will assume control of the planet.  The long-term goal of the AIM is that that One Nation will be the United States of America, and that it will control a planet with biodiversity similar to that of today.  The short-term objectives of the AIM -- strengthening the US and protecting the planet's remaining biodiversity -- are directed toward accomplishing that long-term goal.

The following is a summary of the AIM platform for accomplishing its goals.  The platform is currently in draft form.  The full platform is available for review at the Internet web site http://www.foundationwebsite.org.  Comments on the draft platform are invited.  Please send your comments via the site “feedback” e-mail.

Military.  A strong defense against global nuclear war: build the National Missile Defense Antiballistic Missile System, based on a strategy of destroying all missiles on launch. See the book, Can America Survive? at http://www.foundationwebsite.org for an assessment of America's current vulnerability to nuclear war.  Take steps, including reduced immigration and closed borders, to reduce the vulnerability of the US to “suitcase-bomb” attacks on cities.  Take defensive measures to enable the US to survive in a post-industrial, post-petroleum, post-nuclear-war environment.

Population.  Zero immigration.  Massive immigration to the US is dividing and destabilizing US society, destroying agricultural land (by converting it to urban infrastructure), and contributing to increased planetary energy consumption, pollution, destruction of nature, and species extinction.  See Can America Survive? for further details on the rationale for a zero-immigration population policy.

Energy.  Prepare for the exhaustion of petroleum in 2050.  Place heavy emphasis on use of solar energy (which includes hydroelectric, biomass, and wind).  Solar energy can support about 500 million people worldwide (about 75 million in the US -- the population in 1900), so a massive global die-off is expected as fossil fuels deplete.  See web site http://www.foundationwebsite.org for details.  Use nuclear fast-breeder reactors as long as the US population remains above the level than can be supported by solar energy.

Environment.  Preservation of national wilderness areas.  Preservation of global environmental assets (e.g., rain forests in Brazil and Indonesia) by military action.

Industry, Agriculture and Commerce.  Resurrection of America’s basic industries, to make America fully self-sufficient.  Restore the family farm as the basis of US agriculture (important culturally and as a nuclear postattack countermeasure).  End battery production of hogs, chickens, eggs, and other animals or animal products.  End export of plant and animal products.  Restrict foreign trade to that which is needed for military purposes. 

Nationbuilding.  End the balkanization and destabilization of the United States being caused by massive immigration.  Reestablish English as a common national language.  Educational programs containing training in core-culture values (work ethic, Christian morality).  Federal standards and curricula for education.  Equality of opportunity for all Americans as a general policy, with certain exclusions (e.g., prohibition of a child molester from teaching kindergarten would be quite acceptable).  Universal military service for all 18-21 year olds.

External (Foreign) Affairs / Foreign Policy / Foreign Trade.  Withdraw from the United Nations (UN) and World Bank.  Remove UN and World Bank from US soil.  Discontinue foreign aid, except for military reasons.  Extend US territorial waters to 200 miles.

Commitment to self-sufficiency and independence.  Protect and nurture US industries and agriculture (family farms).  No free trade, globalization: end all foreign trade, except as required for military purposes.  Withdraw from World Trade Organization (WTO) and North America Free Trade Association (NAFTA). 

Economic Security.  End direct (government-delivered) public welfare.  Charity provided by families, churches, private foundations, and nongovernmental organizations, with support from the government.  Subsidized/free meals for schools in low-income neighborhoods.  Guaranteed employment, with the government as the employer of last resort (through nongovernmental organizations).

Education.  Neighborhood elementary schools (no bussing).  Emphasis on work and Christian ethics and morality.  National educational curricula, standards, and tests.  Top 5% of all graduating high-school students receive full college scholarship; top 10% receive partial scholarships.  Safe schools.

Health.  Emphasis on public health and preventive medicine, not on curative medicine.  Local public health clinics in all populated areas.

Public Finance.  Replace the personal and corporate income taxes with a value-added tax (VAT).  Convert Social Security financing to an actuarially sound basis.  See the book The Value-Added Tax: A New Tax System for the United States at web site http://www.foundationwebsite.org for details.

Return to the “gold standard” (i.e., precious metals will back all currency).  Devalue the dollar so that the silver dollar and twenty-dollar gold piece may be reintroduced.

Retire the national debt, and move to a balanced budget.

Justice.  The following initiatives will be undertaken to improve justice for all Americans and raise the level of national security.

Prison Reform.  No incarcerations longer than 10 years.  Hard labor as a rule.  Public punishments (stocks, pillories, caning) for lesser offenses.  The death penalty as an alternative to long-term incarceration, not as a punishment or deterrent.  Emphasis on English common law (no mandatory sentences).

Legal Reform.  Tort reform.  No-fault automobile insurance.  No claims for pain and suffering.  No contingency fees.  No class-action suits.  Punitive damages are paid to the state.

Decriminalization of Drugs.  Decriminalize all drug use, to end the massive flow of money to organized crime because of the criminalization of drugs.

Gun Control.  All adult persons who are members of a regulated militia may possess the weapons authorized to be issued by the militia.  Individuals may possess unregistered "non-assault" type firearms.

Profiling.  Police are encouraged to use profiling to assist in the apprehension of criminals.

Affirmative Action.  End Affirmative Action, which is blatant racial/ethnic/gender discrimination.

Reparations and Apologies.  There will be no reparations or apologies for slavery, or for the conquest and destruction of America's indigenous cultures.

Abortion.  Support a woman’s right to choose, but no late-term abortions or infanticide.  The government will not fund or provide abortions, except to save the life of the mother (medically necessary).

Illegal Immigration.  Severe penalties to be imposed for the crime of illegal immigration.

Privacy.  Use of the Social Security Number as a universal identifier (e.g., by credit bureaus, credit-card companies, banks, insurance companies, retail businesses and private organizations) is prohibited.

Legal Status of the District of Columbia.  No statehood for District of Columbia.


American Independence Movement

Platform Rationale (Ideology)

(Draft 11 September 2001, updated 31 May 2016)

Introduction

This document describes the vision, mission (goals), and platform (objectives) of the American Independence Movement (AIM).  It begins by assessing the current world situation and the position of the United States in it.  It then defines long-term goals for the United States and describes a political platform for accomplishing those goals.

