Amikas

HOME

SUSTAINABLE
ARCHITECTURE

LINKS

SUGGESTED
READING

BLOG

CALENDAR

The Amikas Charter

The following charter is presented here to be discussed, revised and ratified in a democratic process by the members of Amikas

We, the People of Amikas, declare for all the world to know:

that all people willing to live by the spirit of this charter are welcome to be a part of Amikas, whether or not they live in an Amikas neighborhood;
that "all people" includes every living, breathing human being, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, citizenship, language, education, religious belief or lack of such, sexual preferences, age, abilities or any other trait that distinguishes us as unique and magnificent individuals;
that "all people" includes only living, breathing individuals and not non-living entities, such as corporations or organizations.
that "all people" includes future generations of human beings, and therefore all decisions and choices made must take into account protecting their rights;
that, in order to survive, all people require, and therefore have a right to:

a safe and healthy place live during the day and to sleep at night,
clean air to breathe,
clean water to drink,
sufficient healthy food to eat,
a readily accessible sanitary and private facility to relieve themselves,
the opportunity to contribute their effort, energy and ideas, to the best of their ability, to the common good;

that prosperity and freedom for all people is the surest way to achieve security and freedom from fear, and requires a commitment to courage, cooperation and non-violence;
that what is in the best interest of all people supersedes all other interests, and can only be achieved through a democratic process where every person has an equal voice;
that a successful democratic process requires an educated and informed population where all people have access to education and truthful information and every person has a right and a responsibility to both seek and share knowledge and truth;
that all people are caretakers of the earth and protection of her finite and precious resources is in the best interest of everyone, and therefore the impact on the environment of all actions and decisions must take precedence over convenience, profit, price or pleasure;
that all people own the fruits of their labor and have a right to fair compensation for the work they provide and the value they produce;
that land, air, water and natural resources were here before people and as such belong to the commons and no individual or non-living entity has the right to claim ownership to any part of them;>
that money should be used solely as a holder of value to facilitate the exchange of goods and services and can only be created in the course of trade;
that interest creates scarcity and thus should neither be earned nor incurred;
that violence to any living and breathing person or creature, is violence to all and is never to be condoned for any reason whatsoever;
that all people are free to cherish and practice any religious belief they choose so long as they make no effort to impose those beliefs on any other person.

We pledge ourselves to strive together, sparing neither strength nor courage, to build a community where these rights are respected by all and guide all of our actions and decisions.