Paper 72 Overview: Government on a Neighboring Planet

This paper describes the governmental and social systems of an advanced human civilization on a neighboring planet within the Satania system. Despite experiencing challenges similar to Urantia, including the Lucifer rebellion and the default of their Material Son, this civilization has developed remarkably progressive political, economic, and social institutions. Their continental nation has evolved from various forms of rule to a representative government with sophisticated judicial, educational, and industrial systems.

The paper examines twelve aspects of this civilization: its continental nation, political organization, home life, educational system, industrial organization, old-age insurance, taxation, special colleges, universal suffrage, crime management, military preparedness, and relations with other nations. By presenting these advanced governmental and social arrangements, the revelators provide insights that could benefit Urantia's evolution toward more effective social organization and eventual planetary light and life.

With permission from Lanaforge and approval from the Most Highs of Edentia, the author describes the social, moral, and political life of the most advanced human race on a nearby planet in the Satania system. This planet's history closely resembles Urantia's because it also participated in the Lucifer rebellion and experienced the failure of its Material Son, similar to Adam's default on Urantia. The similarity between the two worlds explains why this unusual presentation about another planet's affairs was permitted.

This neighboring planet, like Urantia, was misled by its Planetary Prince during the Lucifer rebellion and experienced the default of its Material Son shortly after Adam came to Urantia. Unlike Urantia, however, this world has never received a Magisterial Son, leaving it isolated like Urantia but with different developmental challenges and opportunities.

Despite planetary handicaps, a superior civilization has evolved on an isolated continent approximately the size of Australia, with a population of about 140 million people. The inhabitants are a mixed race, predominantly blue and yellow with a greater proportion of violet ancestry than Urantia's white race, and they enjoy an average lifespan of ninety years—fifteen percent higher than any other people on their planet. Their industrial development benefits from unique topography featuring high mountains at the continent's center, providing abundant water power and irrigation for the drier western regions.

This nation developed through evolutionary stages similar to Urantia, progressing from tribal organization through strong rulers and monarchies over thousands of years. A significant turning point occurred five hundred years ago when one of three powerful dictators voluntarily abdicated, leading to unified rule under one leader. After a century of monarchial rule, the nation gradually transitioned to a representative form of government. Today's republic has existed for two hundred years, with significant industrial and political developments occurring within the last decade.

The continental nation maintains a representative government with a centrally located capital. The central government consists of a strong federation of one hundred relatively free states whose governors and legislators are elected for ten-year terms without eligibility for re-election. State judges are appointed for life by governors and confirmed by state legislatures, with one representative for every hundred thousand citizens. Metropolitan governance varies by city size, with a prohibition against any city exceeding one million inhabitants.

The federal government encompasses three coordinated divisions: executive, legislative, and judicial. The chief executive is elected every six years by universal territorial suffrage and is advised by a super-cabinet of all living former chief executives. The legislative branch includes three houses: an upper house elected by economic groups, a lower house elected by social and philosophical organizations, and a third house of elder statesmen comprised of distinguished public servants. The judicial system operates through two major court systems—law courts and socioeconomic courts—each with clearly defined jurisdictions and appellate processes.

On this continent, legal restrictions prohibit two families from living under the same roof, and group dwellings have been largely outlawed. Every homesite must provide at least fifty thousand square feet of land, and all property used for home purposes is tax-exempt up to ten times the minimum homesite allotment. Family life has significantly improved over the last century, with mandatory parental education in child culture for both fathers and mothers, including agriculturists who participate through correspondence and regular in-person instruction.

Families typically have five children who remain under parental control until they begin assuming civic responsibilities at age fifteen. Both parents devote substantial attention to child education and character development, with fathers being almost as involved as mothers. Sex education is administered by parents at home, while moral instruction is provided by teachers in school settings. Religious instruction, considered the exclusive privilege of parents, is viewed as an integral part of home life rather than a separate institutional practice as in Urantia churches.

The educational system is compulsory and coeducational in precollege schools, which students attend from ages five to eighteen. These schools differ dramatically from Urantia's educational institutions, featuring no traditional classrooms and focusing on one subject at a time. After their first three years, all pupils become assistant teachers helping instruct younger students. The schools incorporate practical learning through workshops and farms where students produce furniture, mechanical devices, and agricultural products while consulting reference books only as needed to solve practical problems.

Education continues throughout life, with vacation time being an integral part of adult education. One quarter of school time is devoted to competitive athletics, with students progressing from local to national competitions. School governance mirrors the national government's three-branch structure, with teachers functioning as the advisory legislative division. By age eighteen, every graduate possesses skills as an artisan, after which they may pursue specialized knowledge in adult schools or colleges, with exceptional students receiving awards allowing them to execute personal projects.

The industrial situation, while still imperfect, demonstrates progressive improvement as workers increasingly become shareholders in their companies. Social tensions are diminishing and goodwill is growing, partly due to the gradual abolition of slavery over a century ago through the liberation of two percent of slaves annually after they passed mental, moral, and physical tests. About fifty years ago, the last inferior slaves were deported, and the society now focuses on reducing its degenerate and vicious classes.

Violence has been outlawed as a means of addressing industrial disagreements, with disputes instead being handled by industrial courts. These courts, established thirty years ago, recognize three types of legal compensation: interest on invested capital, reasonable salary for skilled work, and fair wages for labor. The society has established a five-day workweek with six-hour workdays over nine months of the year, allowing substantial vacation time typically spent traveling. Public service has become the chief ambition for many citizens, including the continent's wealthiest individuals who balance business responsibilities with civic education and service.

