Welcome To PartyPlatforms.com | Natural Law Party 2000 Platform

Natural Law Party 2000 Platform

[ Table of Contents ]

HEALTH
ECONOMY
CRIME AND REHABILITATION
EDUCATION
AGRICULTURE
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
STRENGTHING DEMOCRACY
ABORTION
FOREIGN POLICY
DEFENSE
GUN CONTROL
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
DRUG ABUSE
FAMILY VALUES
REVITALIZING OUR INNER CITIES
UPHOLDING THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN AND MINORITIES

GOVERNMENT SUPPORTED BY NATURAL LAW: A NEW APPROACH TO NATIONAL
ADMINISTRATION

GAY RIGHTS/SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
LEGALIZATION OF DRUGS
WELFARE
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
RIGHT-TO-WORK/UNIONS
TRADE ISSUES

[ End Table of Contents ]

HEALTH

THE NATURAL LAW PARTY is committed to ensuring a long and healthy
life for every American. By bringing life into accord with natural
law, the prevention-oriented health programs proposed by the Natural
Law Party will significantly reduce disease and promote the health
and vitality of all Americans. As our nation�s health improves, we
can lift the massive burden of health care costs, thus freeing our
nation's resources for greater progress and prosperity.

THE PROBLEM

Too many Americans suffer from poor health [1]; the U.S. has some of
the worst health statistics of all industrialized countries [2]. Yet
America has the highest per capita health care costs of any nation
[2].

Why is the U.S. medical system such a cost-effectiveness disaster?
The answer is that our health care system is really a �disease care�
system -- it focuses on the management of illnesses, rather than on
the prevention of disease and the promotion of health. But the vast
majority of our national health is influenced by factors over which
this disease-based approach has little control -- such as nutrition,
stress, societal problems, and environmental toxins. Consequently,
in the absence of effective prevention, our present disease care
system can never create a truly healthy society.

Recent research shows that at least 50% of deaths and 70% of disease
in America are self-inflicted -- caused by an epidemic of unhealthy
habits, including improper diet, inadequate exercise, smoking, and
alcohol abuse [3]. Thus, the vast majority of disease is preventable
[4].

Incredibly, Republicans and Democrats consistently ignore proven
prevention-oriented approaches to health, and Medicare specifically
bans funding for most preventive services [5]. Following the federal
example, most private health insurance companies also refuse to
cover prevention. No health care reform bills debated in Congress
have focused on improving health; they have dealt only with problems
in disease-care financing and delivery, hoping to save money by
streamlining and downsizing the system.

Spiraling health care costs have dramatically increased the cost of
health insurance, and at least 40% of U.S. citizens are now
inadequately covered or have no medical insurance. Health care
expenditures have also placed a heavy burden on American businesses;
if employee insurance costs continue to rise, many companies will
face insolvency.

THE SOLUTION

By focusing on the prevention of disease and the promotion of
health, the Natural Law Party offers a solution to the health care
crisis that is comprehensive, cost-effective, and scientifically
proven.

Our health care platform has two aspects.

1.1. We support health strategies that focus on prevention and
strengthen the general health of the nation, thereby shifting our
national focus from disease care to health care. These programs
include prevention-oriented health education, including strategies
to modify unhealthy behaviors, and prevention-oriented natural
medicines. These preventive strategies have been shown by extensive
research to create healthier citizens and to cut health care costs
by 50% to 70%. 2.2. We support the introduction of financial
incentives that will help prevent abuse of the health care system
and ensure high-quality care. These incentives include (a) medical
savings accounts for Medicare and Medicaid subscribers, which will
provide financial rewards for good health [6]; and (b) vouchers
enabling Medicare and Medicaid subscribers to choose any insurance
plan or health care provider they desire, thereby promoting
competitive costs and quality of care among medical providers. Such
financial incentives will reduce demands for unnecessary care and
prevent overuse of the health care system by giving greater
financial control and responsibility to individual subscribers.

Through our two-pronged approach of preventive health care and
financial incentives, we can rescue Medicare and Medicaid from
bankruptcy, save the nation approximately $500 billion a year in
health care costs, and prevent untold pain and suffering.

To structure meaningful health-benefits options for all Americans
without disastrously increasing the federal budget deficit, we must
responsibly decrease health care outlays per person -- a particular
challenge as the population ages. The most effective and humane way
to achieve this goal is to prevent disease in the first place by
strengthening the human immune system and eliminating the imbalances
that ultimately cause disease.

The prevention programs supported by the Natural Law Party
incorporate the most up-to-date knowledge of nutrition, exercise,
and stress reduction, as well as the use of natural herbal
preparations, natural dietary supplements, and alternative medical
treatment modalities. Americans favor such approaches. There are now
more visits to alternative medicine practitioners than to
conventional doctors [7]. Research has consistently shown that the
prevention programs endorsed by the Natural Law Party significantly
reduce the need for conventional medical treatment by empowering
individuals to take better care of their own health [8].

Our national health care debate has degenerated into an argument
over �who should pay for whose disease,� with little attention given
to preventing disease and improving health. Funding for proven
prevention services has been denied to Americans, largely because
the lobbying influence of over 1,000 medical PACs (political action
committees) has shaped legislation and preserved the status quo [9].

The Natural Law Party, which does not accept PAC contributions, is
committed to changing this unethical and inhumane situation. During
the past four years, Dr. John Hagelin and Dr. Mike Tompkins, 1996
Natural Law Party candidates for President and Vice President, have
worked closely with the U.S. Congress to introduce wording into
health care bills in both the House and the Senate that would
provide coverage for any scientifically verified, cost-effective,
proven preventive program. This proposal has such commonsense appeal
that it has gained the support of conservative and liberal members
of Congress alike.

The Natural Law Party�s approach to health care provides a unifying
influence in the political debate by transcending surface bickering
over money and solving the health crisis at its basis -- by
improving the health of Americans. The enormous savings generated by
the Natural Law Party�s prevention-oriented programs, coupled with
the financial incentives created by medical vouchers and savings
accounts, will allow the government to realistically extend
high-quality health care to tens of millions of uninsured Americans.

The programs of preventive health education advocated by the Natural
Law Party are also unique in raising health care to a new level:
development of the full potential of every citizen and reduction of
individual and societal stress by promoting life in accord with
natural law. This approach goes beyond �behavioral modifications�
such as smoking cessation, which have low compliance and cannot be
enforced in a free society. Research shows that stress is
responsible for the persistence of life-damaging habits despite
overwhelming medical evidence and governmental warnings. By
neutralizing individual and social stress, the Natural Law Party can
improve the effectiveness of such behavioral-modification programs
by significantly enhancing compliance. In this way we can achieve a
lasting social transformation toward more life-supporting,
health-promoting behavior among our citizens.

The Natural Law Party is unique in offering high-quality health care
for all, while providing a net cost savings for the nation.

NOTES

1. The �miracles� of modern medicine have been much less effective
in producing health than most Americans have assumed, according to
mortality and morbidity rates in the United States. Research
published in the Journal of the American Medical Association
estimates that 45% of the U.S. population -- over 100 million people
-- suffer from at least one chronic disease. Despite a vast array of
advanced medical technologies and medications, modern medicine has
no cure for these chronic diseases, only palliation (Journal of the
American Medical Association 1996; 276: 1473-1479).

2. Spiraling medical expenses are an urgent governmental concern.
Cost-containment strategies, including managed care, have not been
entirely successful in stopping medical cost growth. In 1998, the
United States will spend approximately $1 trillion on medical
treatment, more than any other nation. Yet surprisingly, the U.S.
has among the worst health outcomes of all industrial nations.
Despite our high-tech medical treatments, Americans have
comparatively poor life expectancies at birth: the U.S. ranks 20th
for males and 18th for females among the 23 OECD nations and has the
fifth highest infant mortality rate (Health Affairs 1997; 16(6):
163-171; Health Affairs 1994; 3(4): 100&Mac220;112).

3. See Journal of the American Medical Association 270: 2207-2212,
1993; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Healthy People
2000: National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives,
DHHS Publication No. (PHS) 91-50212, Washington, DC: Government
Printing Office, 1991; and U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, Healthy People 2000: Midcourse Review and 1995 Revisions,
Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1995.

4. Nearly 47% of premature deaths among Americans could have been
avoided by changes in individual behaviors and another 17% by
reducing environmental risks, according to a 1994 assessment by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In contrast, the study
suggested that only 11% of premature deaths could have been
prevented by improved access to medical treatment. (See CDC, Ten
Leading Causes of Death in the United States, Update, Atlanta, GA:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1994).

5. Only 1% of our health sector budget is used to avoid disease,
while 99% is spent to treat illness after it occurs. Astonishingly,
the Federal Government also subsidizes unhealthy influences on our
nation. For example, even though tobacco use is known to cause
400,000 deaths per year, including 3,000 from passive smoking, the
U.S. Government subsidizes the tobacco industry. Our government also
provides funding for genetic engineering and supports the
nonlabeling of genetically engineered foods -- despite the
potentially serious health risks of such foods and the absence of
research on long-term environmental effects (see our Agriculture
section). Furthermore, the current Congress cut funding for the
Environmental Protection Agency by 27% in 1995, despite the link
between industrial pollution and disease suggested by the rising
high incidence of cancer in America and other industrialized
nations.

6. This health care option would be available to Medicare and
Medicaid subscribers under a voucher system. Medical savings
accounts establish an annual sum to cover subscriber health care
costs; any unused portion of the account is paid directly to the
subscriber each year. These accounts thus encourage savings and
discourage unnecessary use of the health care system. However, this
health care option also provides for catastrophic coverage at rates
similar to traditional insurance plans in order to protect
subscribers facing unexpected health care costs.

7. New England Journal of Medicine 328:246-252, 1993; Journal of the
American Medical Association 280 (18): 1569-1575, 1998.

8. Real preventive health care averts disease before it arises --
and recent studies indicate that specific programs of behavioral
prevention produce large cost savings.

A 10-year study by the University of Michigan at Steelcase
Corporation reported that systematic programs of diet, exercise, and
stress reduction, when targeted for subjects in high-health-risk
categories, reduce total health care costs by 46% (see Medical
Tribune 14, February 10, 1994).

A program designed by Dr. Dean Ornish and used in a number of
American hospitals has consistently shown that systematic use of
diet, exercise, and meditation in combination can clear clogged
arteries -- promising large savings over the average $20,000-$50,000
cost of angioplasty and bypass surgery (see Journal of the American
Medical Association 274:894-901, 1995; Lancet 336:129-133, 1990; and
American Journal of Cardiology 69: 845-853, 1992).

A retrospective study of Blue Cross/Blue Shield health insurance
data for 693 faculty, staff, and dependents at an Iowa university
who used components of the Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health showed
that the group had 92% fewer hospital admissions for cardiovascular
disease compared with statewide norms. Subjects over 45 years old
had 91% fewer days in the hospital for all diseases and 88% fewer
days than matched controls; total medical expenditures per person
were 59% lower than norms and 57% lower than controls (American
Journal of Managed Care 1997; 3(1): 135-144).

9. The AMA spent $8.5 million from January to June 1997 lobbying the
Federal Government to influence national medical policymaking
(Chicago Tribune, March 7, 1998, Section 1, p. 7). The American
Medical Association political action committee, known as AMPAC, is
one of the largest medical PACs. For a discussion of the insidious
influence of such expenditures on legislation, see Starr, P., The
Social Transformation of American Medicine: The Rise of a Sovereign
Profession and the Making of a Vast Industry, New York: Basic Books,
1984 (winner of the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction);
Wolinksy, H., and Brune, T., The Serpent on the Staff: The Unhealthy
Politics of the American Medical Association, New York: G.P.
Putnam�s Sons, 1994; and Harmer, R.M., American Medical Avarice, New
York: Abelard-Schuman, 1975.

ECONOMY

THE NATURAL LAW PARTY envisions a flourishing national economy in
which no citizen suffers from unemployment, recession, runaway
inflation, or any other economic hardship; in which America�s
businesses are highly competitive in the international marketplace;
in which the crippling national debt is reduced and eventually
eliminated; and in which the tax burden is significantly decreased,
enabling everyone to enjoy greater prosperity and a higher standard
of living.

THE PROBLEM

A healthy economy is the key to America�s domestic strength and
international leadership. Without industrial and corporate might,
the U.S. cannot remain competitive in world markets, satisfy
domestic needs, or continue to play a major role in world events.
America has enjoyed strong economic growth in 1998 and thus far in
1999, but our economy still faces serious challenges.

For example, President Clinton and Congress have taken credit for
the recent U.S. budget �surpluses,� but in reality they have created
an economic illusion through deceptive federal accounting practices.
They have not cut spending at all; government spending has only
escalated each successive year. They have instead borrowed surplus
Social Security revenues to pay for excessive federal spending in
other areas. This action jeopardizes the future of the Social
Security program, effectively turning Social Security payroll taxes
into a 15% flat tax on income rather than an investment vehicle for
employee retirement. America is already over $5 trillion in debt --
about $20,000 per citizen -- and in fiscal years 1999 and 2000,
despite Congressional Budget Office projections of budget surpluses,
the national debt will increase by over $100 billion annually. Any
credit for recent U.S. economic growth should rightly go not to
government, but to the hard-working Americans whose creativity has
led to increased productivity.

In addition, the increasing income disparity between the wealthiest
20% and the other 80% of Americans indicates a great imbalance in
our economy. Although profits and productivity have increased during
the past two decades, the purchasing power of the average American
has declined significantly. For example, in 1993, the average
American worker had to spend 26 weeks� worth of wages to buy a car,
as compared to 17 weeks� in 1973. Many wage-earners -- especially
those in lower income brackets -- have limited resources, no
opportunity to save, little job security, and no way to cope with
emergency medical needs.

Excessive taxes and a burdensome, overly complex, and punitive tax
code stifle economic growth. The seven-million-word tax code is so
convoluted that the Internal Revenue Service itself has trouble
understanding it, and corporations spend four times as much on tax
compliance as they do on taxes [1]. In addition, special-interest
groups have successfully manipulated the tax code by creating
loopholes to benefit specific businesses -- a practice that results
in corporate welfare and creates disincentives to economic growth.

