Statement of Governing Ideas, Biography of the Editor, and Subscription Information
A. Statement of Governing Ideas
VISION
To secure democracy right now! In using the term "democracy" we have in mind
the ideal of "a genuine union of true individuals" that expresses "the will of
the whole" as articulated by the early 20th-century prophet of democracy
Mary Parker Follett in her classic work,
The New State
(1918) (republished by Pennsynvania State University Press (1998)). This democracy,
anticipated by Follett, may be produced through
"A Technique of Democracy" that was not available during her own lifetime
but was, indeed, made possible before the close of the 20th-century by systems
scientists.
PURPOSE
To emancipate the collective creative abilities of the multitudes of human beings,
and to secure a universal environmental ethic that can alone
sustain the future of life on the Planet Earth.
QUALITIES
To provide valid and relevant information, to encourage and facilitate others to
provide valid and relevant information, and to criticize erroneous information
in public circulation.
B. Biography of the Editor
Vigdor Schreibman is the Editor and Publisher of the FEDERAL INFORMATION NEWS SYNDICATE (FINS), one of the first news organs published in electronic format over the Internet. He was accredited in 1993, and again in 1994 and 1995 as a correspondent by the Periodical Press Galleries of the United States Senate and House of Representatives.
In 1996, without explanation, the Executive Committee of Correspondents denied Schreibman renewal of his membership in the Press Galleries. FINS then unsuccessfully attempted to overturn that decision, first through Congressional channels, the Speaker of the House and Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, and later through the federal courts. The Executive Committee was charged with violating "freedom of the press," guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. However, at present, a dictatorship exists, sustained by the federal courts, which authorizes the "media aristocracy" to disregard "freedom of the press" protected by the First Amendment, and to block access to Congressional information of vital consequences by any news publisher or reporter whose views the dictators disagree with. Relevant information about this controversy is available at Fins Information Age Lib, directory: Internet Press Gallery Project.
Schreibman is a journalist and constitutional scholar, who has his own independent world-view, committed irrevocably to sustaining and enhancing the democratic mission. He has no ties--financial, professional, or ideological--with any existing organization or interest group, public or private. This venture is completely self financed. The website was constructed as a public service upon invitation by the University of Tennessee at Knoxville who hosts the site without any charge.
Schreibman has a Master's Degree in Legal Studies, with a specialty in Telecommunications Law (Antioch, 1985). He first gained extensive practical knowledge and experience in the law as a non-lawyer advocate, winning a number of precedent setting Federal court decisions. These were reported during the 1970s, recognizing Schreibman's "extraordinary legal ability" as a non-lawyer advocate. See In Re Victor Publishers, Inc. 545 F.2d 285, 286, n.* (1st Cir. 1976) (citing cases). The US Courts later repudiated this precedent in a series of decisions concerning The Controversy Over Las Colinas Properties. That controversy involved an epic struggle between myself and various financial institutions for control of prime ocean-front real estate holdings of Las Colinas Development Corporation. I own the majority stock in that corporation. In those cases senior officials of the American Bar Association (ABA) served as counsel for the lenders, presumably, both to provide political influence within the US Court system to block the democratic principle of justice sustaining corporate self-representation, as well as to provide legal representation in depriving me of Las Colinas Properties. As the cited document reveals in a carefully detailed constitutional analysis, the decisions of the US Courts in those cases are bereft of legitimacy.
Schreibman also contributed significantly during the 1970s and 1980s to new thinking in community development planning, and in the literature of law and society. This included an exploration of prototype community development structures, to advance the appropriate mix of economic and humanistic incentives, for building the City for Human Development - the "Anthropopolis" of C.A. Doxiadis (1975). His sociolegal research and published works, apply the knowledge of systems sciences to reconsideration of the formative character of America's most important sociolegal systems. V. SCHREIBMAN, ESSAYS ON THE IMPACT OF THE CONSTITUTION AND LEGAL SYSTEM ON AMERICAN LIFE AND GOVERNMENT (Amicas 1987-1990) CIP LC 87-6206 & 89-18362 ISBN 0-942539-14-1 (6-Volume Set).
Mr. Schreibman's project for the first decade of the 21st-Century, concerns the need to identify the self-imposed constraints of capitalism and species-based limitations, which have paralyzed participatory democracy, and to support removal of these constraints. It is anticipated, as a consequence, that the people may thus secure the triumph of democracy.
The need to transcend marketplace morality under the authority of universal ideals has been recognized in The Global Compact, endorsed by many world leaders in the public, private, and civic sectors under sponsorship of the United Nations. The Global Compact identifies 9 principles "to help build the social and environmental pilars required to sustain the new global economy and make gloabization work for all the worlds people." Translating that espoused goal into tangible forms has admittedly yet to be realized, however.
One cannot foreclose the possibility of world leaders motivated by "enlightened self-interest" making a significant improvment in world affairs, particularly, with United Nations management of The Global Compact ready to transcend the old mode of global relationships. Nevertheless, all of history teaches that elite leadership will most likely guarantee continuation of the appalling status quo. Moreover, new modes of communications and global trade have "opened new avenues to express infectious greed" which seems to have "gripped much of the business community" and "grown enormously," according to Congressional testimony of Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan (July 17, 2002). A radical, democratic alternative is needed to secure genuine progress. The multitudes must be engaged through A Technique of Democracy to help realize economic prosperity, social equity, and ecological integrity as mutually reinforcing goals.
C. PRIVACY
FINS does not collect personal data from site visitors. There is no browser-collecting mechanism attached to this site.
D. Subscription Information
Subscriptions to FINS are offered as a public service free of charge.
To subscribe, click and type
"subscribe FINS (first name) (last name) (e-mail address)" in the message body.
This page is maintained by Vigdor Schreibman.
Substantive correspondence should be mailed to:
18 - 9th Street NE Apt. #206, Washington, DC 20002-6042 USA.
Urgent messages may be transmitted by voice mail
or fax to: (202) 547-8715. Brief questions, comments, and/or suggestions should
be directed by email to: Vigdor@OmniCapital.org
Portrait of Vigdor in blue 2001.