In many respects, the United States does not have long-term goals.  Its activities are to a considerable extent in support of a hodgepodge of unrelated programs that have little or no relationship to the global situation or the long term.  In many instances, such as in the areas of population and energy, it has no well-defined or rationalized policies, and its current programs and activities are not sustainable.  The country does not have a well-defined or articulated worldview, and it does not have policies or programs relating to such a view.  It does not know (or accept) where it or the world is going to be, or even wants to be, fifty years from now.  It is similar to a ship without a destination, sailing on uncharted waters, that capriciously changes course every four years.  And like a ship without a destination, it has no concept of where it will end up.

The following sections of this document present an assessment of the current world situation, define a mission for the United States, and describe a program of goals and objectives that can accomplish that mission.

World Situation Assessment

To be blunt, the world is being ruined.  It is being ruined by industrial activity on such a grand scale that it is destroying the biosphere – an estimated 30,000 species are being made extinct each year because of mankind's large numbers and industrial activity.  Wildlife habitat is being destroyed to such a great extent that the biosphere is in the process of undergoing a mass species extinction – the so-called “sixth extinction.”  The future is ominous.  Instead of calling for a massive reduction in industrial activity and human population, however, world leaders are calling for even more industrial production.

Mankind’s large numbers and industrial production are severely polluting the planet and rapidly depleting its storehouse of fossil-fuel energy.  The human population has recently consumed about half the planet’s storehouse of fossil fuels, and will have consumed all of the petroleum and natural gas within the next fifty years. China and India, accounting for a third of the world’s human population, are calling for dramatic increases in the standard of living of their citizens.  This thrust will dramatically accelerate the consumption of fossil fuels and greatly exacerbate the “greenhouse gas” problem.

The United States’ policies are contributing directly to making the situation worse.  It does not have explicitly articulated long-term population and energy policies.  Worse, its current programs and activities represent a “de facto” program of more destruction of the planet by increased industrial activity.  Its current population and energy programs are oriented toward continued – and increased – consumption of fossil fuels.  Because world petroleum and natural gas reserves will be exhausted by 2050, this policy is the height of folly.  It is not sustainable.  The US government does not have a plan for what it will do, or any articulated conception of what will happen, when fossil fuels are exhausted.

US immigration policy contributes to a worsening of the problem.  Citizens in third-world countries consume a small fraction of the commercial energy that US citizens consume – e.g., 200 kilograms of oil equivalent (kgoe) in poor countries versus 2500 kgoe in the US.  When a person emigrates from a third-world country to the US, his commercial energy consumption rises dramatically – up to tenfold.  At the present time, the US population is increasing at an incredible rate – about one percent a year, or almost three million per year.  This explosive population growth – due mainly to immigration – contributes to a significant increase in the burning of fossil fuels, the pollution of the planet, and the greenhouse gas problem.

Industrial growth destroys nature.  It is estimated that for every new immigrant to the US, an acre of land is “destroyed,” in the sense that it is converted from a biological use such as agriculture, sylviculture or wildlife habitat to pavement, homes, buildings, or other infrastructure.  America’s current immigration policy causes the destruction of millions of additional acres of land every year.  America’s industrial sector wants more immigration because it leads to increased production and profits.  The fact that it also leads to further destruction of nature and the environment is not a concern of the nation's leaders.  American economists want free trade, globalization, open borders and anything else that leads to economic efficiency and production, regardless of the consequences to the planet’s biosphere.

The political system of the planet is contributing to the destruction of nature.  The current planetary political structure is a system of close to 200 independent countries all champing at the bit to improve the standard of living for their citizens by increasing per capita industrial production and commercial energy consumption.  All world leaders are calling for more industrial production, not less.  They are calling for higher standards of living, even though this means higher per capita commercial energy consumption.  That mankind’s current large population size and industrial activity are destroying nature and the biological diversity of the planet’s biosphere may be acknowledged, but no plans or programs or activities are oriented toward a substantial lessening of industrial activity and fossil-fuel consumption.

Under the current planetary political system, it is impossible to have a consistent, coherent planetary environmental policy and program.  If Brazil, Indonesia, or Guyana choose to destroy their rain forests, they are free to do so.  The United Nations and World Bank will even provide them with encouragement and means to bring this about.

The massive explosion in global human population has been enabled by fossil fuel.  The human population is now far larger than can be supported by recurrent solar energy.  Because of the tremendous overcrowding and destruction of the environment, global war -- global nuclear war -- is virtually inevitable.  But the US is virtually totally unprepared to survive global nuclear war.  The US and the world are not prepared for the end of the fossil-fuel age, and they are not prepared for global nuclear war, both of which loom close.

In summary, mankind’s large numbers and industrial activity are causing severe damage to the biosphere and a massive species extinction, and the planetary political system is contributing to the problem, not to the solution.  In order to save the planet’s biosphere from further destruction, radical changes must be made in the planet’s political structure.  As the leading world economic and military power, the United States is in a position to change things.  This document presents a program for accomplishing this change.

Mission

The mission of the American Independence Movement (AIM) is first, to save the planet’s environment and biodiversity from the destruction being caused by large human population and industrial activity; second, to increase the likelihood of the long-term survival of mankind; third, to enhance the long-term security of the United States; and fourth, to prepare its citizens for survival in the post-industrial era.

Rationale: The industrial world has, in the past few decades, consumed approximately half of the world's petroleum.  At current rates of consumption, the remainder will be gone by 2050.  At that time, the age of global industrialization will be over.  World coal supplies will last beyond 2050, but they are concentrated in a few countries (e.g., the US, Russia, China), and they will not delay the demise of global industrialization.  Within 50 years, the world political structure will change dramatically.  The industrial age will end and the world human population will plummet from its current level (7.4 billion and counting) to a few hundred million or less.