In the words of the Kemp commission, the present tax code �is beyond
repair -- it is impossibly complex, outrageously expensive, overly
intrusive, economically destructive, and manifestly unfair. . . . We
believe [it] cannot be revised, should not be reinvented, and must
not be retained� [2]. Yet despite strong popular pressure to change
the tax code, Republicans and Democrats, controlled by special
interests, have thwarted any meaningful improvement.

American businesses are saddled by the highest health costs in the
world. Health benefits have become the third largest expense after
raw materials and straight-time pay for most manufacturers, and the
second largest expense for most service businesses. For many
employers, the cost of corporate health benefits precludes real
salary increases for employees, and many otherwise profitable
businesses are driven into bankruptcy by these spiraling expenses.

Finally, to maintain our technological edge in the competitive
international marketplace, American businesses require highly
skilled workers. Alarmingly, our high school students score near the
bottom in international comparisons of industrialized nations: 28%
of youths entering the U.S. job market are high school dropouts [3],
and the number of Americans earning doctoral degrees has declined in
recent years -- yet Congress has cut funding for student loans.
America therefore faces a creativity challenge that must be solved
for our country to maintain its domestic and economic strength.

THE SOLUTION

Boosting national creativity -- In today�s information-based
economy, intelligence and creativity (i.e., innovation and ideas)
drive economic growth. Clearly, America�s most precious natural
resource is our human resource -- he unlimited creative potential of
our 260 million citizens. Given today�s low test scores and high
dropout rates, the most crucial economic strategy that government
can adopt is to harness America�s untapped creativity. The Natural
Law Party strongly advocates proven educational, job training, and
apprenticeship programs that develop intelligence and creativity,
prevent school dropouts, and bring life into accord with natural
law. Only the full utilization of our human resource through the
Natural Law Party�s fundamental commitment to education will ensure
America�s competitiveness and future leadership in the family of
nations. (For a complete discussion of the Natural Law Party�s
educational programs, see our Education section.)

Lowering taxes -- The most powerful fiscal action our government can
take to stimulate the economy is to lower taxes. The Natural Law
Party can cut taxes deeply -- and responsibly -- without adding to
the deficit or cutting essential services. Many parties have
promised lower taxes, but have been unable to fulfill these promises
due to the depth and complexity of problems faced by government. The
Natural Law Party, through its cost-effective solutions to crime,
spiraling health costs, and other costly social problems, will save
the nation hundreds of billions of dollars annually. On this basis,
the Natural Law Party can offer a realistic strategy for significant
tax reduction that protects the integrity of our important social
programs.

One simple and viable way to implement across-the-board tax cuts is
through a low flat tax. The Natural Law Party has designed a low
flat tax that includes an exemption for America�s poor and
lower-income families. Beginning in 2000 at 18%, our tax rate would
fall to 10% by 2005 as the Natural Law Party�s cost-effective
solutions to the nation�s problems began to bear fruit [4] (see
table). The Natural Law Party�s low flat tax would stimulate and
sustain strong economic growth. This strong economic growth, with
its associated increase in government revenues, combined with the
savings from our cost-effective solutions, would ensure a balanced
budget and gradual repayment of the national debt without borrowing
from the Social Security trust fund. This proposal would also reduce
the size and scope of the IRS, eliminate loopholes for the wealthy,
and put an end to corporate welfare.

In addition to our flat tax proposal, the Natural Law Party is also
continuing to study alternative tax options, such as a consumption
tax, that might decrease the tax burden for Americans. We concur
with the Kemp commission�s fundamental requirements for a new tax
code: fairness, simplicity, neutrality, visibility, and stability
[5].

Enterprise zones -- The Natural Law Party supports the use of
federally guaranteed loans to stimulate capital investment for
start-up industries in urban "enterprise zones." By targeting
economically deprived urban areas, we can stimulate economic growth
where it is most needed, thereby creating more jobs, a stronger
sense of community, and the revitalization of our inner cities.

Cutting corporate health costs -- The enormous burden of corporate
health care expenditures can best be reduced by improving employee
health. Research shows that appropriate preventive health care
programs can significantly improve health and reduce health care
costs [6], thereby freeing financial resources for greater
productivity, profit, and investment. Therefore, a Natural Law Party
government would encourage businesses to implement such programs to
improve corporate health and productivity and to reduce employee
stress and substance abuse [7].

Creating macroeconomic stability through increased social coherence
-- The Natural Law Party also supports programs that have been shown
to dissolve social stress and conflict, thereby providing a more
positive and stable environment for economic growth and prosperity.
Most analysts are aware of how businesses are influenced by
macroeconomic factors such as inflation, unemployment, global
economic cycles, and the threat of international conflict. However,
businesses are also in a position to change macroeconomic trends in
a positive direction for the benefit of the organization and society
as a whole. For example, research has found that even a single group
of 7,000 to 10,000 practitioners of Transcendental Meditation and
its advanced programs can produce a significant decrease in
inflation and unemployment rates, as well as improvements in other
economic indicators [8]. Businesses that incorporate such programs
into their employee benefits packages help ensure economic stability
by creating a more coherent and stable society. The recent meltdown
of the Asian financial markets underscores the need to insulate the
U.S. economy from global economic volatility, and the establishment
of such coherence-creating groups will help to protect our nation�s
current economic strength.

Sharing the benefit -- As the economy continues to improve, we
anticipate higher pay, better working conditions, shorter work
hours, and a shorter work week. We believe that the American work
force should reap the benefits of a powerful economy through a
higher standard of living.

Through cost-effective solutions to the nation�s problems,
responsible tax reduction, and proven programs to boost national
intelligence and creativity, the Natural Law Party will propel the
economy into a sustained growth phase. This pro-growth policy will
simultaneously create jobs, reduce unemployment, balance the budget
through increased government revenues, and retire the national debt.
Only the Natural Law Party offers a comprehensive, viable strategy
to accomplish these goals.

NOTES

1.1. In its January 1996 report, the Kemp commission provides
specifics about the enormous cost of tax compliance (Unleashing
America�s Potential: A Pro-Growth, Pro-Family Tax System for the
21st Century, The National Commission on Economic Growth and Tax
Reform, January 1996, p. 7):

In 1991, the Tax Foundation reported that small corporations spent a
minimum of $382 in compliance costs for every $100 they paid in
income taxes. According to 1995 I.R.S. estimates, businesses will
spend about 3.4 billion hours and individuals will spend about 1.7
billion hours embroiled in tax-related paperwork. That means nearly
three million people -- more people than serve in the U.S. armed
forces -- work full time all year just to comply with tax laws, at a
cost of about $200 billion a year, according to the Tax Foundation.

2.Ibid., p. 5.

3.�The Dropout Problem: Can Schools Meet the Challenge?� NASSP
Bulletin 78 (565): 74-80, 1994.

4. The Natural Law Party�s flat tax proposal maintains charitable
deductions but does not maintain the mortgage deduction. A mortgage
deduction increases the tax on all Americans by at least 2% and
unfairly penalizes those who use their earnings for other purposes
-- for example, to send their children to college. The mortgage
deduction, pushed by the housing industry, amounts to a form of
corporate welfare for that industry. The Natural Law Party believes
that taxes should be used to finance government, not to shape social
and economic agendas by favoring some businesses over others.

Our flat tax proposal would maintain charitable deductions to
promote an increase in charitable giving. Local philanthropic
activities are more effective, more rewarding, and less wasteful
than federally administered, socialized charity. The Natural Law
Party would therefore like to see a shift in the responsibility for
charitable giving from the government back to the individual. More
Americans will be inspired to give once they have more wealth as a
result of lower taxes and our pro-growth economic policies.

Capital gains (indexed for inflation) and interest will be taxed as
normal income under the Natural Law Party�s proposal, but double
taxation (e.g., a tax on dividend income) will be avoided.

The Natural Law Party proposes a tax floor of $25,500 for a family
of four, below which Americans would pay no taxes. While this floor
is lower than that proposed by some others, the Natural Law Party
believes that most citizens should contribute something to society
-- to our schools, our roads, and our national security. Most
important, however, with our low 10% tax rate, all Americans will
pay significantly less tax than they do today.

5. Unleashing America�s Potential, op. cit., pp. 11-14.

6. A program designed by Dr. Dean Ornish and used in a number of
American hospitals has consistently shown that systematic use of
diet, exercise, and meditation, in combination, can clear clogged
arteries -- promising large savings over the average $20,000-$50,000
cost of angioplasty and bypass surgery (see Journal of the American
Medical Association 274:894-901, 1995; Lancet 336:129-133, 1990; and
American Journal of Cardiology 69: 845-853, 1992).

7. Drug and alcohol abuse cost America an estimated $166 billion a
year. Stress has a negative impact on personal and corporate
productivity, and costs U.S. business $150-$200 billion each year.
See �Healthy Mind; Healthy Organization -- A Pro-active Approach to
Occupational Stress,� Human Relations 47 (4):455-471, 1994; and
United Nations International Labor Organization, �Stress at Work,�
World Labor Report 6, Geneva, Switzerland: United Nations
International Labor Office, 1993.

8. A recent study found a sizable reduction in Okun�s Misery Index
-- defined as the sum of the inflation rate and the unemployment
rate -- from implementation of the national coherence-creating
program proposed by the Natural Law Party (American Statistical
Association, Business and Economics Statistics Section, 1987, 799;
1988, 491; 1989, 565).

CRIME AND REHABILITATION

THE NATURAL LAW PARTY envisions an America free of crime, where all
citizens live fully in accord with both natural law and national
law; where people freely move on the streets without fear; and where
Americans live and work together harmoniously for both their own
fulfillment and the national good.

THE PROBLEM

Crime costs Americans $450 billion annually [1]. Despite two decades
of �get tough� policies -- with longer, often mandatory prison
sentences -- the rate of crime in America is high compared to other
developed nations [2]. Of gravest concern, juvenile violent crime
has spiraled during the past decade -- especially urban gang and
school violence using guns [3]. According to the Centers for Disease
Control, American youths are 12 times more likely to die by gunfire
than their peers in other nations. An FBI crime report concluded
that �every American has a realistic chance of being murdered
because of the random nature [that] crime has assumed.�

America's criminal justice system is under constant strain. Courts,
police, probation and parole agencies, and prisons are overworked
and inadequate to deal with the high level of crime [4].

Clearly, a �get-tough� policy is not enough. Effective crime
prevention is also crucial. Yet despite the dismal track record of
�get-tough� approaches, Republican and Democratic legislators ignore
proven preventive strategies and press for more police, more
prisons, and stiffer punishment. Consider the following [5]:

Building more prisons has not worked. Since 1971, the U.S. prison
population has increased sixfold to over 1.8 million incarcerated in
1500 state and federal prisons and 3000 jails. The U.S. now has the
largest percentage of its citizens behind bars apart from Russia
[6]. Incarceration acts like a quarantine, preventing a faster
acceleration of crime, but fails to eradicate the source of the
crime epidemic.

The threat of punishment is not enough. Most violent crime is �an
impulsive response to an immediate stressful situation,� often
committed under the influence of drugs or alcohol -- not a rational,
considered action [7].

Many experts feel that prisons train inmates to be better criminals
[8]. Most violent crime is committed by hard-core repeat offenders:
the majority of all prisoners commit new crimes and are arrested
within three years of release.

More police on the street does not lower crime. Published reports
indicate that increased police patrols in major U.S. cities have had
little effect on crime rates [9]. Washington, D.C., for example, has
the highest police/population ratio in the nation -- and one of the
highest violent crime rates. The $25 billion crime bill designed to
deploy 100,000 more police represents merely a drop in the bucket
and is hardly effective or cost-effective.

Increasing recognition of the need for prevention has led to
experimental approaches such as Drug Abuse Resistance Education
(DARE) and midnight basketball. Unfortunately, long-term scientific
studies have found no significant effects on crime and drug abuse
from such programs [10].

THE SOLUTION

The Natural Law Party believes that these �bandaid� approaches do
not work because they fail to address the root cause of crime -- the
epidemic of stress throughout society. During the past two decades,
medical science has documented the alarming rise of stress-related
illness such as hypertension, stroke, and heart disease. This same
build-up of stress is responsible for a similar rise in social
illnesses -- crime, drug abuse, domestic violence, and family
disintegration.

Current crime prevention programs overlook the psychological and
physiological devastation wrought by constant, traumatic stress.
Stress causes a complex psychophysiological chain reaction that
makes the nervous system hyperexcited and unstable [11]. Chronic,
acute stress leads to serious physiological malfunction. Among other
effects, the body�s neurochemical balance is distorted, producing
abnormally high levels of cortisol (a primary stress hormone) and
low levels of serotonin (a key neurotransmitter) [12]. This
out-of-balance biochemistry has been linked with anxiety, fear,
anger, impulsive violent behavior, and substance abuse [13].

Moreover, the combined stress of all the individuals in society
builds up and creates a dangerous, criminal atmosphere in the whole
community. This societal stress and tension becomes a breeding
ground for more crime and violence. Thus, to reduce crime, stress
must be reduced in at-risk individuals and throughout society.

Reducing social stress -- In addition to a tough penal code as a
deterrent to crime, the Natural Law Party offers systematic,
scientifically proven programs to reduce stress in the individual
and throughout society -- thus eliminating the root cause of crime.
At least one such program, the Transcendental Meditation program,
has been scientifically shown to (1) reduce individual and social
stress; (2) reduce cortisol and increase serotonin production in the
body, thus counteracting the neurochemical imbalances produced by
stress; and (3) decrease anxiety, hostility, and anger, and improve
psychological development and moral reasoning [14].

Forty-three published scientific studies have shown that large
groups practicing the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program
in one location reduce social stress and violence. These studies,
which have investigated the impact of such groups on communities,
cities, and entire nations, have consistently found decreases in
crime, war deaths, and other negative social indicators, as well as
improvements in economy and national mood . This innovative approach
offers a highly cost-effective, scientifically proven strategy to
eliminate the fundamental cause of crime through reducing individual
and societal stress.

