(1) Sovereignty is indigenous to, and inherent
in, the potential of human beings. It is not derived from society or
governments but, in fact, exists prior to, and independently of, the formation
of society and governments.
(2) Sovereignty is the right to realize
essential identity and constructive potential in ways that are free from
techniques of undue influence (which seek to push or pull individuals in
directions that are antithetical to the realization of sovereignty) but, as
well, in ways that do not infringe on the like rights of others.
(3) Sovereignty entails the human capacity (and
corresponding duties of care) to be able to push back the horizons of ignorance
concerning the nature of reality.
(4) Sovereignty encompasses rights to the
quality of food, shelter, clothing, education, and medical care that are
minimally necessary to work toward trying to realize identity and constructive potential through the
process of pushing back the horizons of ignorance.
(5) Sovereignty is rooted in the duties of care
that are owed to others to ensure that the foregoing rights of sovereignty are
established, protected, and nurtured for everyone.
(6) Sovereignty is the right to choose how to
engage the dynamics of: ‘neither control, nor be controlled’.
(7) Sovereignty entails establishing local
councils that constructively promote and develop principles of sovereignty and
if necessary those councils would help mediate disputes that arise along the
boundary dynamics involving the principle of: ‘Neither control nor be controlled’.
The composition, selection, and nature of the council would be similar to that
of a grand jury.
In other words, council members would not be
elected but chosen through an agreed-upon random-like process and, then,
subject to a vetting procedure to determine the suitability of a given
individual for taking on the responsibilities of the aforementioned council …
much like prospective jurors go through a voir dire process. In addition, the
length of service would be for a limited time (6 months to a year) before new
members would be selected through the aforementioned sort of non-manipulated
manner of selecting and vetting prospective candidates that was noted earlier.
Like a grand jury, the members of a local sovereignty council would be
empowered to investigate whatever issues and problems seem relevant, but,
unlike a grand jury, that council would have the authority to research issues,
subpoena witnesses, and present their results directly to the community for
further deliberation without having to go through the office of a prosecutor or
attorney general.
(8) Sovereignty is the responsibility of
individuals to work toward realizing their own individual sovereignty within a
collective context that gives expression to the idea of sovereignty being writ
large for the community as a whole.
(9) Sovereignty is rooted in economic activity
that serves the principles of sovereignty, not vice versa. Corporations should
be permitted to exist only as temporary charter arrangements devoid of any
claims of personhood and they should be designed to serve specific purposes of
value for the constructive development of sovereignty for both individuals and
the collective. Whatever profits accrue from corporate activity should be
shared with the communities in which the corporation operates.
(10) The constructive value of money is a
function of its role in advancing the principles of sovereignty for everyone.
The destructive value of money is a function of the way it undermines,
corrupts, and obstructs the principles of sovereignty.
Money acquires its value through the service it
provides in relation to the establishment, enhancement, and protection of
sovereignty. The money-generating capacity of banks should serve the purposes
of sovereignty both individually and collectively. Banks should be owned and
regulated by local communities as public utilities. Moreover, whatever profits
are earned in conjunction with bank activities should be reinvested in the
community.
(11) Capital refers primarily to the
constructive potential inherent in human beings and only secondarily to
financial resources. The flow of capital (in both human and financial terms)
should serve the interests of sovereignty, both individually and
collectively.
(12) Sovereignty is not a zero-sum game. It is
about co-operation, not competition.
(13) Sovereignty is rooted in the acquisition of
personal character traits involving: Honesty, compassion, charitableness,
benevolence, friendship, objectivity, equitability, tolerance, forgiveness,
patience, perseverance, nobility, courage, kindness, humility, integrity,
independence and judiciousness.
(14) Sovereignty is not imposed from the outside
in but is realized from the inside out through struggle by individuals for
purposes of coming being able to grasp
the meaning of the following notion: ‘Neither control nor be controlled’.
