Chapter 3
Basic Foundational Principles


The organization we must build will not succeed unless it is built upon a rock solid foundation of impeccable integrity. We believe that in order to succeed, this organization must be built upon a solid foundation of Basic Principles that define its operational ethos. Outlined below, in the sub-sections of this chapter, are the most basic principles that we believe define the very essence of True Democracy.

Chapter 3a
Democracy is Rooted in a Moral Agreement
True Democracy inherently serves the Common Good

We believe that a system that is truly democratic will inherently serve the Common Good. A system that provides a truly equitable sharing of power among diverse and competing interests, a system that is built upon moral tenets that scrupulously guarantee the equal rights and opportunity for ALL to advocate for their interests, will inherently serve, over time, to define and advance the enlightened self-interest of ALL, (the Common Good).

True Democracy requires that all who participate must share a Basic Agreement that provides the foundation upon which an organization’s (or a society’s) democratic constitution of structure, rules, and procedures is built. This Basic Agreement is an agreement to equitably share power. This foundational Basic Agreement, which is the bedrock upon which the organization’s foundation, it’s constitution and rules, are laid, is rooted in both Reason and Morality.

The root of the morality that underlies True Democracy is the same moral tenet from which all moral concepts are derived: ‘we must consider others as we would have others consider us’. While we all have a natural human instinct to desire power and control over others, if we are ‘morally enlightened’ we realize that we do not like others to have power and control over us, and therefore, we reason, (according to this basic moral tenet), others do not like us to have power over them.

If we are not morally enlightened, we do not care what others like or dislike. We only care about ourselves, about our own desires. But moral enlightenment commands us to care about others just as we care about ourselves. Moral enlightenment can be defined as the reasoned awareness that we must consider the desires of others if we expect them to consider our desires in return, and further, that this enlightened mutual consideration is the best formula for social harmony.

Morality could, therefore, be considered to be derived from Desire, (from consideration for treating others the way we want to be treated ourselves), but it is Reason that compels us to be moral, (even as our Desire, if given free reign to rampage into selfishness and greed, tries to subvert our Reason).

Though it is only human that we may naturally want, (an expression of our Desire), to ‘have our own way’ in all things, our capacity for Reason recognizes that since all others also want to ‘have their own way’, we must find the means for sharing the capacity for ‘having our own way’, or else we will either be constantly embroiled in conflict, or else many of us will fall under the power of others who are able to enforce ‘having their own way’ over us. Democracy, therefore, is a reasoned alternative to living in either constant social conflict, or under tyranny.

Many philosophers have long recognized that a wise and enlightened monarch is the best form of government. But such enlightened wisdom in rulers is exceedingly rare, and even when it occurs, it is constantly assailed, within those who possess it, by the most common human foibles. The hypnotic allure of raw power has corrupted many a ruler who once was wise, and even the wisest ‘king’, even the most resistant to power’s corruption, always dies, and those who follow inherit their predecessor’s wisdom as rarely as it occurs in the first place. Thus a few years of peace and prosperity under the rare wise and benevolent monarch are followed by the sufferings brought on by wars of succession, and the winners of these wars are cruel despots much more often than they are wise rulers themselves.

Most of us have likely heard the adage that is commonly attributed to Winston Churchill, “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others”. Democracy is a very difficult endeavor, for it seeks to place reasoned restraints on human passions, and on the worst inclinations in human nature. But there is no force on Earth as constant as human Desire, which is always a formidable foe to Reason, so Democracy, even once attained, will always be under assault. Lacking a ‘religious’ conviction within its practitioners to adhere to basic democratic principles and disciplines, Democracy will soon be overwhelmed by the natural forces and passions of elemental human nature.

True Democracy is therefore akin to a secular ‘religion’. Those who follow this secular ‘religion’ adhere not to the command of a supreme being, but rather to the internal dedication to the basic tenet of moral enlightenment. We must consider the interests of others, if we expect them to consider ours in return.

Moral enlightenment is a tall order to expect from a diverse population of human beings, which is precisely why Democracy is so difficult to attain, and once attained, so difficult to maintain. The pitfalls of human passions are numerous and deep. Their power over us is constant. It is only by professing our ‘religious’ devotion to moral principles, and by using every personal, cultural, and institutional discipline we can muster to adhere to those principles, (in the face of the assaults of human Desire that will come from every quarter, including from within each of us, even the most dedicated to moral enlightenment), that we can hope to maintain a truly democratic administration of our affairs over time.

Democracy was conceived well over two thousand years ago as an alternative to the covetous jealousy for wealth and power that since the dawn of Humankind’s attempts to be civilized has fueled the tragic social cycle of short periods of peace followed by long periods of suffering and war. Democracy is rooted in the simple concept that we can avoid undue conflict if we will equitably share power, so that the interests of ALL will be equally considered.

Democracy is nothing more, nor anything less, than an agreement to equitably share power. It is an agreement that all will accept and abide by the decisions of those in the majority, even if those decisions conflict with our own Desire. This agreement is only tenable so long as the inalienable rights of ALL, to present and advocate for their interests, are equally, and equitably, guaranteed. Whenever the rights of even the least are trampled, the Basic Moral Agreement underlying Democracy is corrupted, and the agreement to share power quickly breaks down into degrees of selfish partisanship, or even dissipates altogether.

This breakdown is easily and immediately perceived by all, and once the tenuous shared faith in that Basic Agreement of moral enlightenment is broken, Democracy quickly erodes. Democracy requires scrupulous moral integrity. Once integrity is lost, or even compromised without recourse, Democracy will not long endure, even if nominal elections are periodically held.

That is the situation we face in our nation. Integrity has long ago drained from our political system. What we have left is a hypocritical farce under the control of powerful special interests that control the process of our periodic elections.

The organization we seek to build must be built upon a foundation of impeccable moral integrity. We cannot maintain integrity, or Democracy, unless we devote ourselves ‘religiously’ to this task.

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