Effective prison rehabilitation -- The most cost-effective
prevention strategy is to target those individuals who are at
highest risk for crime -- the current prison inmate population, 90%
of whom will be released from prison. A five-year Harvard study
investigated the effects of the Transcendental Meditation technique
in a maximum security prison. Inmates who learned the practice
decreased significantly in stress, aggression, and mental disorders.
Violence throughout the prison decreased, and the rate of return to
prison among participating inmates was 30-35% less than for four
other treatment groups [15]. Similar studies in 28 other maximum
security prisons have shown equally impressive results . (Current
rehabilitation strategies put the cart before the horse. They try to
reeducate and reform inmates without first changing inmates from
within by eliminating the stress that makes them uninterested in
education or incapable of being reformed [16].)

Community policing -- In New York City, a new initiative called
computer-assisted community policing has been credited with reducing
crime by 40% over two years. In this approach, police are assigned
to high-crime neighborhoods identified by computer tracking, work
closely with these neighborhoods, and are rewarded for preventing
crime. According to statistics from the New York Police Department,
murder in New York City dropped 31% during the first half of 1995
compared to the first six months of 1994, with similar reductions in
other categories of violent crime. This striking improvement led one
journalist to refer to New York as �the suddenly safer city� [17].

Urban revitalization -- Our overcrowded, decaying urban centers
obviously contribute to the rise of stress and crime. Any program to
reduce crime must involve a comprehensive plan to revitalize the
inner cities, as laid out in our Revitalizing Our Inner Cities
section.

Drug and alcohol rehabilitation -- A high proportion of crimes are
committed under the influence of alcohol and drugs. A recent study
of crime in New York City found that tobacco, alcohol, and drug
abuse cost the city's taxpayers and corporations $20 billion in 1994
-- 21 cents of every tax dollar [18]. The Natural Law Party would
introduce programs proven to reduce drug dependency, eliminate
stress, and promote mental and physical health .

Preventing youth crime -- School dropouts are at highest risk for
crime and drug abuse. The Natural Law Party strongly supports more
effective educational programs to keep children in school, off the
streets, and out of the reach of crime. Our proven educational
programs unfold greater creativity and intelligence and develop
ideal citizenship by raising life to be in accord with natural law
and national law (see our Education section). The Natural Law
Party�s strong educational focus is the true, long-term solution to
the pervasive problem of crime.

The Natural Law Party is the only political party with a truly
comprehensive, scientifically proven strategy to reduce crime. Our
approach is the most hard-headed and hard-hitting, since it focuses
on scientifically proven programs that work. Our prevention-oriented
approach will save the nation hundreds of billions of dollars and
prevent immeasurable anguish and suffering in the lives of millions
of Americans who are victims of crime each year.

NOTES

1. See Victim Costs and Consequences: A New Look, a comprehensive
survey just published by the National Institute of Justice (the
research branch of the Justice Department).

2. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime in the United States 1993,
Uniform Crime Reports, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice,
1997.

3. According to the National Center for Juvenile Justice (1995), the
murder rate among 14- to 17-year-olds increased 165% during the last
ten years, and the number of arrests for violent crime among 10- to
17-year-olds doubled. In addition, according to USA Today (November
13, 1995, p. 1A), the number of teenage arrests on weapons charges
has doubled since 1985.

4. America leads the industrialized world in murders -- almost four
times the annual U.S. casualty rate during the Vietnam War (see
Wilson, J., Commentary, September 1994, p. 25). The 1996 FBI annual
crime statistics for the U.S. reported 19,650 murders, 95,770 rapes,
537,050 robberies, 1,029,810 aggravated assaults, and 2,501,500
burglaries. (See Federal Bureau of Investigation, op. cit.)

5. See S. R. Donziger (ed.), The Real War on Crime, New York:
HarperCollins, 1996.

6. See U.S. News and World Report, March 23, 1997, p.33. U.S.
Department of Justice figures (press release, August 27, 1995)
indicate that 5.1 million Americans are under some form of
correctional supervision -- prison, jail, parole, or probation.

7. See Petersilia, J., �Crime and Punishment in California: Full
Cells, Empty Pockets, and Questionable Benefits,� CPS Brief,
Berkeley, CA: California Policy Seminars, May 1993.

8. Petersilia, op. cit., p. 10; Sampson, R., and Laub, C., Crime in
the Making, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993, p. 255.

9. The Newark Foot Patrol Experiment, 1981; The Kansas City
Preventive Patrol Experiment: A Summary Report, Washington, DC:
Police Foundation, 1974. See also Wilson, James Q., �What to Do
About Crime,� Commentary, 1994, pp. 215-234.

10. Social Problems 41(3):448-472, 1994. See also R.A. Mendel,
Prevention or Pork? A Hard-Headed Look at Youth-Oriented Anti-Crime
Programs, Washington, D.C.: Youth Policy Forums, 1995.

11. Sapolsky, R., Stress, the Aging Brain, and the Mechanisms of
Neuron Death, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1992.

12. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly 11:89-117, 1994.

13. Archives of General Psychiatry 49:429-435, 436-441, 1992; Life
Sciences 33:2609-2614, 1983.

14. Journal of Clinical Psychology 45: 957-974, 1989; Society of
Neuroscience Abstracts 18:1541, 1992; Journal of Neural Transmission
39:257-267, 1976; Criminal Justice and Behavior 5:3-20, 1978;
Dissertation Abstracts International, 51:5048, 1991.

15. Dissertation Abstracts International 43:539b, 1982.

16. For a fuller discussion of this approach to rehabilitation and
crime prevention, see Marcus, Jay B., The Crime Vaccine, Baton
Rouge, LA: Claitor's Books, 1996.

17. Horowitz, C., �The Suddenly Safer City,� New York magazine,
August 14, 1995.

18. See Califano, Joseph A., Substance Abuse in Urban America: Its
Impact on an American City, New York, Center on Addiction and
Substance Abuse, Cornell University, February 1996.

EDUCATION

THE SOLUTION TO ALL OUR NATIONAL PROBLEMS lies in proper education.
The Natural Law Party advocates scientifically proven educational
programs that can unfold the full creative potential of every
student and produce ideal citizens capable of fulfilling their
highest aspirations while contributing maximum to the progress of
society. By harnessing America�s greatest resource -- the unlimited
creativity of our 270 million citizens -- the Natural Law Party can
bring fulfillment to education and ensure America�s competitiveness
and continuing leadership in the family of nations.

THE PROBLEM

Education in America is not working. Even though the United States
spends more money per student than any other country, our students
still rank far behind most of their international peers in math and
science -- and well behind U.S. test scores of 20 years ago.
Twenty-eight percent of our high school students drop out -- the
highest rate of any industrialized nation -- and those who graduate
are often ill prepared to enter the work force [1].

Drug and alcohol abuse continues to undermine our nation�s students
and rob them of their mental clarity, motivation, self-esteem, and
ability to focus [2]. Moreover, juvenile violent crime has increased
markedly during the past decade, especially gang and school violence
using guns [3]. According to the Centers for Disease Control,
American youths are 12 times more likely to die by gunfire than
their peers in other nations.

The culturing of inner values has all but disappeared from our
nation�s schools. Yet James Madison observed in the Federalist
Papers that democracy cannot function unless our leaders and
citizens are �in a higher degree of virtue than any other form� of
government.

America�s problems are human problems -- crime, drug abuse, domestic
violence, and declining health. Only through the full development of
our human resource can we rise above the reach of problems. Yet
research has shown that students graduating from our current
educational system use at most 5-10% of their full mental potential
[4]. A new and effective approach to education is clearly needed.

THE SOLUTION

Education is for enlightenment -- the full development of mind,
body, and behavior. The Natural Law Party promotes proven
educational programs that directly increase intelligence and
creativity and simultaneously improve moral reasoning,
self-reliance, and mental and physical health and well-being. These
programs include sound educational approaches to nutrition [5],
natural, preventive health measures [6], effective drug prevention
programs [7], and innovative curriculum development, including
programs to develop the full mental potential of students.

While focusing on dissemination of knowledge, current approaches to
education ignore the most fundamental component of learning -- the
consciousness or intelligence of the student, which is the basis of
gaining knowledge. Today�s educational approaches provide no
knowledge of consciousness and no scientifically proven technology
to develop it. These approaches do not comprehensively develop the
brain physiology, causing incomplete cognitive and emotional
development and less-than-comprehensive thinking. This fundamental
failure is the ultimate source of the problems afflicting education
today.

Current proposals to improve education often focus on information
technologies, such as computer access to the Internet, that offer
larger and larger volumes of data. However, without an educational
approach that can develop more than 5-10% of a student�s full mental
potential, no amount of information will ever produce truly
educated, ideal citizens.

The Natural Law Party proposes to upgrade the U.S. Department of
Education to a Department of Educational Excellence, which would
charter several federally funded model schools in which successful
educational innovations of all kinds could be implemented and
researched. Based on the success of these programs, parents and
educators across the country could choose the ones they felt would
be most appropriate and effective in their neighborhoods. Rather
than dictate educational curricula at the local level, the Federal
Government could thereby play a crucial research and leadership role
in expanding educational choices for parents and students, improving
educational outcomes across the nation.

The Natural Law Party also supports federally funded vouchers to
increase parental options for school choice and to foster
competition among schools. These vouchers could be used to pay for
any school of the parents� choice -- public, private, or parochial
-- provided that the school maintains high academic performance on
standardized national tests. The free-market competition that this
voucher system will engender will help reverse declining educational
outcomes in America.

The Natural Law Party also supports the following initiatives:

Fully fund the Head Start program, to give all eligible children an
opportunity to excel from an early age.

Provide financial support for every student who wants to go to
college. The Natural Law Party does not support the scaling back of
Pell grants and student loans for higher education. Government loans
should be repaid after graduation -- if necessary through mandatory
salary deductions or community service.

Establish higher national standards and the practical means to
achieve them. Other parties have called for higher standards but
have offered no effective strategies to accomplish this goal.

Lengthen the school year and increase the number of required
subjects in high schools, as recommended by the 1984 National
Commission on Excellence in Education.

Establish ties with teachers� organizations, schools, and community
interest groups to develop policies and programs that upgrade the
status and skills of teachers.

Add computer support to the National Literacy Act of 1991, to
provide research and help implement computer-aided instruction,
including Internet instruction, in literacy programs.

Increase the nutritional value of school lunches -- a simple but
essential change that has been shown to improve educational outcomes
in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Establish community centers of knowledge where parents can receive
the latest understanding of health and nutrition for their children.

Create national apprenticeship programs by bringing together
business, labor, and educational leaders to develop a system that
offers training in a valuable skill for students who are not college
bound.

Most of the educational programs promoted by the Natural Law Party
have been successfully applied in diverse educational settings
worldwide and have therefore been the subject of extensive
scientific research. The results of such programs include the
significantly improved educational outcomes mentioned above --
increased intelligence, creativity, motivation, academic
performance, moral reasoning, psychological maturity, and social
responsibility -- as well as a higher quality of life among students
and faculty.

NOTES

1. The U.S. spends over $270 billion per year on public and
elementary education, and expenditures per pupil, adjusted for
inflation, have increased more than 25% over the past ten years. Yet
America is falling behind in the knowledge race. Recent National
Educational Goals Panel statistics (see U.S News and World Report,
April 1, 1996) included the following:

Among U.S. high school seniors, 60% could not meet suggested
national educational standards; 76% spend less than five hours per
week on homework, compared with 35% of seniors in Japan

U.S. high school students spend less than half as much class time
studying math, history and science as do students in Japan, France,
and Germany

Only 4.4% of U.S. students pass advanced placement exams, compared
to 33% in France, Germany , Israel, and Japan

A comparison of Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Israel, Scotland, Canada, and
the U.S. found that the U.S. has the shortest school year -- 62 days
shorter than Japan�s

Results from the recent Third International Mathematics and Science
Study showed that in 21 countries giving 12th-grade tests, U.S. high
school seniors ranked 16th in general science knowledge, 19th in
math, and last in physics (see The Wall Street Journal, February 25,
1998, p. A22; and U.S. News and World Report, March 9, 1998, p.14.).

2. A 1994 survey found that at least one third of all school
children have used an illicit drug other than marijuana or alcohol
before graduation from high school. Furthermore, it is estimated
that one out of four American high school students has a serious
drinking problem.

3. According to the National Center for Juvenile Justice, murder
arrests among 10- to 17-year-olds have doubled since 1983, and the
actual murder rate among 14-to 17-year-olds has risen 165% since
1984. Crimes in and around American public schools have increased
significantly; well over 100,000 students now carry a gun to school.
A recent U.S. Justice Department report found that juvenile arrests
for gun charges have doubled since 1985, and gunshot wounds have
become the second leading cause of death among high school students.

4. Developmental psychologists have outlined specific, natural
stages of psychological growth in children. The final stage, termed
�formal operations� by Piaget, is associated with adolescence and
represents the level of mental functioning in which abstract
thinking becomes stabilized. Due to the inadequacies of our
educational system, the majority of our students never achieve this
stage of normal adolescent mental development across cognitive
domains -- let alone their full potential. (For a more comprehensive
treatment of this topic, see Alexander, Charles N., and Langer,
Ellen J. (eds.), Higher Stages of Human Development: Perspectives on
Adult Growth, New York: Oxford, 1990.)

5. A series of recent studies has found a correlation between
nutrition and academic performance (Personality and Individual
Differences 4:343 & 361, 1991). These studies found that in several
hundred schools in New York, there was a 16% gain in academic
performance resulting from improved nutrition. The study suggested
that many students experience malnutrition, too slight for clinical
signs, but which nevertheless affects their intelligence and
academic performance. This impairment can be corrected through
improved nutrition.

6. These prevention-oriented health care programs include Maharishi
Ayur-Veda -- a natural system of health care that promotes balance
in mind, body, and behavior and that has been shown to significantly
reduce medical utilization by producing better health in its
practitioners. These programs strengthen mind and body and reduce
anxiety, thereby enhancing receptivity and the capacity for
learning.