(15) Sovereignty is rooted in struggling
against: Dishonesty, bias, hatred, jealousy, greed, anger, selfishness,
intolerance, arrogance, apathy, cowardice, egocentrism, duplicity,
exploitation, and cruelty.
(16) Sovereignty is the process of struggling to
learn how not to cede one’s moral and intellectual agency to anything but:
Truth, justice and character in the service of realizing one’s identity, and
constructive potential, as well as in the service of assisting others to
realize their identity and constructive potential.
(17) Sovereignty can never be defended,
protected, or enhanced by diminishing, corrupting, co-opting, or suspending the
conditions necessary for the pursuit, practice, and realization of sovereignty.
Sovereignty should not be subject to the politics of fear.
(18) Sovereignty is rooted in the principle that
no person can represent the sovereign interests of another individual unless
the sovereign interests of everybody are equally served at the same time.
(19) To whatever extent: Governments, nations,
institutions, and corporations exist, their activities should always be capable
of being demonstrated -- beyond a reasonable doubt – to be in the service of people’s
sovereignty, considered both collectively and individually.
(20) Sovereignty is rooted in the principle of
de-centralization whenever doing so would serve, in a clearly demonstrable
manner, the interests of sovereignty better than some form of centralized
system of governance would be able to accomplish.
(21) Efficiency and wealth should be measured in
terms that enhance the way of sovereignty, not the way of power.
(22) The principles of sovereignty should be
rooted in the notion of sustainability, and those principles should not be
pursued or realized at the expense of destroying the environment ... either
with respect to short term possibilities or in conjunction with long term
prospects.
(23) Sovereignty is rooted in the cautionary
principle. In other words, if there is a reasonable doubt about the safety,
efficiency, judiciousness, or potential destructive ramifications of a given
activity, then that activity should be suspended until a time when the
foregoing sorts of doubts have been completely, successfully, and rigorously
addressed.
(24) The defense of sovereignty is best served
through the co-operation of de-centralized communities of sovereign individuals
... with only occasional, limited, and secondary assistance from centralized institutions
and groups.
(25) Standing armies do not serve the interests
of sovereignty but, rather, serve the interests of the bureaucracies that
organize, fund, equip, and direct those standing armies. Being able to defend
one’s country and communities from physical attack does not require standing
armies but, instead, requires sovereign individuals who understand the value of
defending the principles of sovereignty that help a community and network of
communities to flourish.
(26) The police should serve and protect both
individual, as well as collective, sovereignty. The police should not be the
guardians and enforcers of arbitrary laws that are designed to protect
centralized governments, corporations, institutions, and other bodies that tend
to operate in accordance with the way of power and, therefore, in opposition to
the way of sovereignty.
(27) When done correctly, the practice of
sovereignty creates a public space or commons that is conducive to the pursuit
and realization of the principles of sovereignty by everyone who is willing to
struggle toward that end.
(28) Sovereignty is rooted in the principle that
the commons – that is, the resources of the Earth, if not the Universe – cannot
be proven, beyond a reasonable doubt, to belong to anyone. Therefore, the
commons should be shared, conserved, and protected by all of us rather than be
permitted to be treated as individual, institutional, corporate, or government
forms of private property.
(29) Whatever forms of private property are
considered to be permissible by general consensus, that property should serve
the establishment, enhancement, and protection of the principles of
sovereignty, both individual and collective.
(30) Aside from what is necessary to operate a
business in an effective and productive manner, as well as what is necessary in
the way of resources to be able to improve that business through research and
development, and/or is necessary to provide a fair return for the employees of
such a business for their collective efforts, then any profits that are
generated by a business should be shared with the community or communities in
which that business resides. The shareholders of a business should always be
the entire community in which a business is located and not just a select number
of private shareholders.
In exchange for foregoing kind of arrangement,
there should be no taxes assessed in conjunction with businesses. At the same
time, both businesses and the community become liable for whatever damages to
individuals, the environment, or other parts of the community that are
adversely affected by the activities of those businesses.
