Common Sense Politics
We feel that a sense & recognition of shared judgement is innate to the human experience and requires no definition, but for the purposes of the nicsbi party, Common Sense has been defined as:
“The political, economic and philosophical theory of utilising rationality and objectivity when confronted with information.”
Employing the political theory of Common Sense enables us to consider how we have come to arrive at our own political position, and using the same thought process, evaluate how someone from the “other-side” of the community came to arrive at theirs.
“Difference is an accident of birth, and it should therefore never be the source of hatred or conflict. Therein lies a most fundamental principle of peace: respect for diversity.” - John Hume.
Unfortunately, forming a political party in Northern Ireland provokes immediate questions of green or orange. Put simply, we are neither. We do not have a definitive answer to the Northern Ireland Question, but we do have an idea as to how we can obtain one using the political, economic and philosophical theory of Common Sense.
This a 3/4 stage process and it’s detailed below:
1- Mainstream two ideas
No prizes for guessing - the two ideas are Common Sense and Basic Income.
Once more, for the purposes of the party Common Sense is defined as “the political, economic and philosophical theory of utilising rationality and objectivity when confronted with information”.
Basic Income is a fixed, regular and unconditional payment given to all citizens regardless of their wealth, income or employment status, to cover basic human needs.
You can read more about Basic Income here.
2- Use these ideas to form a political base
We intend to appeal to the two largest demographics in Northern Ireland: men and women. We also intend to appeal to the third and fourth largest demographics, Nationalists and Unionists.
It appears that many living here in Northern Ireland do not feel particularly represented by existing parties, but continue to vote for them because there is no other reasonable alternative.
Unionists would support Basic Income as a policy because; it provides a financial safety net, alleviates poverty, fosters economic resilience, stimulates consumer spending, boosts local economies, mitigates the effects of the evolving nature of work, promotes inclusivity, reduces inequality and empowers individuals to explore creative pursuits.
Nationalists would support the policy for the exact same reasons.
3 - How would we pay for it?
Once we all agree (something like a) Basic Income would be beneficial for our country/ state/ region/ dominion/ whatever you would like to call it, we’d then need to determine a nominal cash amount. It’s at this point the very reasonable question of ‘how on earth can we afford it?’ would need to be addressed.
When confronted with information we are obligated to employ the political, economic and philosophical theory of Common Sense.
Using this theory, we conclude that we’re currently a 6 county ‘country’ with an allocation of devolved powers from the UK government. Using this newly formed political base, we would appeal to the UK government to fund the policy. If the appeal is denied we’d ask for devolved control of our monetary & fiscal policy, or something.
If one of the appeals are accepted = happy days. We’ve come together & secured a dignified level of existence for eachother and we remain part of the UK. Historic achievement. Well done everybody!
4 - If both requests are unsuccessful
If Westminster refuse, using the same reasoning in Step 3, it would appear we need to reconsider our international position.
In this instance we propose a vote that will have three rank choice options;
Remain in the UK with no Basic Income.
United Ireland with Basic Income (if ROI agreed, obviously).
Independent 6 county country with Basic Income with diplomatic/ economic ties with UK and ROI.
Rank choice voting means the voter lists their preferences in order. The option with least first choice votes will have their second choice votes distributed accordingly to the two remaining options, mitigating against another Brexit type-situation.
The problems we face as a society now and in the near future are so severe: we simply must evolve beyond identity politics to advocate for ideas and policies that will benefit us all. Inaction is culpability.
This obviously isn’t a perfect or overly well thought-out plan, but we think it’s nice because it allows one ‘side’, which seems to be doing ok (Nationalism) to extend its hand to the other ‘side’, which is an ideology slipping slowly but surely into political obscurity (Unionism).
If it turns out that the British politicians don’t care about us as much as we perhaps like to think they do, then Unionists return the gesture & shake the hand of Nationalism and we all do a great-big democratic vote. Whatever the result, we all came together to peacefully get an answer. Historic achievement. Well done everybody!
This is a peaceful alternative to the ‘answer’ offered by incumbent parties, which appears to be: out-populate the “other-side” of the political spectrum & eventually advocate for/object to a border poll - within an obscure timeframe. If history tells us anything, their strategy will probably result in political conflict, which over time will likely deteriorate into senseless & sporadic acts of tit-for-tat violence and butchery.
If we go the Common Sense route however, the example we set here may stimulate peace beyond our borders, as opposed to the opposite.
Wouldn’t that be nice?
Common Sense Economics
Common Sense Economics is a macro-economic theory that suggests economic prosperity should be measured using human-oriented metrics. We currently measure societal & economic development by long-run GDP/ GVA growth and headline employment statistics.
These metrics have become increasingly limited in reflecting & representing the health & wellbeing of modern society.
Common Sense Economics offers an alternative. It purports that life expectancy, air quality, the suicide rate, small business per capita, domestic abuse rate, hospitalisation rate, infant mortality rate, median income, incarceration rate & re-offender rate, homeless individuals per capita, social mobility rate, home ownership data et cetera should be the metrics we use to measure our wellbeing.
nicsbi proposes the publication of these metrics in what we like to call “Redefining Human Improvement” (RHI for short). In all seriousness, this would actually be called “the Northern Ireland/ North of Ireland/ North of the island of Ireland Scorecard”.
Changing the metrics we use to adjudicate prosperity will help realign the economic and social incentives of our government & politicians. Because how can we solve the problems if we don’t know what they are?
Consider the status-quo;
The unemployment rate is a headline statistic for the labour force survey. In Q2 of 2024 the unemployment rate in Northern Ireland was 2.0%.
Low number = good?
This is the ILO definition of unemployment, which is used to contrive the published figure of 2.5%;
without a job, have been actively seeking work in the past four weeks and are available to start work in the next two weeks OR out of work, have found a job and are waiting to start it in the next two weeks.
NISRA also derives a less publicly known metric - the economic inactivity rate;
consists of people aged 16 and over without a job who have not sought work in the last four weeks and/or are not available to start work in the next two weeks.
The economic inactivity rate in Northern Ireland for the same period was 27.4%
Consider the implications: If GDP is good & unemployment is low, why am I/ those in my community not doing well? I must be a loser! OR It’s those Catholics/ Protestants/ immigrants again!
Measuring economic performance with human-oriented metrics is a straightforward alternative to discussions surrounding the merits and limitations of the competing economic systems (capitalism vs socialism).
If we were to use these metrics to grade economic development & social prosperity, a policy like Basic Income quickly becomes Common Sense.
Common Sense Philosophy
It’s nice to be nice :)