7. Research confirms a marked improvement in student health and a
reduction in drug abuse, alcohol use, and cigarette use through
programs proposed by the Natural Law Party (Alcoholism Treatment
Quarterly 11 (1/2,3/4), 1994; International Journal of Addictions
12:729, 1977; Bulletin on Narcotics 40:50, 1988; Journal of
Addictions 14:147, 1981; 26:293, 1991; American Journal of
Psychiatry 131:60, 1974).

AGRICULTURE

THE NATURAL LAW PARTY ENVISIONS a time when American farmers will
farm in full accord with the laws of nature, fully utilizing
nature�s creativity to yield abundant, healthy food, while
protecting the environment and ensuring a vigorous, diversified,
sustainable agricultural economy.

THE PROBLEM

The future of agriculture depends on its sustainability -- that is,
the ability of agricultural policies and practices to preserve and
strengthen the farming economy, ecology, and community for future
generations.

The recently passed Federal Agricultural Improvement and Reform Act
of 1996 (FAIR) has been heralded as a major change of direction for
U.S. agriculture. But it has left many wondering whether crucial,
fundamental changes have really been made in agricultural policy,
and whether FAIR is fair -- especially for small family farms and
for the environment. FAIR does not go far enough to ensure
agricultural practices that are sustainable -- financially,
environmentally, and socially.

1. Financially unsustainable

Recent projections of increasing international demand for food,
coupled with rapidly shrinking global food reserves, suggest that
consumers will pay even more for food in the future and that poor
countries will receive less U.S. food aid. Despite these realities,
current U.S. farm programs restrict America�s agricultural
production (for example, 36 million acres have been taken out of
production) while encouraging competitor nations to plant more [1,
2].

The new farm subsidy program of FAIR, although formalizing the
phasing out of government subidies over seven years, continues to
unduly favor the nation�s largest farms.

The growing consolidation and control of food production by a few
very large corporations jeopardizes the survival of small family
farms. U.S. Department of Agriculture policies and regulations are
biased against small farm operators and enforce a form of corporate
welfare that drives small farms into bankruptcy so that they can be
bought by huge agribusinesses.

From 1988 to 1993, even the most economically profitable farms
averaged only a 3-5% return on stockholder equity; food
manufacturers, on the other hand, averaged 16.5% [3]. Clearly,
farmers receive little of the "value-added" profit accruing to food
manufacturers that process farm goods for the market. Farmers --
especially those working small family farms -- and their surrounding
communities cannot survive without diversification of farm
activities that keeps more of these profits close to home.

2. Environmentally unsustainable

Conventional agriculture erodes and degrades soil; it requires
large-scale use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers that pollute
groundwater and are unhealthy for consumers and farmers. These
agrichemicals pose real threats to water quality, wildlife, and
human health. Recent scientific research indicates that common
pesticides are estrogen mimicking and implicates them in the high
incidence of breast cancer and prostate cancer in America and in the
striking decline in male sperm count. Yet FAIR continues to support
chemically intensive cropping practices.

Federal agencies have decided that some genetically engineered plant
and animal products (such as recombinant bovine growth hormone --
rBGH -- which boosts milk production) are safe, despite the growing
concerns of many scientists and the fact that the Canadian
government has outlawed rBGH due to health concerns. Virtually all
European nations have banned rBGH and other hormone treatment in
livestock. Many products similar to rBGH are under review. In
addition, many foods that have been genetically engineered with pig,
insect, virus, or bacteria genes are already being sold in
supermarkets. Yet these genetically altered foods are not labeled as
such -- despite well-documented health risks from some genetically
engineered foods, including:

Toxic tryptophan -- this genetically engineered food supplement
killed 37 people and permanently disabled 1,500 more. Allergenic
soybean -- this soybean, genetically altered with a Brazil nut
protein, caused a marked reaction in many people allergic to Brazil
nuts.

Some leading scientists believe that alteration of DNA -- the most
fundamental level of plant and animal physiology -- is likely to
have profound negative impacts on the environment and human life
[4]. For example, altered genes from cultivated food crops may be
released to wild relatives, thus compromising the �gene pool� upon
which breeders of domestic crops must draw to enhance resistance to
pests and disease. Unlike other products, a genetically engineered
organism that has been released into the environment can never be
recalled.

The explosion of factory hog farms, cattle feedlots, and poultry
operations during the last few years has increased livestock
concentrations, confinement housing, and separation of animals from
their natural environments. As a result, these animals are more
prone to disease; therefore, they need more antibiotics; and
consequently, their wastes become a health hazard instead of a
natural aid to soil fertility.

In addition, to ensure maximum weight gain in their livestock,
farmers commonly inject antibiotics into healthy animals. Many
scientists suspect that this practice helps create bacteria and
viruses that are resistant or immune to antibiotics. Since
antibiotic-resistant germs have become a major health problem in
America, this practice should be stopped immediately.

3. Socially unsustainable

Experts feel that conventional agriculture has led to �decaying
communities [in] rural America that continue to lose population,
business, and even their reason to exist as farms consolidate into
larger units and farm families leave� [5]. Small towns are a
reservoir of enterprise and traditional values that Americans
cherish, and they should not be lost.

Corporate-owned factory hog farms, cattle feedlots, and poultry
operations, as well as the corporations that supply them, are
becoming increasingly vertically integrated, pushing family farms
and rural agribusinesses out of business and reducing farmers to
corporate laborers.

The challenges of farming today are making new demands on farmers
and their families. The farmer must take into account many complex
factors in making production decisions, including the weather,
quality of the soil, threat of pests, available financial resources,
and changing agricultural markets. Economic pressures cause stress,
which affects health and well-being. Research has found that farmers
are also at high risk from exposure to chemical pesticides [6].

THE SOLUTION

Agriculture is more than a business; it is a cornerstone of our
national life. The food produced by farmers is basic to our health
and national security, and farmland itself is an irreplaceable
resource vital to sustenance of life. Therefore, government must
help ensure the long-term viability of agriculture.

The Natural Law Party supports legislation that will ensure social,
economic, and environmental sustainability of agriculture while
balancing the following goals: (1) ensuring an economical and
healthful supply of high-quality food for consumers; (2) promoting
health and longevity in farmers and in the population as a whole;
(3) protecting natural resources and the environment; (4) cushioning
farmers from the natural and financial instability unique to
agriculture; (5) enabling farmers to better pursue financial
profitability; and (6) restoring the vitality of rural communities.

The Natural Law Party has identified solutions to the problems faced
by U.S. agriculture:

1. Given the far-reaching ecological and health impacts of genetic
engineering, a moratorium should be imposed on the release of
genetically engineered organisms until the safety of such organisms
can be firmly established. In addition, to protect the public�s
right to know, labeling of genetically engineered foods should be
mandatory.

2. Farm policies should be redirected to expand opportunities for
new and existing farmers to prosper using sustainable systems that
will enhance the health of the farmers and the population as a
whole. Training and apprenticeship programs, loans, grants, and
other incentives should be devised to assist conventional and
entry-level farmers to adopt organic or more sustainable systems.
Demonstration farms, farmer-to-farmer networks and field tours, and
studies of successful alternative farming systems should be used to
hasten the adoption of more sustainable practices.

3. The U.S. should change its policy focus from �cheap (and unsafe)
food for the consumer� to �quality food for the consumer on a
sustainable basis.� Through research and education, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture is in a unique position to influence (a)
practices of farmers and the food-production industry, and (b) the
food choices and demands of consumers:

(a) Field-tested techniques supported by scientific research, such
as integrated pest management, integrated crop management, and
organic farming, already exist for farming profitably on a
low-input, sustainable basis [7]. On this basis, agrichemical use
could be reduced 50% by the year 2002. The USDA should initiate and
fund research into further development of alternative and
chemical-free sustainable agricultural practices, with an emphasis
on the development of systems and technologies that can be
integrated economically and completely into all agricultural
production. In addition, economists have developed accounting
techniques that incorporate the costs of pollution and
natural-resource depletion into agriculture�s balance sheet [8].
Government legislation should make it a priority to disseminate
these practices and techniques to the entire food production
industry, showing farmers, producers, and consumers that sustainable
food production practices are more cost-effective in the long run.

(b) Consumer demand drives agricultural supply. Changes in consumer
preferences will create a shift toward less resource-intensive food
production and a healthier food supply. (Today, the organic food
market is the fastest growing segment of the food industry,
increasing by 20% each year.) The USDA should initiate and fund
research investigating the impact of dietary change on health and
longevity, and then launch campaigns to educate the public. For
example, government should fund vigorous programs to inform
consumers that chemical-free food is possible now, at a reasonable
price. Moreover, scientists have recently concluded that substantial
public health and environmental benefits would likely result from
more widespread use of vegetables, fruit, and plant-based protein in
the diet [9]. The government should educate the public about the
health and environmental value of these foods in the diet.

Land-grant universities and extension services should also take the
initiative to develop and disseminate sustainable agricultural
practices and healthier dietary approaches.

4. Farm communities should seek new ways to keep �value-added�
processes and profits as close as possible to the farm. Public
policy should promote cooperative development of local processing
facilities and diversification into the production of higher-value,
specialized crops -- including chemical -- free production.

5. Family-sized farms should be protected and strengthened through
more programs such as FAIR�s Fund for Rural America, which supports
value-added incentives, assistance for minority and beginning
farmers, and other initiatives to empower farmers and rural
communities to work towards revitalizing rural life. Even removing
farm payment loopholes for large corporate agribusinesses would
favor the viability of family-sized farms. Programs such as the Fund
for Rural America should be given high priority and full funding.

6. For the above recommendations to be successful, however, it is
necessary -- for the individual farmer and society as a whole -- to
develop consciousness and gain more support of natural law. The
Natural Law Party therefore recommends educational programs to
develop the consciousness of the farmer and thereby reduce stress,
improve the farmer�s health and well-being, and promote the skills
to meet new management challenges. Such programs will enable farmers
to spontaneously make better decisions and better use of the
environment, and will bring them greater support of natural law in
all their activities. Similarly, the reduction of stress in the
collective consciousness of society, combined with the Natural Law
Party�s focus on education, will influence consumer choices toward
higher-quality food, better health, and more life-enriching behavior
-- life in accord with natural law . These programs will help ensure
that the natural resources upon which agriculture depends will be
available far into the future.

NOTES

1."Grain Prices Head Higher," Business Week, November 20, 1995, p.
38.

2."Another Crisis in World's Future?" Des Moines Register, November
12, 1995, p. 1J.

3. Heffernan, W., cited in "U.S. Ag Called Feudal System," Des
Moines Register, November 27, 1994.

4. One is Dr. John Fagan, discussed in "Biologist Returns US Grants
to Protest Genetic Research," The Boston Globe, November 16, 1994.

5. Northwest Area Foundation, A Better Row to Hoe: The Economic,
Environmental, and Social Impact of Sustainable Agriculture (Dec.
1994), 1; see also USDA/ERS, 18.

6. Scandinavian Journal of Work and Environmental Health 18:209-215,
1992; Journal of the American Medical Association 256(9):1141-1147,
1986; Zahm, S.H., et al., Annual Meeting of the Society for
Epidemiological Research, Vancouver, Canada, June 15-17, 1988.

7. National Research Council, Board on Agriculture, Alternative
Agriculture (1989); Northwest Area Foundation, 2.

8. Paying the Farm Bill: U.S. Agricultural Policy and the Transition
to Sustainable Agriculture, World Resources Institute, 1991.

9. "Health Effects and Prevalence of Vegetarianism," The Western
Journal of Medicine, 160: 465-471, 1994.

ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT

THE NATURAL LAW PARTY will create a future in which renewable,
nonpolluting, inexpensive energy is abundantly available, the air in
our cities is pure and clean, and our rivers and lakes are free of
pollution. We foresee a time when waste is efficiently managed; when
the needless destruction of forests and species diversity has
ceased; when there are many more parks, gardens, and fountains; when
new jobs have been created to develop renewable energy sources,
conserve energy, and protect the environment; and when global
cooperation ends environmental threats to the future of humankind.

THE PROBLEM

The standard of living and the economic vitality of the United
States depend on the increasing availability of inexpensive, clean,
renewable sources of energy.

Until now, the U.S. has relied mainly on fossil fuels. Coal, oil,
and natural gas account for the majority of energy used for
electricity, heat, transportation, and industry. However, these
fuels are nonrenewable and limited in supply. Their use results in
air pollution, acid rain, pollution from mercury and other
contaminants, the threat of global warming, and other environmental
hazards that may endanger future generations with irreversible
global changes. Air pollution kills 64,000 Americans a year -- a
higher death toll than for auto accidents [1, 2]. The indirect costs
of burning fossil fuels -- health care, damage from acid rain, the
impact on tourism and quality of life, etc. -- are incalculable [3].

Oil imports are responsible for a large percentage of our trade
deficit. America�s dependence on foreign oil creates economic
vulnerability and political instability between the U.S. and the
Middle East. For example, Desert Storm, with its enormous attendant
costs, was largely to protect America�s critical oil interests in
the Middle East. The costs of such military operations must be added
to the high health and environmental costs of fossil fuels.

By subsidizing these costs with taxpayer dollars, the Federal
Government artificially suppresses the cost of fossil fuels relative
to sustainable alternatives, such as wind and solar, which are not
subsidized. The government thereby perpetuates our continued
dependence on fuels that are environmentally and economically
unsustainable.

In addition to the environmental hazards posed by current energy
use, toxic agricultural and industrial chemicals threaten the health
and safety of all Americans. Recent estimates indicate that exposure
to such chemicals is a factor in 75% of all cancer cases in the U.S.
[4].

Short-sighted environmental policies contribute to alarming
reductions of earth�s nonrenewable resources. Approximately 93% of
the virgin forests in the Pacific Northwest have been cut, and most
of the remainder is scheduled to be cut in the next few years --
nearly all of it on public lands. Biodiversity is being threatened
at an alarming rate, not only in our vanishing forests, but in the
oceans. Hundreds of thousands of sea mammals are being exterminated
by drift-net fishing. More than 50% of our wetlands that provided
habitats for wildlife have been destroyed, and overgrazed prairie
lands are being increasingly eroded.

