As an Outsider I would summarize the US political experience as: “A
tale told by an idiot signifying nothing.”
I have reviewed my description of Citizens Duties in Surviving Human Nature and wish to share it with fellow travelers who have an understanding of human social organization:
Citizen Requirements and Duties
The realist recognizes an unchanging human nature expresses
all its contradictions in a turbulent, often violent and recursive manner. A
knowledgeable realist will assume that governments are inherently unreliable.
This is axiomatic and not just a critique of individual participants. A realist
sees critically disputatious humans creating problems in every direction. More
humans mean more problems.
Each citizen in a free, civil society does have a
responsibility to protect his or her freedom and right to life by insisting on
bottom-up solutions to problems. This means that the local community decides
what is in its best interests; not a distant and autocratic authority. When central authority becomes autocratic, it
must be replaced. The easiest way to replace bad governments is to vote against
politicians who formed the government.
The following list of precepts is an outline of how a free
society should operate:
1. Diversity among individuals and groups is good. Local control is
good. Distant control is bad. Competition is good. Monopoly is bad.
2. Rational thinking and free access to information are good. Dogmatic
belief is bad. Propaganda and coercion are bad. Freedom of speech is good.
3. Religious beliefs are properties of local groups and individuals.
Tolerance for different beliefs may sometimes be good. Imposition of personal
beliefs on others is bad. Obedience to charismatic and dogmatic leaders is very
bad.
4. Support for equal rights is good. All claims of superiority and
special privilege are bad. Equality of opportunity and equal treatment under
the law is good. Special rights and privileges to minority groups for any
reason is bad, even if the minority group appears to be privileged or
disadvantaged.
5. Some, but not unlimited redistribution of money and resources is
good. Economic constraints on or punishment of successful, creative people and
innovative groups is bad.
6. Private property, the protection of privacy and security of the home
are all good. Violation of the sanctity of the home is bad. Government
surveillance and interference in the private lives of individuals is very bad.
7. Intelligent regulation of the public behavior of citizens is good.
Unregulated policing is bad.
8. Domestic activity of military forces is extremely bad, except for
disaster management
9. Free and permissive education is good. Science is essential. Autocratic education is bad.
10 Protecting and restoring the natural environment is good. Harming
the environment is bad.
11. Controlling population growth is good. Unregulated reproduction is
bad.
12. Community support of children with generous provision of food,
shelter, nurturing communities, health care and liberal, scientific education
is essential.