Within 50 years, the industrial age will be over.  The current global political structure of 200-odd nations will end.  The only really significant issues to resolve are: (1) what will be the state of the biosphere at that time (e.g., will there remain no other large animal species, apart from man); and (2) who (what nation) will be in charge.  It is our belief that a single nation will assume control of the planet.  The long-term goal of the AIM is that that One Nation will be the United States of America, and that it will control a planet with biodiversity similar to that of today.  The short-term objectives of the AIM -- strengthening the US and protecting the planet's remaining biodiversity -- are directed toward accomplishing that long-term goal.

The following is a summary of the AIM platform for accomplishing its goals.  The platform is currently in draft form.  The full platform is available for review at the Internet web site http://www.foundationwebsite.org .  Comments on the draft platform are invited.  Please send your comments via the site “feedback” e-mail.

Policy and Goals

The following paragraphs describe a program for accomplishing the AIM’s mission.  This program is a set of clearly stated goals that represent a consistent, coherent plan for accomplishing the mission.  The AIM will work within the law to change the law to promote these goals.  The paragraphs that follow describe both general policy, as well as specific goals, in each of the following areas:

        Military

        Population

        Energy

        Environment

        Industry, Agriculture and Commerce

        Nationbuilding / Education / Cultural Affairs

        External (Foreign) Affairs / Foreign Policy / Foreign Trade

        Economic Security

        Health

        Public Finance

        Justice

Not all of the areas listed above are of equal importance, either for the present US population or for the long-term survival of mankind or nature.  In addition to addressing its primary mission of preserving the long-term security of the planet’s biodiversity, mankind, and the nation, the AIM platform / program also addresses current social issues, such as abortion, welfare, drugs, and privacy.  Proposals in these areas are coordinated with the primary mission.

Military Policy

Unless the United States maintains its political integrity, it will be in no position to accomplish its mission.  For this reason, military policy is the most important plank of the AIM platform.  The mission of the US military is to protect the US from all enemies, both foreign and domestic.  In recent years, the mission of the US military has been severely restricted, to the point where it is used only to protect interests that relate closely to the US economy, such as the protection of Middle-East oil.  Its role will be expanded to include protection and preservation of global natural resources such as rain forests.  In the long run, these natural resources are infinitely more important to mankind’s survival than oil, which will be gone anyway in about 50 years, at present rates of consumption.

In recent years, it has been “politically correct” both in the US and other countries to refer to military policy euphemistically as “defense policy,” and to the department or ministry of defense instead of the department or ministry of war.  In order to effect significant change, it will be necessary for the US to adopt a much more aggressive military posture, and it must be prepared therefore not only to passively defend itself from aggression but to undertake aggressive military action to accomplish goals that are important from a planetary perspective.  To emphasize the change in perspective, what was previously referred to as “defense policy” will generally be referred to as “military policy.”

At the present time, the US is incredibly vulnerable to destruction from military attack.  It cannot defend itself from a ballistic missile attack, and it cannot defend itself from attack by terrorists, who are quite free to detonate nuclear bombs in any US city.  The US government has no program to defend, or even feed, its population in the wake of global nuclear war.  This must and will change.

Current US military policy does not address the issue of how to survive the aftermath of global nuclear war, even though the likelihood of global nuclear war appears to be increasing.  The US abandoned its "civil defense" postattack program decades ago.  Current policy is directed to waging nuclear war, but not surviving it.  The military policies of the AIM are will be directed toward increasing the ability of the US to survive global nuclear war.

The AIM will promote the development of a comprehensive antiballistic missile system (“National Missile Defense”).  This system will be capable of thwarting a large-scale ballistic missile attack from China or Russia, as well as small-scale attacks from North Korea or other source.  The antiballistic missile system concepts proposed in the past were not practical because they permitted the enemy to launch its missiles into space before destroying them.  Because of penetration aids such as decoys, chaff, and nuclear explosions, it was impossible to track and destroy the missiles from a large attack.  It is proposed to build a “destroy on launch” system that instantly destroys all unauthorized missiles launched from the surface of the planet.  No country or organization will be permitted to launch any missile without the direct participation of the US military.  This system is feasible to build quickly, and it will work.

The intensity of the current argument that the US needs the NMD to guard against "rogue missiles" from terrorist groups or "rogue nations" is a little misplaced (although an NMD probably could be capable of destroying a very small number of missiles after launch).  At the present time, the US is far more vulnerable to attack from “suitcase bombs” – small nuclear bombs that can be placed (e.g., using a truck) in any US city or other target – than from missile-delivered weapons.  Just a modest-sized attack (on 1,000 cities worldwide) can destroy 75% of the world urban population.  Many fewer bombs would be required to destroy US fossil-fuel energy sources, such as the oil fields of Canada, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Mexico, Colombia and other major sources.  (Because it is almost totally dependent on fossil fuels for energy, the US could be destroyed with just a few atomic bombs placed on key fossil-fuel energy targets.  Without this energy, US agriculture can support only about 75 million people, not its present 322 million.)  The vulnerability to a suitcase-bomb attack is high for a number of reasons, including:  (1) the proliferation of nuclear weapon technology; (2) the proliferation of weapons-grade fissionable nuclear material (plutonium); (3) the loss of substantial quantities of fissionable material by the nuclear powers; (4) the porous borders of the US, allowing millions of people entry to the US throughout the year; (5) the “politics of envy,” which motivates the non-western (primarily Moslem) world to destroy the US and western cultures (i.e., drives the “have-nots” to destroy what the “haves” have); (6) the immigration policies of the US, which have accepted many immigrants from cultures that are inimical to the US, such as Islam and China; and (7) the defense policies of the US, which have granted security clearances to millions of people and have allowed over 10,000 Moslems and Chinese to enter the US armed forces.

In short, the likelihood of a nuclear bombing of a US city by a terrorist group is already high, and increasing.  Moreover, it is high and increasing because of failed US defense policies.  It is just a matter of time until a US city is destroyed by a “suitcase” nuclear bomb placed by a terrorist group.  Current US policies and lack of preparedness make it highly vulnerable to such an attack and are increasing the likelihood of its occurrence.  The AIM will take steps to reduce the vulnerability to, and promote survivability in the aftermath of, nuclear attack.

