The following discussion clip is from the Occupy Wall Street demand discussion list.
Here is the lead in post from grapes:
Enforce a simple rule that any contract too complicated for the average Joes and Jills (such as those people serving on a jury trial) to comprehend shall NOT be enforced with any legal backing until they comprehend. All of those complicated derivative contracts shall become nearly impossible to enforce legally and so the masters of the universe will be discouraged to indulge in them. Of course, the masters of the universe can teach the average Joes and Jills to comprehend the contracts but we all know how world-class the U.S. has been able to educate its common people. If they succeed, we will all be better off.
Nanook:
Ah! Another one of those elusively complex problems! I say complex because, if we dig a little, we find a lot of different circumstances underneath. And why is that important? Because, if we don’t look at them one by one, we draw overly simplified conclusions that don’t address all of them.
I agree that simple rules are a good goal. I also agree that the measuring approach, comprehension by average Joes and Jills is a reasonable, practical approach.
So, let’s dig a little deeper: who are these “average” Joes and Jills? And, what circumstances are the contracts trying to address?
First, let’s ask what the circumstances are. The post talks about “derivative” contracts. How does the average person get involved with those? Most of those are restricted to what are called “qualified investors” (legal term for millionaires). And most of them have a clause in them that says they are complex, and warn anyone who doesn’t understand all the terms, to get legal counsel. Let’s put that aside for a moment.
How about a contract between a utility company and a state about constructing and operating a nuclear power plant. Is it reasonable for society to expect that any average Joe or Jill is going to ever be able to understand a contract like that? I don’t think so. BUT, do we ever expect the average Joe or Jill to get involved in such a contract? Again, I don’t think so.
So, where does the statement in the post really make sense? Simple. What contracts does society EXPECT the average Joe or Jill to get involved with? Those are what we should focus on. AND those should comply with the average Joe and Jill requirement. And they are easy to list: Bank loans, mortgages, rental cars, airline tickets, apartment rentals etc. There is actually an easy fix for this which I posted earlier. Here it is again:
All of the states have something called a Universal Commercial Code. So, we should implement a 2 stage process related to that:
1. Expand the Universal Commercial Code to cover EVERY legal situation that most citizens are expected to encounter during their life. This would include simple business formations, non-disclosure agreements, simple contracts etc.
2. Starting in middle school, include classes in law which are sufficient for high school graduates to handle the legal issues covered by the Code.
(This solution and others are discussed at http://A3society.org democracy tab – plural democracy)