At the recent summit in Kyoto, Japan, where all nations assembled to
address global environmental concerns, the U.S. Government took a
stand to protect economic interests that it perceived to be in
conflict with environmental interests. Protecting the environment
was equated with loss of jobs, increased costs of goods, and loss of
economic vitality. Today, America�s environmental protections are
being further eroded by a Congress held captive to special interest
groups.

THE SOLUTION

The Natural Law Party is committed to increasing both energy
efficiency and the use of renewable, safe, and nonpolluting energy
sources. This approach will protect our environment, create energy
self-sufficiency, and add to the economic prosperity of the nation.
Through programs that will create new jobs and new industries in
energy conservation and renewable energy sources, the Natural Law
Party will move away from the hazardous and wasteful use of fossil
fuels in ways that will simultaneously benefit the environment and
save the nation hundreds of billions of dollars.

To improve energy efficiency and self-sufficiency, the Natural Law
Party will:

Support basic research on energy efficiency, energy storage (both
for large- and small-scale applications), and fuel cells, in
addition to electric, hydrogen, and highly energy-efficient
vehicles.

Provide financial incentives for homeowners and industry to use
available energy-efficiency measures, such as insulation and compact
fluorescent lighting.

Set performance standards for energy-consuming and
pollutant-emitting products in order to encourage adoption of
state-of-the-art technologies and to protect responsible and
innovative manufacturers from being undercut by those who produce
cheaper but dirtier products. By increasing efficiency, the U.S. can
significantly reduce energy consumption -- with substantial economic
and environmental benefits for the nation [4,5].

The Natural Law Party also supports the development of new energy
sources, such as solar, wind, and biomass -- which could be
cost-competitive now if government stopped subsidizing fossil fuels.
The Natural Law Party is committed to increasing the proportion of
renewable, environmentally clean energy sources by the year 2000. To
achieve these goals, the Natural Law Party will:

Remove federal subsidies for fossil fuels and nuclear energy.
Require that construction of new electrical power plants take into
account all long-term costs to the nation, such as waste disposal,
environmental protection, and health costs.

Progressively implement a tax on fossil fuels to reflect their real
cost to the nation, including environmental cleanup, medical costs,
and security costs in the Persian Gulf.

By increasing efficiency, the U.S. can reduce energy use by
approximately 2% a year, from 84.4 quadrillion BTUs in 1990 to 69.2
quads in the year 2000. For example, conservation measures such as
compact fluorescent lighting can save up to $25 billion in annual
fuel costs [5].

Tax fossil fuels to reflect their real cost to the nation, including
environmental clean-up, medical costs, and security costs in the
Persian Gulf.

Remove federal subsidies for fossil fuels and nuclear energy.
Require that construction of new electrical power plants take into
account all long-term costs to the nation, such as environmental
protection and health costs.

Minimize the federal government�s role as a micromanager in the
energy marketplace, and ensure that the construction of major
capital assets (including buildings and electric power plants)
reflect the national energy policy goals over the lifetime of the
assets [6].

The Natural Law Party does not support the development of nuclear
energy. At present, municipalities subsidize nuclear plants and the
Federal Government funds nuclear reactor construction with
tax-deductible bonds. But no one can safeguard for 10,000 years the
highly toxic wastes generated by these reactors -- which is what the
Federal Government has agreed to do. (The government�s efforts to
clean up these wastes is yet another subsidy for
pollution-generating energy sources.) In addition, the known
worldwide reserves of low-cost, high-grade nuclear fuel are running
low, which will soon necessitate a transition to the next generation
of nuclear power plants: advanced converters and breeder reactors.
These reactors have the technological advantage of producing their
own fuel, but they also produce bomb-grade fissionable materials as
unavoidable by-products. With the widespread availability of
bomb-grade material, nuclear containment becomes effectively
impossible. Therefore, for both economic and security reasons, the
Natural Law Party does not support further development and
construction of nuclear energy plants.

It is vitally important for America to clean up its polluted air,
rivers, lakes, beaches, wetlands, and oceans. When businesses are
forced to stop polluting, they frequently come up with innovative
ways to make use of their polluting by-products. In Scandinavia, for
example, businesses in any given region collectively decide how to
use polluting wastes from one business as part of the manufacturing
process of another, with the goal of zero pollution.

To eliminate toxic waste, the Natural Law Party supports research
into innovative technologies such as the plasma torch, a
cost-effective process that cooks contaminated soil into inert,
harmless glassy rocks suitable for road gravel. A similar
technology, devised for liquid nuclear waste, drains out water and
salts and turns the remainder into glass logs that are safer for
long-term storage.

America should lead the global effort to prevent the destruction of
the earth�s forests, the decimation of the diversity of species, and
the potential damage from ozone depletion and the greenhouse effect.
A moratorium should be declared on cutting timber in national parks,
national forests, and national monuments until a sustainable
management plan for cutting is instituted.

To make these changes requires flexibility and ingenuity in the
development of new environmentally sound technologies -- not giving
up the present standard of living, but raising it through developing
energy sources, industries, and modes of transportation that are in
harmony with nature.

The programs supported by the Natural Law Party for cleaning up the
environment and protecting it from irreversible damage will
stimulate the economy -- actually paying a dividend of increased
energy efficiency and economic vitality. Cleaning up polluted rivers
and lakes will increase fishing industries, increase tourism, and
increase revenues from outdoor recreational activities. Cleaning the
air will reduce the medical costs of respiratory disease and lung
cancer. Protecting forests and reducing exhaust emissions will avert
the potentially disastrous expenses of adapting to climatic changes
due to global warming.

Since pollution is primarily caused by human behavior, bringing the
individual and the nation into harmony with natural law will greatly
facilitate implementation of the above programs. The Natural Law
Party therefore supports educational programs that promote broad
comprehension and �pollution-free behavior� -- behavior that is in
accord with natural law, and does not create problems for society or
the environment.

NOTES

1. Allen, Scott, �Study: Air Pollution Killing Thousands,� Des
Moines Register, May 9, 1996, p. 1.

2. According to a 1995 report from the Department of Health and
Human Services, environmental toxins are responsible for 14% of
annual deaths in America.

3. If the real costs associated with the use of polluting fuels were
appropriately distributed -- for example, if the environmental costs
of gasoline were included in its cost at the pump -- the free-market
system would have eliminated fossil fuels long ago. In essence, the
government is blocking free enterprise and free-market competition
by subsidizing fossil fuels and not their nonpolluting competitors.

4. See Environmental Health Perspectives 103 (Suppl 8): 301-306,
1995; and Journal of the American Medical Association 270 (18):
2207-2212, 1993. Individuals with high body burdens of PCBs, DDT,
and other such compounds have higher levels of cancer, liver damage,
reproductive disorders, immune-system suppression, and neurological
problems (see Annual Review of Public Health 18: 211-244, 1997; and
Environmental Health Perspectives 100: 259-268, 1992). Since such
contaminants degrade very slowly in the environment, governmental
attempts to control sources of exposure may not solve the problem.

5. According to a study by the Electric Power Research Institute,
the introduction of energy conservation practices could reduce
electricity use in the U.S. by as much as 55% (Romm, �The Economic
Benefits of Combatting Global Warming,� 1992).

6. Further research shows that existing energy-conservation
technologies can cut the use of fossil fuels in half, eliminating
dependence on foreign oil -- the largest component of our trade
deficit. One study, entitled America�s Energy Choices, published by
the Union of Concerned Scientists, concludes that the U.S. can
dramatically reduce energy use and air pollution, and increase the
use of renewable technologies at a significant cost savings to the
nation.

The cost of energy to our nation is a substantial proportion of our
gross national product. We spent 15% of our GNP on energy in 1990,
or a total of $847 billion. According to the schedule proposed by
the Natural Law Party, we would spend only 10.2% by the year 2005,
cutting hundreds of billions of dollars from the nation�s energy
bill.

STRENGTHING DEMOCRACY

OUR NATION�S FOUNDERS strove to create a democracy that would
guarantee fundamental human rights and hold the government
accountable to the people. The Natural Law Party is committed to
restoring this vision to the American political process and
overcoming the bipartisan conflict and special interest control that
has paralyzed and subverted our government.

The Natural Law Party supports long-overdue election and campaign
reforms to ensure (a) equal access to the ballot, the media, and the
public for all qualified candidates, (b) the elimination of PAC and
soft-money funding of campaigns, and (c) a shift toward public
sponsorship of campaigns in order to reduce the undue influence of
special interest money on election outcomes. Such reforms will
fulfill every American�s right to complete information about all
candidates and their platforms while freeing elected officials to
focus on serving their country rather than seeking campaign
contributions.

The Natural Law Party envisions a future in which elections are a
time of national celebration, free of negative campaigning -- a time
when the nation takes pride in its achievements and plans
collectively for the future.

ELECTION REFORM

The Problem

There is no Constitutional basis for America�s current two-party
system. In fact, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson specifically
warned against political parties, which they feared would become
entrenched as elitists and servers of special interests,
unresponsive to the needs and desires of the people.

Today we find ourselves in this very situation. Frustrated by
political gridlock, many Americans feel that government has grown
into a self-serving, self-perpetuating partisan body that neither
reflects nor recognizes their desires. Recent polls indicate that
86% of Americans feel that their elected officials will never solve
the nation�s problems, partly because political infighting has
frozen the machinery of government. Consequently, the U.S. has the
lowest voter turnout of any country in the world.

Over 60% of Americans favor the formation of a new, major political
party. Americans want change and are deeply frustrated with both
Republican and Democratic candidates. Traditionally, third parties
have introduced important new ideas, such as women�s suffrage and
the abolition of slavery, into our national political debate. As
former Chief Justice Earl Warren commented:

All political ideas cannot and should not be channeled into the
programs of our two major parties. History has amply proved the
virtue of political activity by minority, dissident groups, which
innumerable times have been in the vanguard of democratic thought
and whose programs were ultimately accepted. The absence of such
voices would be a symptom of grave illness in our society [1].

Yet the Republican and Democratic parties continue to exert an
effective stranglehold on the political process, preventing crucial
new ideas from emerging via third parties and their candidates.

Current campaign laws unfairly discriminate against independent and
third-party candidates. In 1996, Republicans and Democrats received
$148 million taxpayer dollars to run their general election
campaigns -- including $25 million to hold meaningless presidential
nominating conventions -- while independent and new-party candidates
typically receive nothing. In most cases, access to the ballot is
automatic for Republicans and Democrats, but independent and
third-party candidates face the most rigid, discriminative, and
unwieldy procedures in the world. For example, it is more difficult
for a new party to get on the ballot in Florida than in all the
countries of Europe combined [2].

The present ballot-access barriers for third parties blatantly
violate the 1990 international Helsinki accords that guarantee
universal and equal suffrage to all adult citizens �without
discrimination,� including equal access to the ballot and the media.
Ironically, the United States is the world�s foremost proponent of
these accords [3].

The Solution

The Natural Law Party supports election reform that returns American
democracy to the high ideals envisioned by our nation�s founders --
a democracy that fairly represent the views of all its citizens and
candidates. To achieve this, the Natural Law Party supports the
following initiatives:

Ensure ballot access fairness. Every political party and candidate
should have the same requirements in every election for getting on
the ballot. Incumbents should no longer have privileges over
challengers with new ideas.

Promote campaign fairness. It is the right of the American people to
hear the views of every candidate on the ballot. All candidates who
meet ballot access requirements should have the same access to their
constituencies, including equal media access through a series of
publicly sponsored televised forums, debates, and infomercials, as
well as publicly sponsored mailings of voter education materials. To
qualify for these privileges, candidates would be required to comply
with voluntary spending limits. This structure would favor voter
education over privately funded media advertising and would thereby
help eliminate special interest influence on the election process.

Encourage all Americans to vote. Election day should be made a
mandatory national holiday, as in most other nations, so that
everyone has time to vote. Voter registration should be facilitated
by creating uniform laws that allow same-day registration or even
automatic registration.

Shorten the campaign season. The campaign season should be reduced
to four months -- two months for parties to choose their candidates
and two months for the general election.

Abolish the Electoral College. Under the current system, a
presidential candidate can receive a majority of the votes and still
lose the election. The President should be elected by the people
through direct popular vote.

Allow national initiatives. The �public initiative� process, already
enacted and in operation in 23 states, should be expanded to the
national level. This process allows the collective will of our
citizens to initiate legislative reform and thereby shape
governmental policy more directly.

Reconsider proportional representation. This political system has
been effective in countries around the world and more fairly
represents the true will of the people than our current
�winner-take-all� process.

CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM

The Problem

The election process is far too long and expensive. Elected
representatives spend too much of their terms fundraising and
campaigning for re-election. The United States has the longest
campaign season -- yet the lowest voter turnout -- of any country in
the world. The exorbitant cost of campaigns favors the wealthy
candidates and those who receive large contributions from political
action committees (PACs) and other special interest groups. Research
has shown that over 90% of all campaigns are won by the candidate
who spends the most. Consequently, government has become a hostage
to wealthy special interests rather than responsive to the people.

In 1994, the Republicans supported campaign finance reform and won a
landslide victory. However, once they became the majority party, the
Republicans became the majority beneficiaries of PAC funds. Now they
are the biggest recipients of special interest money in history [4],
and the recent Republican filibuster ensured that no campaign
finance reform will take place during the current Congress.

The savings and loan crisis is a prime example of what happens when
government is financed and controlled by special interest groups.
The savings and loan deregulation was brought about by the influence
of the powerful savings and loan lobby, which furnished large
campaign contributions to the President and to Congress. The effects
of this S&L deregulation and the consequent irresponsible handling
of depositors� funds have cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of
dollars -- thousands of dollars for every taxpayer.

Campaign finances have usurped the focus of our elected leaders by
forcing them to attend to fundraising rather than doing their jobs
and solving the nation�s problems. For example, it can take $10
million or more to run an effective Senate campaign; consequently,
incumbents must raise $5,000 every day they are in office. Hence the
lure of PAC funding becomes too compelling to resist.