The US’ current population/immigration policy is at odds with defending the country.  The US cannot be defended against nuclear, chemical, or biological terrorism under its current system of massive immigration, extreme multiculturalism and open borders.  Steps will be taken to coordinate the nation’s population and immigration policies (and all other policies) into a rational whole, oriented toward the accomplishment of the nation’s mission.  All immigration will be halted, and the borders will be closed to all but military purposes.  A nation cannot be strong if it is fractionated into a myriad of diverse ethnic groups.  With respect to national strength, extreme diversity is divisive and destabilizing – it contributes to weakness, not strength.  History has shown that when ethnic-minority populations exceed about ten percent of a nation’s total population, serious problems arise.  Efforts will be undertaken to rebuild the United States as a “people” – a population that is homogeneous from the points of view of language, religion, and culture.  English will be declared the official language, and all citizens will be trained it its use.  The US will be reaffirmed as a Christian nation.  To emphasize this, the national anthem will be changed, as suggested once by Sir Winston Churchill, from the Star Spangled Banner to the Battle Hymn of the Republic.

It is recognized that exploding human population is the greatest threat to national and planetary security, and that efforts to increase industrial development and production are not only unsustainable in the long run, but contributing directly to the massive destruction of species and the biosphere.  The efforts of China and India, which together comprise over a third of all humanity, to increase the standard of living of their populations to US levels sounds the death knell for millions of species and the biosphere as we know it.  China and India will be requested to cease further industrialization of their obscenely large populations, or face military consequences.

For further information about the likelihood of global nuclear ware and the vulnerability of the US to nuclear attack, see the book, Can America Survive? at Internet web site http://www.foundationwebsite.org.

All adults will be subject to military service in times of emergency.  Women will not be required to engage in combat (direct or indirect).

Under AIM policies and programs, the US will embark on an ambitious program to survive global war (nuclear, biological, chemical).  This will include comprehensive education and preparation to live in a postattack environment.  All citizens aged 18-21 will enter military service, and receive training in survival in a post-nuclear-war world.  (Education will continue during the period of military service.)  There will be a large-scale return to the family farm, to reduce America’s severe dependence on technological agriculture, which will disappear as fossil fuels disappear (or even sooner, if global nuclear war occurs).

Time is running out for the United States.  If global nuclear war does not destroy it first, it will not, under current policies, survive the end of the petroleum age.  The AIM’s military policies are aimed at reducing the US’ vulnerability, and to increasing its ability to survive in a postattack or postindustrial environment.

Population Policy

The nation’s population policy will be zero immigration.  The main reasons for this policy were the reasons discussed in the Military Policy section – the need to close the nation’s borders to ensure security, to prevent further fractionation and destabilization of the population by extreme ethnic diversification and multiculturalism, and to reduce the level of damage to the nation’s and planet’s environment when low-energy-consuming third-worlders migrate to high-energy-consuming nations.

The nation’s current population size is not sustainable in the long run – a maximum of about 75 million people can be supported in the US at a low level of living by solar energy.  It is not considered feasible or necessary, however, to reduce the US population by birth-control means.  Because of the world’s exploding population and industrialization, global nuclear war or other catastrophe is considered inevitable.  When fossil-fuel reserves are exhausted, the planet faces a massive die-off of human population.  See the web site http://www.foundationwebsite.org for discussion of this.  There is little that the government of the US can do about it.  What it can do, however, is have some positive impact on the state of the world when the industrial age ends (within 50 years, either because of global nuclear war or petroleum exhaustion), and prepare to survive the change that is coming.

A primary purpose of the zero-immigration population policy is to enable the nation to begin a process of rebuilding itself as a viable, ethnically homogeneous people with a unity of purpose, that will survive the coming holocaust (consummation of the industrial age) and assume possession of a planet whose biological diversity has been preserved.

Birthright citizenship shall be terminated (e.g., a child born to an alien will assume the citizenship of the mother).  All amnesties granted to illegal aliens will be annulled, as will citizenship gained by fraudulent means (e.g., as a result of illegal immigration).

Current US population policy is very strongly pro-immigration, despite its concomitant destruction of nature, the nation's culture, and the nation's security, because it is good for the economy.  Every year, the US admits more than a million immigrants, legal or illegal.  This rapidly expanding population creates a demand for all kinds of goods and services -- thousands or millions of houses, apartments, cars and appliances; more food, clothing, electricity and gasoline; more infrastructure (schools, hospitals, buildings, roads, electric power, water, sewer) and demand for all kinds of services (medical, educational, legal, communications, entertainment, banking, retail, wholesale).  The US is addicted to growth.  Now that it is in a near-recession, businessmen and politicians will fight even harder to admit more immigrants, because of the tremendous boost they give to the economy.  The goal of zero immigration will not be achieved easily.

Energy Policy

The US’ current policy of dependence on fossil fuels is absurd.  The world’s petroleum reserves will be exhausted in about 50 years, and coal somewhat later.  Incredibly, in the recent US presidential elections, no mention was made of what the nation (or the world) will do when these fuel resources are gone.  (The reason for this remarkable silence could be denial, but is more likely a reluctance of any national political party to face the stark reality and propose a meaningful solution or even response.)  As mentioned, renewable solar energy (which includes all energy derived from the sun, such as hydroelectric, biomass, and wind) can support just a fraction of the current population (e.g., 75 million at a low level of living, or perhaps a million at a high level of living).   (See http://www.foundationwebsite.org for extensive discussion of the dependence of technological societies on energy, particularly fossil fuels.)

Nuclear energy is not considered a viable long-term source of energy for a large population, for reasons discussed in detail in Can America Survive? (at web site http://www.foundationwebsite.org).  Nevertheless, if America continues to have a large population, larger than can be supported by solar energy, it will eventually have to turn to nuclear power, if even for a while.  Other modern industrial nations, such as France, already realize this.

The issue may be raised concerning whether America (and the world) should switch to nuclear energy before the world’s supply of petroleum is exhausted.  The answer is yes, for several reasons.  First, the massive burning of fossil fuels may be contributing to a greenhouse-gas problem, whose consequences may be catastrophic for the planet.  It does not make sense to risk this catastrophe.  Second, the world’s storehouse of fossil fuel may be put to a better use in the future than in today’s mindless burning of it for no desirable (or even identifiable) long-term purpose.  Third, most of the world’s fossil fuels are not under the direct control of the US, and they are extremely vulnerable to destruction by terrorists.  For these reasons, the switch to nuclear energy should be made immediately.

