All around the world, the story is the same.  People everywhere are suffering at the hands of other people.  This pandemic of suffering isn't a new development, but our capacity to inflict pain upon each other has reached an unprecedented high, and we must make a committment to change humanity for the better, or our situation is bound to reach terrible new lows.  We must accept the fact that we can not depend on the world's current governments to save us.  None of them has the right combination of strength, boldness, and clarity of vision to lead us into a better future.  Even in so-called "free nations," the concept of government by and for the people has devolved into government for the sake of government, with officials rolling from election to election without effecting any lasting change during their terms.  As a result, winning public office is no longer a means to an end, but an end in and of itself in many nations.  Such nations are short sighted beasts crashing headlong through the darkness, and those of us who live under the rule of these confused governments have somehow come to accept that this is the natural order of things.

Unfortunately, it's not enough to know that you are unhappy with the status quo.  People complain about the sorry state of the world all the time.  If we desire change, we must take personal responsibility for making the world a better place.  Ultimately, it comes down to each and every one of us to secure the personal freedoms that we deserve.  Everybody needs to demand the rights that we are entitled to as free people.

Though the world's current governments have done a woefully bad job of enforcing their laws and protecting the rights that they guarantee to their citizens, some of them have come up with fairly noble declarations of personal rights.  I have been inspired by such documents as the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United States' Bill of Rights to compose a list of rights and freedoms that shall be sought after by all individual members of the Coalition of Free Peoples, and these same rights shall be required to be protected by law within any state, nation, or other political entity that seeks to be a member state or ally of the Coalition of Free Peoples.

The rights that all people are entitled to are as follows:

1. All people are born free and equal to each other in dignity and rights.

2. Every person has the right to life, liberty, and personal security.

3. No person shall at any time be subjected to torture or any other form of cruel or degrading treatment.

4. Every person is equal in the eyes of the law and is entitled to fair and just representation in legal matters.

5. No person may be subjected to arrest, detention, or exile without just cause.

6. Every person charged with a criminal offense is entitled to a fair and public hearing.

7. Every person charged with a criminal offense will be presumed innocent until proved guilty in a public trial at which he or she has had a fair opportunity for his or her defense.

8. Every person has the right to freedom from arbitrary interference with his or her privacy.

9. Every person not being detained for a just cause has the right to leave any state, nation, or other political entity.

10. Every person identified as an adult by local law, custom, or tradition, without any limitation due to race, color, creed, religion, nationality, sex, sexual orientation, or disability, has the right to marry and to form a family.  Marriage shall only take place with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.

11. Every person has the right to own property individually as well as in association with others, and no person may be denied of his property without just cause and compensation.

12. Every person has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, including the right to change his or her beliefs at will and to express his or her religion or belief in a peaceful manner.

13. Every person is entitled to the freedom to form and express personal opinions without interference; this includes the freedom to exchange ideas and information through any media.

14. Every person has the right to assemble peacefully.

15. No person may be compelled to belong to an organization or association.

16. Every person has the right to freely chosen representation in his or her government, and every person has the right to participate in periodic and genuine elections in which every adult citizen of the state, nation, or other political entity has had an equal opportunity to be considered as a candidate for election.

17. Every person has the right to humane working conditions, including reasonable limitation of working hours.

18. Every person has the right to a standard of living adequate for his or her well-being and the well-being of his or her dependents and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age, or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his or her control; every child must be entitled to the same social protection in the event that he or she is left uncared for under any circumstances.

19. Every person has the right to basic education.  Education must be provided freely, at least in the elementary stages, and elementary education must be mandatory.

20. Parents have the right to choose the kind of education that their children will receive.

21. Every person has the right to participate freely in his or her community, to enjoy the arts, and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.

22. Every person has the right to the protection of his or her intellectual property.

None of these rights may be annulled; however, they may be expanded in the future to address unforseen circumstances.  The Coalition of Free Peoples is a young entity, and we still have a lot of kinks to work out.  We know our long term goal is to free all people from fear and suffering at the hands of others, but we still need to set appropriate short term and intermediate goals to achieve that end.  The more people we have committed to our success, the greater our impact will be.  Stand up, and become part of history in the making.

For the people,
Spiro Van Buren
Coalition Leader