Unlike the major-party candidates with PAC funding, independent and
third-party candidates encounter formidable financial obstacles to
media access in this electronic age. In addition, the frequent
exclusion of these candidates from participation in televised
debates, due to the stranglehold of the two major parties on the
democratic process, prevents new ideas and new solutions from
entering the political process.

The Solution

The Natural Law Party will promote fairness in campaign financing
through public sponsorship of election campaigns and will support
legislation to correct injustices through the following campaign
finance reforms:

Eliminate PACs. When candidates run for Congress, they turn to
lobbyists and PACs for contributions. Consequently, when drafting
legislation, they often feel more accountable to special interests
than to the people they were elected to serve. This system amounts
to legalized bribery. The elimination of PACs and special interest
control of the political process would make our elected
representatives responsive to the people once again.

Eliminate �soft money.� This loophole circumvents the legal limits
on what individuals or corporations can donate to campaigns --
limits which are flagrantly violated today. Since current donation
limits apply mainly to the election of federal officials, unlimited
funds can be donated to nonfederal party accounts, whose
administrators can then apply the money as they choose -- including
channeling money, indirectly, to federal campaigns. Special interest
groups often use such �soft money� to buy support for their cause,
thus sacrificing the best interest of the American people [5].

Restrict lobbying. Strictly limit the ability of former public
servants to lobby on behalf of domestic and foreign interests.

Limit congressional privileges.Public servants should abide by the
same laws as every American citizen. Free mailings and other special
privileges should be limited.

NOTES

1. U.S. Supreme Court, Sweezy v. New Hampshire, 1957.

2. In 1992 the number of signatures required to get a presidential
candidate on the ballot in all 50 states plus the District of
Columbia was 25,500 for Democrats, 49,250 for Republicans, and
770,000 for a new party candidate. In addition, to run a full slate
of candidates in 1994, a new party would have had to gather 5.1
million signatures. Such discriminatory practices create an enormous
financial obstacle for third parties trying to participate in our
democratic process.

3. See the 1990 Document of Copenhagen Meeting of the Conference of
Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE).

4. �House incumbents raised $45.5 million during the first six
months of 1995, compared with $34 million in the first six months of
1993. The bulk of this money comes from about 10% of the population
and from political action committees (PACs) of corporations and
trade groups like the American Bar Association� (U.S. News & World
Report, February 12, 1996, p. 34).

5. �Both corporations and individuals can give soft money. Tobacco
companies like Philip Morris ($787,000) and Brown & Williamson
($260,000) were among the top soft-money givers to the Republicans
in the first half of 1995� (ibid).

ABORTION

THE NATURAL LAW PARTY is committed to substantially reducing the
number of abortions in America. However, the Natural Law Party holds
that the best way to reduce abortions is through education -- not
through legislation.

The Natural Law Party supports proven educational programs to bring
individual and national life into harmony with natural law. These
programs develop intelligence and creativity, improve moral
reasoning, and promote far-sighted thinking and actions that do not
create problems. Such education alone can produce the changes in
behavior that will reduce unwanted pregnancies. Only the Natural Law
Party�s strong educational approach, by changing attitudes and
behaviors from the inside out, can offer prevention on a realistic
basis.

Our nation�s history shows that it is difficult to legislate
morality. Laws forbidding the manufacture and sale of alcohol during
Prohibition had little effect on alcohol consumption. Instead, they
led to an increase in crime and the most murderous epoch in our
nation�s history. Similarly, legislation to outlaw abortions will
simply lead to illegal abortions.

For this reason, the Natural Law Party believes that it is
counterproductive for the Federal Government to outlaw abortion.
Furthermore, the Natural Law Party holds that the moral
responsibility for this decision should be left in the hands of
those whose lives are affected most -- the mother, the family, and
the doctor -- not the Federal Government.

At the same time, the Natural Law Party encourages a shift from
public to private funding of abortion -- specifically, private
charity by those who wish to make abortion accessible for women who
cannot afford it. Over time, the government should eliminate the use
of taxpayer dollars to fund abortion as a method of birth control,
especially because such use of public funds is morally offensive to
millions of taxpayers. The Natural Law Party would allow public
funding of abortions in cases of rape, incest, or life-threatening
medical necessity.

The Natural Law Party further believes that private charity to fund
abortions could be better used to support proven, community-based
programs such as CareNet, which reaches out to women with crisis
pregnancies to offer them both material and emotional support, and
the �One Church, One Child� adoption initiative founded by Fr.
George Clements, which has enabled over 50,000 children to find
loving parents and a nurturing home environment.

The Natural Law Party�s �antigovernment� stance regarding abortion
-- neither subsidizing abortions nor legislating them away -- is the
only defensible position from the standpoint of the U.S.
Constitution, which states in the 10th Amendment that �The powers
not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor
prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States
respectively, or to the people.�

The Natural Law Party�s prevention-oriented approach to reducing the
number of abortions will produce a much-needed unifying influence on
our nation, which has been deeply torn by this highly divisive
issue. Our policy serves the interests of both those who are
pro-life and those who are pro-choice by (a) decreasing the number
of abortions more effectively than legislation and (b) leaving moral
responsibility in the hands of those whose lives are affected most.
Only the Natural Law Party can solve the problem of abortion at its
basis and thereby fulfill the goals of all Americans -- those who
emphasize the sanctity of life and those who uphold the sanctity of
individual freedom.

FOREIGN POLICY

THE END OF THE COLD WAR ERA has brought the international community
to the threshold of a new era of global peace and harmony. The
Natural Law Party believes that the United States should lead the
world forward in creating new relationships governed by mutual
friendship and cooperation, free from aggression and armed conflict.
America is faced with a historic opportunity to help create a new
world order, in which peace is perpetual and every nation upholds
the flag of every other nation.

THE PROBLEM

From 1946 to 1993, the U.S. spent $439.6 billion on foreign aid --
35% of which was military aid. However, these expenditures have not
brought peace, economic stability, or greater economic cooperation
to the family of nations. We continue to live in a dangerous world
troubled by widespread violence and regional conflicts, as evidenced
by the Gulf War, the ethnic violence in Bosnia, and continuing
terrorism in the Middle East. Moreover, as a major supplier of the
world�s armaments, the U.S. has directly contributed to such
conflicts.

In addition, no real consensus exists concerning the purpose,
allotment, and amount of foreign economic aid now that the
historical goal of containing communism is no longer an issue. There
is an urgent need to address America�s deteriorating relations with
China, multibillion-dollar trade deficit with Japan, and economic
competition with Western Europe. These relationships are especially
troubling in view of the continuing U.S. financial commitment to
defending Japan, as well as Germany and Western Europe.

Americans naturally wish to help the emerging democracies of the
former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, yet protest substantial
funds given directly to Russia and other republics because of so
many pressing priorities at home. U.S. aid to developing countries
has also been criticized because of countless instances in which
funds either were wasted on projects that did not help the people or
failed to reach the people due to misuse by the recipient
governments.

THE SOLUTION

The Natural Law Party would create an immediate shift in U.S.
foreign policy away from military aid toward a more life-supporting
policy based on the exportation of U.S. know-how. American expertise
and technical assistance in such critical areas as business
administration, entrepreneurship, education, sustainable
agriculture, and environmental technologies, supplemented where
necessary with economic support, should replace military aid as a
principal instrument of U.S. foreign policy.

This new type of life-nourishing assistance will allow many
developing countries to become financially self-sufficient and
thereby to eliminate hunger and poverty. Such a policy would
contribute to a more affluent and flourishing global trade and a
more prosperous family of nations.

Since the end of the Cold War, America�s security interests have
begun to shift from military concerns to global economic and
environmental issues. America is called to leadership in developing
a foreign policy that most intelligently meets this challenge.

This foreign policy must respect and honor the diversity of
cultures, religions, races, and economic and political systems of
the world, while promoting the value of unity -- so that every
nation will respect and uphold the sovereignty and cultural
integrity of every other nation in an unprecedented flow of economic
cooperation and goodwill.

Above all, we must ensure that our precious national resources are
applied effectively and not wasted through inefficiency,
mishandling, or inappropriate allocation. Foreign aid decisions must
be made in consultation with the people of recipient countries, from
both the government and nongovernmental citizens� groups.

In a peaceful and harmonious world family, we can conceive of
reducing our own military expenditures and realizing a significant
�peace dividend,� directing some of our enormous defense
expenditures towards our own social programs, including investment
and development as an economic superpower.

DEFENSE

WITH THE END OF THE COLD WAR ERA, the U.S. has an unprecedented
opportunity to lead the world in creating a stable and permanent
peace, free from fear of aggression and war, in which every nation
enjoys invincibility and friendship with every other nation.

THE PROBLEM

Despite the declining threat of superpower confrontation,
uncertainty and fear still dominate U.S. defense thinking. History
has shown that neither treaties nor arms can ensure peace and
security. Regional and ethnic conflicts in the Middle East and
Eastern Europe have demonstrated that even small nations can imperil
world peace and stability. They can hold other nations hostage
through terrorism, ecological warfare, and weapons of mass
destruction.

No viable defense against nuclear weapons exists. Nuclear tests in
China, India, and Pakistan have stirred fears in the international
community of runaway nuclear proliferation. At least 46 nuclear
weapons are thought to be missing from the former Soviet arsenal
[1]. Arms experts fear that rogue nations and terrorist groups might
opt for �back-pack� nuclear weapons carried by foot soldiers. Even
after substantial reductions in our own arsenals, thousands of
nuclear weapons remain. The military faces huge environmental
cleanup costs for its unused arsenals and bases.

Similarly, biological and chemical weapons pose a mounting threat to
national security. Their relatively low cost, easily accessible
technology, and low-tech applications make them especially dangerous
as weapons of mass destruction in the hands of terrorist groups or
even individuals.

The U.S. remains one of the world�s biggest arms suppliers. This
global arms peddling has tarnished our reputation as a promoter of
peace, fostered deep-seated international ill will, and led to a
dangerous world in which our own soldiers are forced to confront
American weapons on the battlefield. On the domestic front, Congress
continues to fund expensive �pork-barrel� defense contracts that the
Pentagon does not even want [2].

Finally, military personnel continue to face major health concerns,
including problems with stress [3], alcohol, and a higher rate of
cigarette smoking than the civilian population [4]. Post-traumatic
stress syndrome, a continuing problem for veterans, is virtually
ignored due to lack of solutions, and Gulf War syndrome has
underscored the insidious influence of environmental toxins on our
primary-level military personnel [5].

THE SOLUTION

The changing global political landscape mandates a broad
reassessment of the purpose, scope, strategy, and financial
requirements of U.S. defense. The Natural Law Party believes that
these crucial issues must be decided on the basis of a revised set
of priorities reflecting America�s realistic defense
requirements--not on the basis of short-term political
considerations and pork-barrel politics.

The Natural Law Party recognizes the need to maintain the alertness
of our nation�s armed forces. Between 1987 and 1999, the U.S.
military defense budget has been cut by 5%. Since the world remains
dangerous and unstable, the Natural Law Party believes that the U.S.
should not implement further major reductions of defense
expenditures at this time. However, we believe that a smaller, more
flexible force coupled with greater economic and security
cooperation will serve the nation�s security interests and provide
the basis for a more stable world. We therefore emphasize human
rather than material resources.

For example, the Natural Law Party believes that funding for costly,
wasteful, and ineffective weapons systems could be rapidly scaled
down. As part of this down-scaling, we would (1) accelerate the
decrease of U.S. nuclear arsenals, which cost $25 billion annually
to maintain, (2) immediately and permanently halt all U.S. nuclear
testing and nuclear weapons research, and (3) reduce the U.S.
presence in NATO and the Pacific Rim, encouraging Western Europe and
Japan to contribute more toward the defense of those regions. The
role of America should be to foster peace and prosperity in the
family of nations, rather than to act as the world�s policeman.

To further strengthen our security, the Natural Law Party offers a
peace-promoting technology that will help neutralize international
tensions and conflict and promote stability and harmony within the
family of nations. Through this peace-promoting technology, which is
based upon groups of experts collectively practicing the
Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program, the Natural Law
Party can help to ensure a peaceful world. Only through the addition
of this technology to reduce global stress and to generate an
actual, physical influence of peace among the family of nations can
a political party responsibly cut defense spending and divert the
precious resources of the nation toward more life-supporting and
humane programs at home and abroad [6].

Therefore, the Natural Law Party supports the immediate creation of
a �prevention wing� within the military--a group whose primary
purpose would be to prevent the outbreak of war and to preserve and
strengthen national and international peace. By training even 1% of
U.S. military personnel in the proven programs advocated by the
Natural Law Party to reduce stress in individual and national life,
America can create a genuine peace-keeping force that can maintain a
powerful, integrated, coherent national consciousness and thereby
prevent the emergence of an enemy.

The Natural Law Party also supports new priorities for the U.S.
Department of Defense. Selected military personnel and resources
could quickly adapt to roles such as drug interdiction and border
defense. We believe that economic growth, leading to new industries
and jobs, is the best way to help the defense industry adjust to
military downsizing. There is strong statistical evidence that more
jobs are created through domestic programs than through military
spending. In addition, we favor incentives to stimulate investment
of private-sector funds and expertise to help industries diversify
into nondefense markets.

Finally, the Natural Law Party supports prevention and
rehabilitation programs that have been shown to reduce military
stress, decrease alcohol and drug abuse, alleviate post-traumatic
stress syndrome, promote better health, and enhance physical and
mental performance [7].

NOTES

1.G-2, December 1994, Military 11(7):3.

2. For example, Congress has apportioned $13.4 billion for
additional B-2 bombers that the Pentagon doesn't want; legislators
have funded the construction of four GS cruisers, although the Navy
only requested two; and the costly Seawolf project is currently
funded for $700 million, even though the Navy doesn�t want it at
all.

3. Air Force Times, May 27, 1996, 10.

4. U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, July 1995, 73; American Journal
of Public Health 81 (7):865-869, 1991; American Journal of
Preventive Health 11(4):245-250, 1995.