The current national policy of promoting the highest possible standard of living for all of its citizens (and in fact for all of the world’s population) will be ended.  It results in a ridiculously profligate consumption of energy, for all manner of irrelevant (and nature-destroying) pursuits.  Emphasis will focus on reducing transportation requirements and on efficient means of transportation, such as bicycles and trains.

Environmental Policy

As the industrial age comes to an end (and it will be a screeching halt, not a soft landing, whether it is from global nuclear war or simply the end of fossil fuel), there will be tremendous pressure on the natural environment.  Hungry and starving people will attempt to kill all remaining large animals and decimate forests for wood for energy.  Plans will be made to minimize the impact of this occurrence.  Very large nature reserves will be established, without road access and with military defense of the perimeters.

A military program will be developed to bring an immediate halt to the extermination of 30,000 species per year caused by large human population and industrial activity.  In the past, the US has used military action to destroy “weapons of mass destruction.”  The only “mass destruction” that is of significance in the world today is the mass destruction of natural habitat that is causing the permanent extinction of species and threatening the biosphere.  The major weapons of mass destruction of the planet’s biosphere and species diversity are human numbers and industrial activity.  Military action will be taken to bring an immediate halt to the habitat destruction being caused in critical areas (e.g., rain forests in Brazil, Guyana, and Indonesia).  America’s real enemies are not dictators, such as Slobodan Milosevic, Saddam Hussein or Hosni Mubarak of earlier times or Kim Jong-un, Bashar al-Assad or Robert Mugabe of today.  Their activities neither hasten nor halt the destruction of the world’s biosphere.  They are reviled by the West because they threaten economic activity (free-market activity, industrial production, economic development, access to oil).  The real and ultimate weapons of mass destruction are mankind’s large numbers and industrial activity.  The enemies of nature are industrialization and globalization.  The Koran asserts that those who destroy the Earth shall be destroyed.  Whether the industrial world will be destroyed or simply pass away as fossil fuels deplete may be debated, but in either event the end is the same and clear.

The AIM is committed to an immediate halt to drilling for oil and any other environmentally destructive activity in all environmentally sensitive areas – not just by US firms, but by all organizations, planetwide.  Hydroelectric dams will no longer be permitted in environmentally sensitive areas.  National sovereignty will be respected only to the extent that a nation is not destroying or jeopardizing the survival or integrity of the biosphere and its biodiversity.  Brazil will voluntarily halt its destruction of its globally essential rain forests or it will face military action to bring this about.  China will forego its efforts to burn massive quantities of coal to fuel industrialization of its population, either voluntarily or by force.

The policy areas addressed above -- military, population, energy and environment -- are the major areas affecting the ecological state of the world over the next several decades (and hence for the millions of years to come).  It is policies in these areas that will determine whether the current mass species extinction continues, and indeed, whether the biosphere survives the petroleum age (which will end by 2050).  The next several policy areas deal with issues of the economic independence and cultural integrity of the United States.  They are important relative to the survival of the US as a nation, but they affect the survival of the planet's biosphere only indirectly (i.e., to the extent that a strong US with environmentally sound policies can make a positive long-term impact on the survival of the biosphere).

Industry, Agriculture and Commerce

Under the guise of economic efficiency, America’s past leaders have allowed the destruction of many of its basic industries, such as textiles, shoes, ceramics, steel, and basic manufacturing.  Its policy has been one of globalization and ultra-specialization in which meaningful work has been taken from US workers and given to workers in other countries.  America no longer produces the goods that it needs to be self-sufficient.  It is now highly dependent on products from other countries.  This dependence and vulnerability will come to an end.  America will return to an era of self-sufficiency.  It will produce all of its shoes, clothes, and other items that it needs.  All foreign trade will cease, except for minerals that the US does not possess and are essential for military purposes (e.g., chromium, uranium). 

Similarly, US agriculture has been revolutionized for economic gain.  American soil and natural land have been degraded by greed – the desire to produce as much as possible to sell for profit abroad, no matter what the damage to the soil or natural habitat.  This will stop.  The US will cease export of plant and animal products.  It will produce the food and natural products that it needs for its own citizens.  Rather than continue to convert its natural resources to economic goods for sale abroad, it will return unneeded agricultural land to nature.  Arable land will lie fallow to the extent necessary for regeneration.

The family farm has virtually been eradicated from the United States.  In the interest of economic efficiency – mass production and sales to a global market – family farms have been consolidated into massive agribusinesses.  America will return to an era in which an individual family can once again live on a farm.  This will promote self-sufficiency and our ability to survive global nuclear war.  Battery production of animals and animal products (e.g., eggs, chickens, hogs, veal) will cease.

Nationbuilding / Education / Cultural Affairs

For several decades, the US has undergone a process of social disintegration.  This has been caused mainly by the Immigration Act of 1965, which has permitted millions of aliens entry to the US, and by a total lack of will to prevent illegal aliens from entering the county.  The population of the US has skyrocketed in the past few decades because of its immigration policies.  The population is about 100 million greater than it would have been had this Act not been passed.  Millions of acres of land have been destroyed in order to construct infrastructure (homes, buildings, schools, roads) for immigrants.  America’s birth rates had dropped to replacement levels, and the population would not have exploded but for this Act.  The core culture of the country, that enabled it to be a strong, united nation, has been severely eroded.

Fighting unsuccessfully against its passage, North Carolina Senator Sam J. Ervin Jr. warned that the US Immigration Act of 1965 would lead to destabilization of the country, and he was right.  Concomitant with the massive immigration, the country has undergone a social balkanization.  English is no longer the common national language.  The country is severely divided by extreme ethnic diversity.  This process of fractionation will stop.  Immigration will cease immediately.  Educational programs will be set up to bring about the assimilation of foreign ethic groups, by education in a common national language (English) and Eurocentric (work- and Christian-ethics-centered) core culture.

