Social Priorities

There can be no progress unless it's for all and by all.

The priorities for our leaders today is to balance the books and keep international credit rating agencies happy. The priority is not human beings and our needs.

Humanists believe that health and education should be the top priorities of every country because these are the things that most impact on our quality of life. Decisions should therefore be made according to how well they serve the goal of free health and education for everyone. It's only by putting the priority on health and education that we'll have real progress.

Another priority which is currently upside-down in the political field is the value of the neighbourhood. Neighbourhoods should be given a higher priority than the city, the province or country as a whole. It is this community level that forms the base of our democracy - it is upon these communities that City Hall, Queen's Park and Parliament Hill stand. Over time, power and autonomy have been taken from the neighbourhood by higher levels of administration and our democracy has become a formality.

The humanist proposal is for decentralization and for power to the neighbourhoods. Only in this way will our political system have the flexibility to be open to the needs of the people - only in this way can our system be truly 'representative'. 

For more on these topics, see the book "Letters to My Friends"