5. See U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, January 1996, p. 64.
Environmental dangers cited include inhalation of sand and other
airborne particles, heavy metals, depleted uranium, chemical and
biological agents, pollution from hydrocarbons, and genetic and
cancer risks.

6. See our Government Supported by Natural Law section, reference 18
therein.

7. See our Health, Crime, and Education sections, and references
therein. For research on post-traumatic stress syndrome, see Journal
of Counseling and Development 64:212, 1985.

GUN CONTROL

THE NATURAL LAW PARTY holds that the current debate over gun control
overlooks the root cause of this issue. The climate of fear and
tension pervading America�s cities and towns is largely responsible
for the proliferation of guns and their use in acts of violent
crime. The Natural Law Party is the only political party to offer
scientifically proven programs to reduce built-up social stress and
thereby reduce crime and violence (see our Crime and Rehabilitation
section).

Within six months of the implementation of these programs, the
Natural Law Party anticipates a dramatic reduction in crime rate as
stress is neutralized and the whole population spontaneously becomes
more in harmony with both natural law and national law. In this
improved atmosphere, the perceived need for -- and the actual use of
-- weapons will naturally diminish.

At the same time, the Natural Law Party believes that the widespread
availability of guns is, in itself, a significant contributing
factor to the rise of violent crime. The Natural Law Party therefore
upholds existing gun-control legislation and believes that such
legislation represents a suitable balance between public safety and
the constitutional right to bear arms.

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

GIVEN CURRENT LEVELS of crime in America, capital punishment has
gained broad popular support as a hoped-for deterrent to the most
severe crimes. Unfortunately, experience shows that capital
punishment neither effectively deters crime nor saves taxpayer
money. Although the Natural Law Party supports a strong penal code,
especially for specific, highly egregious violent crimes, the
current effort to extend the death penalty to include a wide range
of crimes is a desperate public (and highly political) reaction
arising from deep frustration with present, ineffective
crime-fighting strategies.

The Natural Law Party supports highly effective, proven
crime-prevention programs that have been shown to lower crime
significantly (see our Crime section). We believe that the national
mood will shift away from an outcry for the harshest possible
punishment and towards more compassionate solutions once violent
crime has been significantly reduced through the Natural Law Party�s
prevention-oriented approach.

DRUG ABUSE

THE MOST EFFECTIVE DEFENSE AGAINST DRUGS is proper education --
education that directly unfolds intelligence and creativity, builds
self-confidence, eliminates stress, and raises life to be in harmony
with natural law, thereby eliminating the tendency towards drug
dependence.

To be effective, education must be deeply satisfying and directly
relevant to a person�s own life. Such education will eliminate
functional and technological illiteracy and also prevent dropouts,
who become the principal targets for drugs and drug-related crime
(see our Education section).

For those currently suffering from drug dependence, the Natural Law
Party promotes programs that have been shown to dramatically reduce
drug dependency and to eliminate stress and restore balance in an
individual�s physiology and psychology (see our Health and Crime
sections).

The responsibility for stemming the drug trade currently belongs to
numerous federal agencies, including the Drug Enforcement
Administration, the Border Patrol of the Immigration and
Naturalization Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as
well as many state and local agencies. This fragmented approach
inevitably results in overlapping and at times self-defeating
investigations, apprehensions, and prosecutions. These conflicts
make administration inefficient -- and sometimes result in senseless
anomalies that allow known criminals to escape prosecution
altogether.

The Natural Law Party therefore supports procedures that will
promote cooperation and coordination among the various law
enforcement agencies responsible for interdicting, apprehending, and
prosecuting individuals and organizations engaged in illegal drug
and narcotics activities.

FAMILY VALUES

THE NATURAL LAW PARTY is deeply committed to strengthening the
well-being of every American family by restoring the fundamental
moral values that have sustained the minds and hearts of our
citizens for generations. Such universal family values include
honesty, integrity, responsibility, industriousness,
self-discipline, compassion, generosity, and mutual respect. By
bringing individual and family life into accord with natural law, we
can largely erase the present epidemic of family breakdown and moral
decay and create a society in which parents, children, families, and
society mutually nourish and strengthen each other in their growth
toward fulfillment.

THE PROBLEM

American families today are under unprecedented financial, social,
and environmental stress, making it difficult for parents to create
loving, stable homes for their children.

Financial stress. Real wages for average American workers have
decreased since 1973. Due to the much higher cost of living in 1999,
most two-parent families require two incomes to maintain a
reasonable existence. In addition, the average American now works
more hours than at any time since World War II -- close to 50 hours
weekly. Not surprisingly, this economic stress, coupled with the
strain of long work hours, has resulted in increased tension within
families, a rise in domestic violence, and an almost 50% divorce
rate for new marriages. As a result, many children no longer receive
the love, attention, and guidance from their parents that previous
generations took for granted as essential for moral development.

Families with only one parent face even greater challenges. Almost
one third of American children in single-parent families live in
poverty -- yet the rate of childbirth among unmarried women has
risen to nearly one third in 1999. Despite the devotion and hard
work of many single parents, some studies indicate that children in
single-parent families are at greater risk for crime, for drug and
alcohol abuse, and for dropping out of school.

Social environment. Parents today have little control over the
negative influences assaulting their children: school shootings,
drug and alcohol abuse, gangs, premature sexual activity, and the
risk of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. In addition,
children watch an excessive amount of television -- time that used
to be spent with parents, teachers, or other role models. Our
educational system fails to instill core values in students, such as
honesty, mutual respect, civility, and social responsibility.

Physical environment. Parents can no longer guarantee the quality of
even the most basic necessities for their families: food, air, and
water. The dramatic increase in poisons and toxicity in our
environment -- pesticides on crops, air and water pollution, and the
potential harm from genetically engineered foods -- all constitute a
serious threat to the health of family members (see our Agriculture
section).

These financial, social, and environmental challenges that parents
face today have given rise to an increase of stress in family life.
These rising levels of stress throughout society undermine the
harmony and integrity of family life, so important to the growing
stability and vitality of our nation. Other political parties decry
domestic violence, child abuse, divorce, and the breakdown of
morality, but they have been unable to offer effective solutions to
these problems.

THE SOLUTION

The Natural Law Party offers proven programs that address the root
cause of the breakdown of family life today -- epidemic stress
levels throughout society, especially in our densely populated urban
centers. Medical researchers report an alarming rise in
stress-related illness -- including stroke, hypertension, and heart
disease. This same epidemic of stress is responsible for the
widespread growth of �social disease� -- domestic violence, child
abuse, family decay, crime, and drug abuse. The most effective
solution is therefore to reduce accumulated stress in the whole
population, so that all individuals, and especially parents, are
able to make the most life-supporting decisions in their personal
lives and decisions that are most nourishing to the lives of their
children.

The Natural Law Party would therefore support the permanent
establishment of coherence-creating groups on the national, state,
and local levels to dissolve communitywide tension and negativity.
These programs of the Natural Law Party have been scientifically
demonstrated to reduce crime, violence, and negative trends
throughout society, and to create a harmonizing influence in
collective consciousness, enabling diverse individual interests and
tendencies to coexist without creating conflict between family
members and in society as a whole.

In addition, the Natural Law Party�s cost-effective solutions to the
nation�s problems and pro-growth economic policies will create jobs,
stimulate growth, and ease the financial strain experienced by so
many American families (see our Economy section). The Natural Law
Party believes that primary-care parents should not be forced by
economic necessity to work, since their role as parents is vital for
the strength and stability of future generations.

The Natural Law Party also strongly supports the role of the senior,
most experienced members of our society as the source of wisdom and
guidance for all other members of the family and the community, and
regards the widespread isolation and loneliness of our senior
members as a significant loss to America. The Natural Law Party
supports mentor and housing programs that can reverse this trend and
maintains a deep commitment to protecting the lives and rights of
our country's senior members.

Most importantly, the strong educational programs endorsed by the
Natural Law Party will significantly support and strengthen family
unity and the natural unfoldment of each member�s full potential.
These programs have been scientifically shown to develop
intelligence, emotional maturity, moral reasoning, and harmonious
relationships, and to reduce anxiety, substance abuse, and
antisocial behavior (see our Education section). Such outcomes will
help different generations of a family to live together, to nourish
each other, and to establish the harmony, respect, and mutual
enrichment that is the ideal of family life.

The family is the source of life for every individual, and as such
is the primary training ground for social behavior. The quality of
the home determines the quality of civilization. By strengthening
and reenlivening the family from the inside, and by eliminating the
stress attacking the family from the outside, the Natural Law Party
gives parents the opportunity to reawaken universal family values in
their children and thus secure a bright future for our nation.

REVITALIZING OUR INNER CITIES

THE NATURAL LAW PARTY supports a comprehensive, cost-effective plan
to revitalize our inner cities. Our plan includes proven programs
for education; job, technical, and management training; crime
prevention; drug rehabilitation; urban revitalization; social
welfare; economic development; and the development of a stronger
sense of community. To guarantee the plan's success, we would
supplement all these programs with scientifically validated
technologies to reduce social stress and unfold the full creative
potential of people of all ages.

THE PROBLEM

America's decaying urban centers are monuments to decades of flawed
public policies. Billions of dollars are wasted on programs that
fail to revitalize our cities because they do not go to the root of
the problem. They fail to unlock the inner creative genius of the
people, and they fail to reduce the alarming rise of stress in
society, which is at the basis of the widespread epidemic of crime,
violence, alcohol and drug abuse, and disease. For example, a recent
report from the U.S. Justice Department noted that 81% of weapons
arrests take place in cities, and that teenagers accounted for 23%
of these arrests. University of Cincinnati criminologist Frank
Cullen commented in USA Today that this trend relates �to an absence
of family and social structure to support them. Together, that's a
lethal combination.�

Without addressing the root causes of stress at the basis of urban
decay and unrest, all other efforts for economic recovery and urban
renewal are destined to fail.

THE SOLUTION

The Natural Law Party offers something new -- something that has
been shown by scientific evidence to actually work. This approach
involves two steps: (1) reduction of built-up social stress,
followed by (2) implementation of practical programs to improve
community life and solve costly social problems.

To reduce stress, the Natural Law Party supports the establishment
of coherence-creating groups practicing the Transcendental
Meditation and TM-Sidhi program. Extensive research, published in
leading scientific journals, has found that when a small proportion
of a population collectively practices this program there is a
significant reduction in negative tendencies, such as crime,
violence, sickness, and accidents, and a strengthening of positive
social and economic trends in the population as a whole. Such
programs will prevent the accumulation of stress and frustration
that has erupted as violence in cities across the nation. In the
more harmonious atmosphere generated by these programs, a deeper and
more integrated sense of community will emerge as the best security
against inner city crime and decay.

After reducing social stress and creating a more coherent social
atmosphere, the Natural Law Party would introduce practical
solutions to costly social problems and specific programs to promote
progress in every city:

To improve public health and curb rising health care costs, the
Natural Law Party would support prevention-oriented health education
and natural medicines that have been shown scientifically to prevent
disease, promote health, and cut health care costs in half (see our
Health section).

To boost the economy, the Natural Law Party would propose
significantly lower taxes, made possible through its cost-effective
solutions to social problems; effective vocational and management
training programs; and simplified governmental administration for
reduced government waste (see our Economy section).

To improve education, the Natural Law Party would support programs
that develop the inner creative genius of all students, along with
the ability to conduct their lives in accord with natural law. Only
education that is perceived as directly relevant to the student's
own life -- education that unfolds full mental potential and the
ability to fulfill desires in harmony with natural law -- can
prevent drop-outs, who become the primary targets of inner city
crime and drug abuse (see our Education section).

To improve public safety, the Natural Law Party would support
proven, cost-effective programs that have been shown to rehabilitate
criminal offenders; prevention programs that target at-risk youth
before they become involved in crime; effective programs to prevent
and cure alcohol and drug abuse; and a permanent coherence-creating
group to reduce stress and create a more harmonious social
atmosphere throughout the city (see our Crime and Rehabilitation
section).

To rebuild the inner city, the Natural Law Party would help plan
urban infrastructure and housing that improve health, reduce crime,
and restore a sense of community. The Natural Law Party would
promote the development of nonpolluting automobiles and public
transportation, human-scale housing that discourages crime and
supports neighborhoods in which families can grow and prosper, and
the development of more parks and green spaces (see our Energy and
Environment section).

UPHOLDING THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN AND MINORITIES

THE RIGHTS OF ALL AMERICAN CITIZENS are guaranteed by the U.S.
Constitution, and the Natural Law Party would support any
legislation deemed necessary to uphold these constitutional rights
for women and for minorities. At the same time, the Natural Law
Party recognizes the difficulties in �legislating� equality: equal
rights legislation has not succeeded in eliminating discrimination.

Government cannot be present at all times and in all places to
ensure that people treat each other fairly. Instead, the Natural Law
Party intends to reduce prejudice and bigotry in society through
more effective educational programs that develop broad
comprehension, increased intelligence, and improved moral reasoning,
and by reducing social stress that leads to fear and divisiveness.
These programs will help create a unifying influence among our
citizens and throughout society.

Natural law is that basic element in the universe that constantly
nourishes the life of every individual and every living species. The
Natural Law Party is the only political party that is based on this
universally nourishing quality of natural law. Until now, democracy
has been willing to compromise the interests of the minority for the
sake of the majority. This is because democracy has so far been
based on limited principles of man-made law, which are not
sufficiently comprehensive to be simultaneously nourishing to
everyone. When such principles compromise the interests of the
minority, inevitably some segments of our population remain
unfulfilled. The result is an increase in stress and frustration,
which inevitably erupts as crime, sickness, and other problems
throughout society.

By basing its administration on the most universal principles of
natural law, the Natural Law Party�s comprehensive,
prevention-oriented solutions to America�s problems are capable of
providing universal nourishment, protection, and fulfillment to all
citizens of the nation, including all the diverse groups that
compose the richness and plurality of our great society.

We believe that increased participation in government by women and
by minorities will bring greater strength and balance to the
administration. In this context, we note that approximately a third
of the candidates running for office with the Natural Law Party are
women or minority candidates.

