Repeal: “Minimum Standard of Living Act”

General Assembly Resolution #344 “Minimum Standard of Living Act” (Category: Social Justice; Strength: Strong) shall be struck out and rendered null and void.
The General Assembly,
Believing that the health and welfare of member nations’ citizens is of great importance;
Extolling the target resolution for attempting to assist people living in squalor;
Worried, however, that several flaws render the target resolution ineffectual at accomplishing its goal of improving the lives of member nations’ citizens;
Finds as follows:

  1. Several terms are used throughout without definition and without obvious interpretation - such as “legitimate reason” in Section 4(c) and “partial minimum standard of living” in Section 5(c) - which both defangs the World Assembly’s ability to enforce the mandates of target resolution and empowers bad actors to continue neglecting their citizens.

  2. Section 3 states “that member states are permitted to facilitate the provision of a minimum standard of living through public or private sector initiatives” which grants members the right to promote anti-competitive state-sponsored monopolies for any services that would be included in facilitating the minimum standard of living for citizens.

  3. Section 4 enshrines institutional discrimination by creating exemptions for several highly stigmatized groups of people, such as undocumented immigrants, criminals who have not made “a good faith attempt to make restitution”, and the unemployed who have not made “a good faith attempt to support themselves without government assistance … without a legitimate reason”, without providing any justification for why these groups should be excluded.

  4. Section 5(a) allows member states to guarantee “only a partial minimum standard of living” in certain circumstances which can be the result of government mismanagement, such as economic crises or inadequate preparation for predictable national disasters, thus absolving member nations of responsibility for any actions they committed that may have caused the inability to provide a full minimum standard of living.

Dismayed that the target resolution fails at satisfying the goal it set out to accomplish, namely “eliminat[ing] extreme poverty in all states”;
Hereby repeals General Assembly Resolution #344 “Minimum Standard of Living Act”.

More info here: NationStates • View topic - [Passed] Repeal "Minimum Standard of Living Act"

This resolution is now up for vote.

Bai Lung will vote FOR.

Repeal “Minimum Standard of Living Act” was passed 11,997 votes to 3,068.