Overview

• We face serious existential threats that must be carefully thought through to achieve workable solutions before our technology produces devastating and irreversible consequences. We flirt with disaster as we ignore the problems that could change life on Earth forever.
• It is not too severe to declare that the future of most or all of human existence may be at stake. We need to urgently redirect our time, efforts, and resources to resolving these most serious and pressing threats in a way entirely consistent with the 3L Philosophy.

Isolationism no longer works

• While an isolationist position or a strict policy of non-intervention may have been entirely appropriate during George Washington’s time, such a position now could lead to the worst possible outcome for humanity.
• Countless different substantial threats can now effortlessly emanate from anywhere on Earth.

When are we justified in neutralizing a threat?

• We should never forcefully interfere with another person or group merely because they violate the Aspirational Values. Indeed, we should always support the legal rights of people who violate the Aspirational Values as we encourage and attempt to inspire them to act differently.
• Justification to forcefully interfere with a community or individual in a foreign nation should first require prior approval from an international court that is fully committed to adhering to the Legal Principle.
• Whether one is justified to act to neutralize a threat and how best to neutralize the danger are questions we must resolve separately and carefully. As always the minimum necessary intervention to neutralize the threat is essential.

Nuclear War

• Our utter vulnerability to a single imperfect human deciding to intentionally use one of the ~10,000 nuclear weapons exiting around the world today is entirely unacceptable.
• There exists at least one possible responsible use for nuclear weapons, which is to avert an object from space otherwise likely to collide with Earth.
• Otherwise, we must reduce the overall number of these military weapons with the end goal of entirely and responsibly eliminating them from the planet. Given their destructive force, we cannot use these weapons without violating the Legal Principle, as they are guaranteed to kill innocent people with every use.
• We should begin with honest and professional discussions between leaders committed to the same peaceful goals.
• We must rebuild the trust between nations sufficiently to engage seriously in these discussions. If we are not trustworthy in the first place, we cannot expect to achieve the required trusting relationship to make real progress. However, with such a critically important issue, trust but verify should be the rule.
• Technological advances will eventually increase the likelihood that manufacturing nuclear weapons could become accessible to anyone who desires to obtain one.
• To this point in human history, we have not been successful in keeping new technologies from spreading into the hands of people who would use them to violate the Legal Principle. We must urgently find a way to succeed in this area.
• We need to reform ourselves to improve our politics and priorities and attract people of high character to positions where they can achieve our critically essential goals in this area. A genuine commitment to achieving a peaceful world would be a good start.