GOVERNMENT SUPPORTED BY NATURAL LAW: A NEW APPROACH TO NATIONAL
ADMINISTRATION

THE NATURAL LAW PARTY holds that natural law is the solution to
problems. Government can solve problems at their basis through
scientifically proven programs to bring every citizen, and the
entire nation, into accord with natural law. By accessing the full
range of nature�s intelligence and harnessing its power, individuals
and nations can govern themselves with the same perfection in
administration displayed throughout nature.

THE PROBLEM

The Federal Government is besieged by problems -- and legislation
has proven inadequate to eliminate them. The American pandemic of
crime, random violence and drug abuse, disintegrating families,
poverty, and staggering health costs has not responded to even the
toughest legislation. Why?

Recent congressional initiatives to improve the quality of life in
America have focused primarily on financial approaches -- for
example, shifting fiscal responsibility for the social �safety net�
from the Federal Government to the states. But balancing the budget,
reforming the tax structure, and addressing economic inequities will
not stop Americans from falling ill, abusing drugs, or committing
crimes (see our Health and Crime sections).

The debates over these bills have raised questions about the
underlying cause of problems. In the search for answers, one theme
increasingly heard is that the problem lies within -- that all our
problems are symptomatic of a deeper crisis of moral and spiritual
values [1]. Yet no clear path to addressing this crisis has emerged.

To strengthen the moral and spiritual fabric of our society, we need
to look even deeper than the family structure and address the
underlying cause of both family and social breakdown. We need to
identify the fundamental cause of our problems and attack the
problem at its source. Otherwise, more stringent welfare and child
support rules will not by themselves instill stronger family values,
eliminate teen pregnancy, restore a thriving work ethic, and
encourage charity and volunteerism.

NATURAL LAW AND NATIONAL LAW

From the deepest perspective, our national problems have one
underlying cause -- violation of natural law [2].

Natural law is the orderly principles -- the laws of nature -- that
govern the functioning of nature everywhere, from atoms to
ecosystems to galaxies. Over the past several centuries, modern
science has identified many of these laws governing physical,
biological, ecological, and social systems. Natural law is
inherently �life-supporting�: it supports the life and evolution of
innumerable species [3].

Natural law is not a new idea in American government. Our founding
fathers believed that the rights of every American citizen to life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are based on immutable laws of
nature. They felt that, through knowledge of natural law, both
science and government would promote the goals of freedom and
happiness of the people [4].

Human behaviors that promote life, liberty, and happiness are in
harmony with natural law. When people live in harmony with natural
law, they don�t make mistakes -- they spontaneously uphold higher
values, and they enjoy naturally good health and a life free from
problems [5]. However, the knowledge of natural law uncovered by
modern science -- and disseminated through our educational system --
has been insufficient to enable citizens to live and act in accord
with the laws of nature. Thus, the whole population is constantly
violating natural law, causing problems for themselves and their
communities.

�Violation of natural law� is action that fails to take natural
advantage of the laws of nature, or that stimulates them in ways
that cause negative repercussions. Smoking is an example of behavior
that runs counter to the natural laws that support good physical
health.

Violation of natural law causes stress. Stress has consequences for
both mental and physical health; the majority of disease is said to
be stress related [6]. Stress causes a complex psychophysiological
chain reaction in the human body. Chronic stress leads to an
out-of-balance biochemistry that has also been linked with anxiety,
fear, anger, impulsive violent behavior, and substance abuse [7].

Moreover, the combined stress of all the individuals in society
builds up and creates a dangerous, criminal atmosphere in the whole
community. This epidemic of stress has rent our social fabric and
threatens the lives of Americans everywhere.

The government reflects this social disorder. Government is a mirror
of the nation. When the country is full of stress and crime, this
chaotic atmosphere has a debilitating effect on the performance of
government [2].

To deal with all the problems engendered by social stress,
government responds with laws, regulations, and costly social
programs designed to protect us from ourselves. Most of the
activities of our government -- and most of our tax dollars -- are
spent compensating for the violations of natural law by the
population. Laws and costly programs, however, can�t solve the
problems.

We can have a smaller, more efficient and effective government, one
that is capable of solving problems. Such a government would
function in alliance with natural law.

THE SOLUTION

The best government is �nature�s government� -- natural law, which
governs the universe with perfect order and without a problem.
Nations can govern themselves with this same perfection in
administration.

The most effective way governments can deal with problems is to
prevent them in the first place -- by enabling people to stop
violating natural law. How? Not through legislation, but through
education that brings the life of every citizen, and the nation as a
whole, into harmony with natural law.

How does one learn to think and act in accord with natural law?
Understanding specific laws of nature (for example, learning about
the health risks of smoking) is helpful. But the laws of nature are
too vast and complex to be fully comprehended intellectually. And
intellectual understanding alone is not enough to guarantee life in
accord with natural law. A new kind of education is needed that will
enable every citizen to live -- and every government to function --
spontaneously in harmony with natural law.

The most modern and most ancient understandings of natural law
describe a universal level of nature�s intelligence underlying all
forms and phenomena in the universe, including the human mind and
body. Modern physics has glimpsed this unified source of all the
laws of nature. The oldest tradition of knowledge of natural law,
the Vedic tradition of India, describes this universal level of
nature�s intelligence and states that it can be located -- and
accessed -- at the deepest level of the human mind, at the level of
pure consciousness [2].

For thought and action to be in tune with natural law, it is
necessary to experience and develop pure consciousness. This is not
the commonly understood idea of �consciousness-raising� -- becoming
more sensitive to or knowledgeable about issues. Pure consciousness
is the fundamental level of awareness, the basis of all thinking and
behavior. It is the deepest level of natural law in the individual,
which is identical with the deepest level of natural law that
administers the entire universe. Developing consciousness means
connecting individual life with this holistic value of natural law
-- with nature�s government.

1. To bring the life of individuals into accord with natural law,
education must provide a technique to give them direct access to the
holistic value of natural law in pure consciousness.

2. To fully address social problems, governments must reduce social
stress by bringing the whole society into accord with natural law.

Society as a whole has a �collective consciousness,� which is the
sum of the consciousness of all its individual members. Individual
consciousness influences collective consciousness, and in turn is
influenced by it [2, 13].

If collective consciousness can be brought in tune with natural law,
the whole population will cease to violate the laws of nature.
Social stress will be reduced, and problems such as crime and
violence will automatically decrease.

3. Government should function with the efficiency and effectiveness
of nature�s government.

The Natural Law Party promotes a new definition of government:
Government should be able to prevent problems. A government without
the ability to prevent problems is not a sovereign government. It
becomes crisis driven, a victim of situations and circumstances.
Moreover, such a government itself becomes an unwieldy and costly
problem for the nation.

To fulfill its highest goals, every government should create and
maintain a group professionally engaged in creating coherence
throughout society. Such a group would quietly bring the support of
natural law to national law; solve problems at their basis in
individual and collective consciousness; and promote the highest
level of efficiency in governmental administration.

NOTES

1.E.g., Bennett, W., The Book of Virtues (New York: Simon &
Schuster), 1993.

2. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Maharishi's Absolute Theory of Government:
Automation in Administration (Vlodrop, Holland: Maharishi Vedic
University Press), 1993, 77.

3. Hagelin, J., Manual for a Perfect Government: How to Harness the
Laws of Nature to Bring Maximum Success to Governmental
Administration.

4. Peterson, M., The Atlantic Monthly, December 1994, 114; Mayo, B.
(ed.), Jefferson Himself (Charlottesville, VA: University Press of
Virginia), 1942, 291.

5. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Life Supported by Natural Law (Fairfield,
IA: MIU Press), 1986.

6. Sapolsky, R., Stress, the Aging Brain, and the Mechanisms of
Neuron Death (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press), 1992; Weiner, H. Perturbing
the Organism: The Biology of Stressful Experience (Chicago: U. of
Chicago Press), 1992.

7. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly 11:89-117, 1994; Archives of
General Psychiatry 49:436-441, 1992; Archives of General Psychiatry
49:429-435, 1992; Life Sciences 33:2609-2614, 1983.

Gay Rights/Same-Sex Marriage

The Natural Law Party will support any legislation deemed necessary
to prevent discrimination and uphold the constitutionally guaranteed
rights of all American citizens, including all minorities. At the
same time, the Party believes that legislation alone will never be
able to eradicate prejudice and bigotry in society. For this we need
more effective educational programs -- programs advocated by the
Natural Law Party that develop broad comprehension, increased
intelligence, and improved moral reasoning, and that reduce the
social stress that leads to fear, divisiveness, narrow-mindedness,
and disharmony.

The Natural Law Party also believes that, in principle, government
should not attempt to legislate morality or to intervene in the
private moral decisions of its citizenry; the Federal Government was
not created for this purpose. Therefore, on principle, the Natural
Law Party will not draft legislation to discriminate against, nor to
actively support, same-sex marriage. (It should be pointed out that
under the Natural Law Party's low flat federal tax plan, marriage
will confer neither a tax benefit nor a tax penalty. Therefore, from
the standpoint of federal tax law, there is no issue that would
force the Federal Government to involve itself in this issue.)

Legalization of Drugs

Although the legalization of drugs would substantially cut
drug-related crimes, only about 20% of total drug-abuse costs are
crime related. The remaining 80% of costs are tied to health,
absenteeism, lost productivity, etc. Therefore, the legalization of
drugs, even if it increased drug use slightly, could result in
increased costs that would overwhelm any crime-related savings.

The Natural Law Party is fundamentally dedicated to the development
of the full potential of the individual. Apart from economic
considerations, long-term use of even mild hallucinogens like
marijuana has been shown to decrease EEG coherence -- the orderly
and integrated functioning of the brain. Brain wave coherence is
linked to intelligence, creativity, learning ability, academic
performance, moral reasoning, psychological stability, and emotional
maturity. Legalizing drugs could send the wrong signal to the youth,
implying that drug use is not that harmful.

At the same time, outlawing narcotics has not proved effective in
reducing their usage. To get to the heart of the drug problem, we
have to reduce the desire and the demand for drugs -- which the
educational programs supported by the Natural Law Party have been
proven to do.

Welfare

Welfare should not be a lifestyle, but a short-term safety net to
assist individuals who have lost employment or who are out of work
to obtain new employment. The Natural Law Party is in favor of
recently enacted welfare reforms to incentivize work, including
child care support and a two-year limit on welfare benefits.
However, it is of limited use to incentivize people to work if there
are no jobs available. The Natural Law Party's pro-growth economic
policies will create an abundance of good jobs which will place an
ever-increasing premium on the value of the worker. In this
expansionary economy, which will create more jobs than there are
workers, workers will increasingly be able to dictate their terms of
employment -- their salary and work conditions.

Existing state and federal welfare programs should be brought under
one administrative umbrella at the local level. Structures to
oversee welfare administration need to involve the entire community
-- a partnership between local government, businesses, nonprofit
organizations, and community residents -- with an emphasis on
economic development and community self-help. Through programs to
improve the financial and quality-of-life conditions at the basis of
welfare, we can broaden the idea of "welfare" from a notion of cash
or in-kind goods to a more expansive notion of physical,
psychological, emotional, and spiritual well-being.

Affirmative Action

The Natural Law Party believes that affirmative action is a
necessary evil -- a stop-gap measure to prevent discrimination in
the workplace and in school admissions policies. However, the Party
does not support quotas, since we feel that representatives of all
sectors of society find quotas to be demeaning and a source of
resentment in the workplace. The Natural Law Party upholds laws
guaranteeing equal opportunity, not equal outcomes.

In addition, history has shown that it is difficult to legislate
equality; government cannot be present in every business and school
to ensure that people are always treated fairly. Therefore, the
Natural Law Party places its strongest focus on education programs
that can develop broad comprehension, increased intelligence, and
improved moral reasoning, thereby reducing the social stress that
leads to fear, divisiveness, and narrow-mindedness.

Right-to-Work/Unions

The Natural Law Party believes that our working citizens have a
right to associate and to engage in collective bargaining to ensure
good working conditions and fair compensation. Therefore, unions
have a role to play and will continue to play this role in the
future.

However, the Natural Law Party feels that most powerful way to
improve the job conditions and earnings of American workers is to
stimulate job growth, which will make the American worker the prized
commodity he or she should be. When, through the Natural Law Party�s
pro-growth economic policies, more jobs have been generated than
there are workers to fill them, then America will be a seller's
market from the worker�s perspective. He or she will be able to pick
and choose jobs and to dictate salary and conditions -- and to do so
far more effectively than a union can when jobs are scarce and
workers are plentiful.

Trade Issues

Trade is vital to a thriving U.S. economy. Trade stimulates
competition that gives American consumers more choices, better
product quality, and lower prices. Especially today, with America
leading the global information revolution--the largest technological
and economic explosion in history--it is vitally important to U.S.
jobs and the economy that we achieve broad access to the
international marketplace with American products. Unfortunately, as
in other areas of U.S. government policy, our trade policies are
dictated by special interests. Current trade policies leave American
workers and businesses at an unfair disadvantage; threaten our
environment; undermine U.S. sovereignty and that of other nations;
and promote human rights violations.

The Natural Law Party supports a balanced, tailored trade program
that promotes the economic welfare of all our citizens; provides
markets for our domestic small businesses; safeguards American
employment and labor standards--and upholds our ban on the import of
products of child and slave labor; and ensures that imported goods
meet our environmental and product safety standards.

America's crucial trade treaties, such as NAFTA, must be revisited
and vigorously renegotiated--with adequate representation by labor,
environmental, and human rights proponents to ensure that America's
interests are truly upheld. In particular, the World Trade
Organization (WTO), with its sweeping authority to adjudicate
international trade disputes, has become a tool of multinational
corporations, which have inside access to WTO negotiations that
typically occur in secret. The Natural Law Party would give the WTO
twelve months to adopt more open, democratic procedures--with
adequate labor, environmental and human rights input--or would
withdraw the U.S. from the WTO and negotiate individual, tailored
trade relationships with America's various trade partners.

Feb	MAR	Apr
	06
2000	2001	2002