There will be an end to policies that promote radical egalitarianism, radical individualism, and extreme multiculturalism and ethnic diversity/divisiveness, and a reestablishment of a united “core-culture” United States, having national unity, commitment, and sense of purpose and destiny.  Cultural diversity among nations is a wonderful thing -- as interesting as the genetic diversity of plants and animals.  Carried to an extreme within a nation, however, cultural divesity is suicidal (e.g., Yugoslavia, Rwanda, the Soviet Union, the Ottoman Empire, Ireland, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Israel / Palestine, India / Pakistan / Bangladesh).  Other languages and religions (e.g., Islam, Judaism) are fine, and can certainly form the basis for a strong nation.  To survive for long, a strong nation must have a dominant language and religion, and the dominant language and religion of the United States are English and Christianity.

All youths between the ages of 18 and 21 will be inducted into military service.  During this period of service they will receive training not only in military science, physical development and discipline, but also in civics, social studies, history, literature, language, music, martial arts and other cultural and human development topics.  Bright students will continue to study science and mathematics during this period.

The past half-century has seen a tremendous decline in the two-parent family.  The social and moral fabric of US society is unraveling.  Economic policies have contributed directly to this disintegration.  Steps will be taken to strengthen and support the traditional two-parent family, with a mother at home.

A policy of equality of opportunity will be encouraged, but no quotas (either of participation or outcome).

With the realization that global industrialization for an overpopulated planet is not sustainable and will soon come to an end, plans will be made to position the country so that it can survive in the post-global-industrial age.  These plans will include provision for educating citizens in how to survive in a post-global-industrial era.

Education.  A common curriculum will be established, nationwide, with common standards for testing and promotion.  All elementary-school children will have walking access to neighborhood schools.  Elementary education will emphasize intellectual instruction in the morning, and physical and cultural activities in the afternoon.  Education will possess a strong cultural component (music, dance, martial arts, history).  Emphasis will be on Christian ethics and morality.

(Although the US will be reaffirmed as a Christian nation, the basic concept of separation of church and state will continue.  Public schools will emphasis Christian ethics and morality, but not teach articles of religious faith.)

The top five percent of graduating students will receive full scholarships to (accepting) schools of their choice.  The next five percent will receive partial scholarships.

External (Foreign) Affairs / Foreign Policy / Foreign Trade

The US will withdraw from all foreign economic and political alliances, including the United Nations, the World Bank, the North American Free Trade Association, the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the World Trade Organization.  The UN and World Bank, dedicated and committed to increasing the economic development and industrial activity that is destroying the biosphere, will be removed from US soil.

The US will end its foreign assistance program, including economic and military support (totaling billions of dollars each year) to Israel and Egypt.  It will no longer be a concern to the US whether the area of the Middle East that is currently occupied by Israel is called Israel or Palestine.  If the Israelis wish to continue to occupy that land, and whether they will be able to do so, will be entirely up to them and their neighbors.

US territorial limits will be extended to 200 miles in the ocean.  The Monroe Doctrine will be reasserted.

As mentioned under “Industry,” the US will end all foreign trade, except as required for military purposes.

The remaining policy areas concern issues that are important to current US society, but have little if any effect (direct or indirect) on the long-term survival of the planet's biosphere.  For example, the issues of affirmative action, racial profiling, reparations for slavery, and abortion have been or are currently "hot topics" in US political discourse.  They are essentially irrelevant, however, with respect to the long-term survival of the biosphere, or even of the US as a nation.  They concern preferences on how we wish to live as a society today, but they do not affect whether the nation or the biosphere will survive the end of the petroleum age (i.e., to 2050) or global nuclear war.

The undue attention that these social issues receive, unfortunately, is a tragic example of "fiddling while Rome burns."  Entirely because of mankind's large numbers and industrial activity, the biosphere has begun the sixth mass species extinction, and, incredibly, the US is focusing much attention and energy on many social issues that may seem important (e.g., abortion, drugs, racial profiling, Medicare, Social Security financing), but will be quite irrelevant in a few decades, if the destruction of the biosphere continues (in which case there will be no US), or even sooner, if global nuclear war occurs.

Economic Security ("welfare," unemployment)

All direct government welfare programs, such as AFDC, will cease.  Charity will be once more in the hands of families, churches, and private philanthropic organizations.  The government will provide assistance to churches and other nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to assist orphans, the elderly, and the disabled.  Everyone will be offered work, with the government as the employer of last resort (through NGOs).  A responsible society cares for its young, its elderly, and its disabled; the government will assist in the protection of its vulnerable citizens, but through local social institutions.

Health

Emphasis will be on public health and preventative medicine, not on curative medicine.  Local public health clinics will be established in all areas, with principal concerns in inoculation, bacteriological warfare countermeasures, hygiene, nutrition, sanitation, family planning, traditional medicine and mental health.

Medicare and Medicaid programs will be ended.  All citizens will be entitled to basic health care, provided through local clinics.  (Extraordinary curative/restorative care to be paid by the individual.)

Public Finance

The personal and corporate income taxes will be abolished, and replaced by a value-added tax (collected through businesses, not individuals).  Convert Social Security financing to an actuarially sound basis.  See the book, The Value-Added Tax: A New Tax System for the United States at web site http://www.foundationwebsite.org for details.

There will be a return to the gold standard.  The US dollar will be devalued by a factor of about 60, so that a twenty-dollar gold piece will be worth twenty dollars.

The national debt shall be retired, and the nation will move to a mandatory balanced budget.

Justice

Prison Reform.  No incarcerations will last longer than ten years, with hard labor as a rule.  As an incentive to behavior modification, sentences will be shortened for good behavior (e.g., one month commutation for each month of good behavior, such as active participation in approved training or education programs).  Public short-term punishments (stocks, pillories, caning) will be authorized for lesser offenses.  The death penalty will be used as a punishment, not as a deterrent.  (The goal of prison sentences of not more than ten years is not that radical a suggestion: sentences exceeding ten years are very rare in most countries of the world.)  There will be a reaffirmation of the concept of English common law, which served this country so well for so long, as the basis for our judicial system. 