(31) A market in which all of its participants
are not sovereign individuals is not a free market. Markets that exploit the
vulnerabilities of participants are not free. Markets that are organized by the
few in a way that undermines, corrupts, or compromises the principles of
sovereignty are not free.
Markets in which the participants are all
equally sovereign are free. Nonetheless, the freedom inherent in those markets
should serve the interests of sovereignty for those who are both inside and
outside of those markets.
(32) Sovereignty is only realizable when it is
rooted in a collective, reciprocal, guarantee that we will all treat one
another through the principles of sovereignty.
(33) Violations of sovereignty are an impediment
to the full realization of the principles of sovereignty. However, those
violations should not be primarily or initially be subject to punitive forms of
treatment.
Instead, violations of sovereignty should be
engaged through a process of mediated, conflict resolution and reconciliation
intended to restore the efficacious and judicious functioning of sovereignty
amongst both individuals and the collective. This mediated process is, first
and foremost, rooted in a rigorous effort to determine the facts of a given
situation before proceeding on with the process of mediation, conflict
resolution, or reconciliation.
A community has the right to defend itself
against individuals who violate, and show a disregard for, the sovereignty
rights of other individuals. The aforementioned right to self protection might
assume the form of: Treatment, exile, incarceration, paroled supervision,
community service, and other forms of negotiated settlement with respect to
those who undermine the principles of sovereignty.
(34) Alleged scientific and technical progress
that cannot be rigorously demonstrated -- beyond a reasonable doubt -- to
enhance the pursuit and realization of principles of sovereignty for everyone
is subject to being governed by the precautionary principle.
(35) Sovereignty is not a form of democracy in
which the majority rules on any given issue. Rather, sovereignty is a process
of generating consensus within a community that can be demonstrated, beyond a
reasonable doubt, to serve the sovereignty interests of everyone.
(36) Sovereignty is rooted in the principle that
before making a community decision concerning a given practice, a community
should take into consideration what the impact of that practice is likely to be
on generations seven times removed from the current one.
(37) Everyone should underwrite the costs of
pursuing, establishing, enhancing, realizing, and protecting sovereignty --
both individually and collectively -- according to his or her capacity to do
so.
(38) Sovereignty is not a function of political
maneuvering, manipulations, or strategies. Rather, sovereignty is a function of
the application of: Reasoned discussion, critical reflection, constructive reciprocity,
creative opportunities, and rigorous methodology in the pursuit of pushing back
the horizons of ignorance and seeking to establish, enhance, realize, and
protect sovereignty, both individually and collectively.
(39) Sovereignty is not about hierarchy or
leadership. Advisors and technical consultants who are capable of lending their
expertise and experience to a given project that serves the interests of
sovereignty in a community are temporary facilitators whose responsibilities do
not extend beyond a given project or undertaking. Those facilitators often tend
to arise in the context of a given need and, then, are reabsorbed into the
community when a given need has been met.
(40) Education should serve the interests of
establishing, developing, enhancing and protecting the principles of
sovereignty – both individually and collectively – and not serve the interests
of the way of power. Education should not use techniques of undue influence
that push or pull individuals toward accepting, or rejecting, specific
philosophical, political, economic, or religious perspectives.
(41) To whatever extent taxes are collected (and
the issue of taxes needs to be considered and justified – to the extent that
this can be accomplished -- in a critically, rigorous fashion), those taxes
should be assessed only on a local basis and only after all sovereignty needs
of an individual for a given period of time have been addressed. Those taxes
should be proportional -- within generally agreed upon specific limits -- to a
person’s capacity to pay those taxes without undermining a person’s ability to
fully pursue realizing the principles of sovereignty.
Whatever taxes are collected can be used only in
conjunction with projects of which the individual taxpayer approves. Disputes
concerning the issue of taxation should be handled through mediated discussions
and not through punitive or coercive policies.
