It makes for a short read: an unassuming document with a friendly logo that features just a few dozen guidelines. The document, found at http://theothermanifesto.org, is well idealistic, for the guidelines it contains affect us all: “The Other Manifesto of Mankind.”

Among the manifesto statements, principles like “We all have the right to privacy,” “We all have the right to education,” or “We all shall respect each other and all other life.” Or take “no one [should be] allowed to earn more than one hundred times the global average minimum wage, nor to own more than one hundred times what the global average person owns.”

The manifesto aims high, and likes to be spread (there even is a 6-page e-book you can order from amazon). A utopia amidst dystopias.

A mystery, however, remains: Who the authors are. Traces lead to an “International Institute for the Welfare of Humanity” in Washington, D.C.; another lead to a former Google developer, Jens Müller, from Switzerland; yet one more to a researcher from Italy. The manifesto seems to say: Focus on the message. And maybe that’s where we should start. (HT)