Legal Reform.  The US is the most litigious society on Earth.  This rampant litigation is extremely wasteful, counterproductive and divisive, and it will be ended.  There will be tort reform, no-fault automobile insurance, no claims for pain and suffering, no class-action suits, and no contingency fees.  Punitive damages will be paid to the state.

Decriminalization of Drugs.  All drug use will be decriminalized, to end the massive flow of money and power to organized crime.  With the closing the US borders and drugs no longer highly valuable, the flow of drugs into the country will end.

Gun Control.  In accordance with the concept set forth in the US Constitution, guns may be possessed by members of regulated militias.  Individuals may possess unregistered "non-assault" type firearms.

Human Rights.  An end to policies that promote radical individualism and radical egalitarianism.  Emphasis on national unity and mission.  As is the case in all societies, certain curtailment of rights is authorized (e.g., limitations on civil rights of juveniles, criminals, sexual deviants, and mentally impaired persons, as well as laws and regulations for all citizens).

Profiling.  “Profiling” to assist the apprehension of criminal suspects is authorized and encouraged, particularly with respect to race, gender and ethnicity.  Profiling is the logical, scientifically well founded practice (Bayes' Rule, search theory) of taking account of distinguishing characteristics of a criminal in the quest to apprehend him.  These characteristics may be of any type, but the more unusual the characteristics are (i.e., the more nearly unique they are to the suspect) the more useful they are in helping to track down a criminal.  For this reason, membership in minority groups, such as minority ethnic/racial groups, are particularly useful (e.g., it is much more useful to know that a suspect is a Hmong or Japanese than a white man, since there are fewer of the former than the latter).  To hamstring the efforts of the police by requiring them to ignore crucial information in their work is not only stupid and wasteful, but criminal.

If a man commits a rape, it is common sense to look for a man, not a woman.  If a black man commits a crime, it is common sense to search for suspects in the black community, not in the white community, and to report that the suspect is black.  If an Hispanic or Arab commits a crime, it is common sense to search for the perpetrator in the Hispanic or Arab communities.  These examples are obvious, since the characteristic of the suspect is known.  But the logic of profiling is just as relevant if particular characteristics are not known with certainty, but are simply known to be correlated with a particular crime.  Some examples….  If most or all of the embassy bombings last year were done by Islamic fundamentalists and another embassy is bombed, it is prudent to concentrate the search for the perpetrators in the Islamic community.  If a group of men in white sheets are seen lynching someone, it makes sense to interrogate members of the local Ku Klux Klan.  If the drinking-while-intoxicated hit-and-run rate is several times higher for Mexican drivers than others, it is right to focus more attention on that segment of the population than on others.  If a sex crime is committed against a child, it makes sense to check out local residents with a history of child molestation.  If a kidnapper cannot pronounce "els," it is reasonable to suspect an oriental and allocate more effort investigating that group.  If a young girl is abducted from her family, it is commonsense to spend more time investigating men than women, who rarely commit this type of crime.  All profiling is prejudicial and discriminatory, but it is the logical and efficient approach to use to apprehend a criminal.  Profiling based on any characteristic correlated with a criminal act -- even if based on race, gender, religion, language or ethnicity -- is the proper way to investigate a crime.  To deliberately ignore characteristics that are known to be correlated with a crime may be politically correct in today's US society, but it is wrong.

The hands of our police will not be tied by an irrational demand to ignore race (or any other known characteristic) in the attempt to apprehend a suspect, if race is an evidential factor in a particular case.  If race (or any other characteristic) is uncorrelated with a particular crime, then of course it makes no sense to target people of a particular race in the search for the criminal -- but that is not racial profiling: it is racial persecution.  On the other hand, if a crime is committed by a “one-armed man,” then police will be permitted to and expected to look for a “one-armed man,” despite the prejudicial aspersions that this casts on the minority population of one-armed men, and notwithstanding the inconvenience or indignation that may be felt by innocent one-armed men who are interrogated.

Discrimination.  As discussed above, profiling (based on any relevant characteristic -- race, gender, religion, language, ethnicity, national origin or other) is endorsed as a legitimate investigative tool.

There shall be no special laws protecting homosexuals, and there shall be no same-sex civil marriages.  Neither shall there be persecution of homosexuals.

At a private level, however, persons or small groups are free to associate with whomever they choose, on whatever grounds.

A serious social problem has arisen with respect to immigration.  The government has allowed so many immigrants into the country (now a million a year!) that it is causing much social friction and social "balkanization" (as well as destruction of the land).  The massive influx of Spanish-speaking immigrants (now over 50 million) is making it difficult for English-speaking Americans to find and keep jobs (e.g., schoolteachers or clerks or nurses or anyone else who deals with the public), particularly in southern states such as California, Texas, or Florida.  Because of their massive numbers, a "backlash" of hard feelings has developed toward immigrants.  The immigration invasion shall stop.  Legal immigrants are to be treated well, but there will no longer be so many that this becomes impossible.

Affirmative Action.  The AIM will seek to end Affirmative Action, which is blatant racial/gender discrimination, and has no place in present-day America.  Equality of opportunity and equal justice under the law are the policy, but there shall be no racial or gender quotas.

Reparations and Apologies.  No reparations or apologies will be extended for the perceived wrongs of the European settlers of America.  It was unfortunate for the Native Americans that Europeans (British, French, Spanish) conquered their land and decimated their cultures, but wars of conquest are and always have been and always will be part of human existence.  It is unfortunate for everyone that modern Americans do not live in harmony with nature, as did the Native Americans.  In this sense, they deserved the land, and we (overpopulated industrial man) do not.

There will be no apologies or reparations to blacks for having had ancestors who were enslaved in America.  It was unfortunate for the blacks who were enslaved and brought to America, but slavery is an economic issue, not a moral one, and in any event certainly not the doing of people alive in America today.  Slavery has thrived throughout history, in cultures as moral as or more moral than ours.  Slavery disappeared globally as mankind began to tap the massive energy reserves of fossil fuel, and slavery was no longer the most efficient energy source (i.e., profitable means) for accomplishing economic production.  It thrives today in remote (energy-poor) parts of Africa, and will return to the planet on a large scale when fossil fuels are gone and the industrial age has ended.