The nation is transitioning from charity-based support to a dignified government insurance system for elderly citizens. Every child receives education and every adult has employment opportunities, creating the foundation for a successful insurance program. Citizens must retire from gainful work at age sixty-five unless granted a special permit to continue until seventy, with exceptions for government servants and philosophers.

The old-age pension funds derive from four sources: mandatory monthly contributions from all workers, bequests from wealthy citizens, excess profits from compulsory state mine labor, and income from natural resources (particularly the half dedicated to pension funds). State and regional foundations provide various forms of insurance, but old-age pensions remain solely administered by the federal government through ten regional departments. The penalties for mismanaging these funds are among the most severe in society, second only to those for treason and murder.

The federal government takes a paternalistic approach only in administering old-age pensions and fostering genius and creativity, while state governments are slightly more involved with individual citizens. Local governments maintain the most direct involvement with citizens, managing matters such as health, sanitation, building regulations, water supply, lighting, and recreation. Cities receive per capita allowances from state treasuries and supplement these funds through socialistic enterprises and commercial licensing fees.

The federal government derives income from five primary sources: import duties designed to protect the continental standard of living, royalties from inventions and creations, graduated inheritance taxes, leasing military equipment for commercial use, and natural resource income. Constitutional provisions prohibit states from taxing more than one percent of any property's value annually, with homesites exempt from taxation. The federal government cannot incur debt, and states require a three-fourths referendum to borrow except for war purposes, with no debt permitted to run longer than twenty-five years.

Beyond the compulsory education system, the society maintains specialized educational institutions serving various needs. Statesmanship schools operate at national, regional, and state levels, preparing individuals for different categories of public service. Public offices are organized into four divisions of trust, with higher positions requiring more advanced degrees in statesmanship. Judges at different levels must hold corresponding degrees from these specialized schools, including federal supreme court judges who must have degrees from all statesmanship schools.

Other special institutions include schools of philosophy affiliated with temples of philosophy, scientific institutions coordinated with industry, professional training schools for twelve learned professions, and military schools. The military academies, located near the national headquarters and at twenty-five coastal military centers, provide training for volunteer citizens between eighteen and thirty years of age. These institutions combine military training with technical or professional education, preventing the formation of a permanent military class while developing a well-trained citizenry capable of both civilian and defense contributions.

Although only graduates of statesmanship schools may become candidates for public office, the nation has implemented a modified universal suffrage system to address earlier weaknesses. Every citizen twenty years or older has one vote and must join two voting groups: one based on their economic function (industrial, professional, agricultural, or trade) and another based on their political, philosophical, and social inclinations. These memberships cannot be changed for twelve years, creating stability in the electoral system.

The system includes provisions for recognizing exceptional contributions to society through additional voting privileges. Individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary public service or wisdom may receive up to nine additional votes (never exceeding ten total votes) through nominations by state governors or regional executives and confirmation by regional councils. Scientists, inventors, teachers, philosophers, and spiritual leaders are honored with this augmented political power. Voting is compulsory, with heavy fines for non-participation, and schools of statesmanship can initiate court proceedings to disenfranchise defective, idle, or criminal individuals.

The society's approach to crime, mental illness, and degeneracy would appear simultaneously pleasing and shocking to Urantia inhabitants. Ordinary criminals and defectives are separated by sex in agricultural colonies that are self-supporting. More serious habitual criminals and the incurably insane are sentenced to death in lethal gas chambers, with many crimes beyond murder—including betrayal of governmental trust—carrying the death penalty. Justice is swift and certain in this society.

The civilization is transitioning from negative to positive law enforcement, sometimes preemptively sentencing potential murderers and major criminals to detention colonies based on psychological profiling. If these individuals demonstrate normalization, they may be paroled or pardoned. Their homicide rate is only one percent of other nations on their planet. Efforts to prevent the breeding of criminals and defectives began over a century ago and have yielded impressive results, with only about ten percent as many such individuals as on Urantia, eliminating the need for traditional prisons or mental hospitals.

Graduates of federal military schools may be commissioned as "guardians of civilization" in seven ranks according to their ability and experience. The National Council of Defense, consisting of twenty-five members nominated by parental, educational, and industrial tribunals and confirmed by the federal supreme court, oversees military affairs. Military training is invariably combined with mastery of a trade or profession, ensuring that officers receive both military and practical education during their four-year courses.

Military service during peacetime is entirely voluntary with four-year enlistments. Training in music is emphasized in military education, and during industrial slowdowns, unemployed citizens are utilized to strengthen military defenses. Despite maintaining powerful defensive capabilities, the nation has not engaged in offensive war for over a century, focusing instead on training statesmen, scientists, and philosophers. During peacetime, defense mechanisms are extensively employed in trade, commerce, and recreation, while wartime brings mobilization of the entire nation with military pay rates applied across all industries.

While this continental nation's society and government surpass many Urantia nations in development, the other eleven continents on the planet maintain decidedly inferior governmental systems. The advanced nation is planning to establish ambassadorial relations with these surrounding peoples, and a prominent religious leader has emerged advocating missionary work. The author expresses concern that they might repeat the common mistake of forcibly imposing their superior culture and religion on other races.

The author observes that this neighboring world has progressed remarkably despite lacking the magisterial or bestowal missions that have benefited Urantia. The outpouring of the Spirit of Truth has better prepared Urantia for establishing planetary government with appropriate laws, mechanisms, and institutions conducive to worldwide peace. Such developments could accelerate Urantia's progress toward spiritual growth and eventually usher in the utopian ages of light and life, for which this neighboring planet's experience provides both inspiration and practical examples.