(The fact that slavery is an economic issue and not a moral one is the reason why the world's great monotheistic religions have so little to say about it.  The Bible admonishes slaves to obey their masters, and masters to treat their slaves well, but, except for the requirement for Jews to emancipate Jewish slaves periodically, there is no Commandment against slavery.  Jesus spoke out on pain of death against many injustices, and he lost his temper over the moneychangers in the temple, but his anger was not directed toward slavery.)  

The AIM is pleased that blacks are free in America today, and appreciates their participation in and contribution to our society, but no apology or reparation is due them for the enslavement of their ancestors, any more than an apology or reparation is due from present-day Egyptians or Babylonians (Iraqis) for their ancestors’ having enslaved the Jews in the past.  In short, the motivation for slavery is economic, not moral.  It was practiced worldwide when energy was limited, and it will return when fossil fuels are gone.  It did not disappear because the world underwent a mysterious global moral awakening; it disappeared because of mankind's tapping of the energy in fossil fuels.  On the issue of slavery, white America has nothing to apologize or make reparations for.

Apart from the etiology or morality of slavery and wars of conquest, and the issue of whether and for how many generations we may be responsible for the actions of our forebears, the issue remains: Should present-day America pay blacks, Native Americans, and other groups for their conquest, enslavement, or other mistreatment, or for accrued benefits derived thereof, by white Europeans or by earlier generations of present-day Americans?  As was mentioned, the AIM coordinates all planks of its platform with its central mission of preserving the global biosphere, and the survival of America to that end.  From a political viewpoint, the issue is whether reparations, whether justified or not, help or hinder this cause.  It would appear that they would not.  They are divisive, and contribute more to disuniting the country than to unifying it.  America has been a land of great opportunity for all races, and in recent decades it has offered much assistance to disadvantaged groups, including particularly Native Americans and blacks.  Like Affirmative Action, reparations for slavery or conquest are blatant racial discrimination (special treatment of selected racial groups), and have no place in present-day America.

It is hoped that the rather long discussion of racial (and other social) issues in this section does not exaggerate their importance with respect to the primary AIM goal of preserving the biosphere.  To the extent that resolution of these issues helps to stop the planet's ongoing sixth mass extinction and save the biosphere, they are important.  Otherwise they are irrelevant.  Despite the attention that the issue of reparation for slavery has attracted at times, it is, as noted earlier, an irrelevant issue in the context of the current destruction of the biosphere by large human numbers and industrial production.  If global warming destroys the biosphere in 50 years, it will not matter a whit whether the US pays reparations for slavery.  Whether all large animal species are exterminated over the next several decades will affect the richness of the biosphere for the next four billion years.  Whether today's blacks are paid money because their ancestors were enslaved will have no effect on this outcome, except for having diverted attention from the life-and-death issues facing mankind and the other species inhabiting the planet.

Hate Crimes.  Equal justice under the law: No laws shall be passed promoting special judicial treatment of special groups, such as special “hate-crime” laws for homosexuals, blacks, immigrants, or other minority groups.

Tax Court.  In accordance with the US Constitution, which requires that all courts be contained within the Judicial Branch of the government, the Tax Court, which has been set up as part of the Executive Branch, will be moved to the Judicial Branch.  With the end of the income tax, the use of the Tax Court to prosecute individuals for income-tax matters will cease, in any event.

Illegal Immigration.  Severe penalites will be imposed for the crime of illegal immigration.

Abortion.  A woman’s right to choose is supported, but not late-term abortions or infanticide.  The government will not fund or provide abortions, except to save the life of the mother (medically necessary, as determined by prevailing medical standards).

Privacy.  In accordance with the original and present US Constitution, there shall be no personal right to privacy.  In accordance with the spirit of the Social Security Act, it will not be permitted for the Social Security Number to be used as a universal personal identification number.  That is, credit bureaus, credit-card companies, banks, insurance companies, retail businesses and private organizations will no longer be permitted to ask for or to store SSNs.

Legal Status of the District of Columbia.  No statehood for the District of Columbia.

Legal Status of Corporations.  At present, corporations have a legal status similar to natural persons.  This similar status shall cease.

These are the most exciting times ever faced by mankind.  Our present society has the ability to make a choice concerning whether it will save the planet's other large creatures, and perhaps the entire biosphere, from extinction.  The time to act is now!  A few years from now will be too late.  The ongoing sixth mass planetary species extinction is well under way, but it can be stopped.  You can make a difference.  Please consider the issues addressed here, and cast your vote for survival -- survival of the planet's biosphere, mankind, and the United States of America.

One final note....  The platform described above is a draft of a national-level platform.  It is desired that the AIM appeal to a broad base of the nation's population, and it is recognized that viewpoints on many issues may vary substantially at the local level.  On issues that are not directly related to the AIM's main goals of promoting global environmental stability and national strength, AIM candidates may adopt positions that differ from many of the platform planks presented above.  For example, a candidate from an urban area may find it necessary or desirable to support stringent gun-control measures, whereas a candidate from a rural area may not.  Or, a candidate from a heavily African-American district may wish to promote reparations for slavery, or statehood for the District of Columbia, or impose restrictions on racial profiling.  Or, a candidate may feel strongly that government-sponsored lotteries are a bad idea, and wish to campaign to disallow them or to restrict the jackpot size.  The resolution of many such issues has little effect on the overall strength of the nation or the planet's environment or biodiversity, and differences in positions are expected and welcomed.

The basic test of whether an activity or issue is important, apart from its intrinsic morality (e.g., "What would Jesus do?") is: After fifty years, when all of the oil is gone and the world's human population has dropped to a few hundred million or less, would the activity or issue in question likely have been a significant factor in determining and improving the state of the planet (global biodiversity, what One Nation is in charge).

\Platform.doc\ 11 September 2001, updated 31 May 2016

FndID(173)

FndTitle(American Independence Movement: Summary of Position on Major Issues)

FndDescription(Descriptin and rationale of the platform of the American Independence Movement.)

FndKeywords(American Independence Movement: Summary of Position on Major Issues)