Education reform

Phil Beaver seeks to collaborate on the-objective-truth, which can only be discovered. The comment box below invites readers to write.

"Civic" refers to citizens who collaborate for responsible freedom more than for the city.

A personal paraphrase of the June 21, 1788 preamble:  We the civic citizens of nine of the thirteen United States commit-to and trust-in the purpose and goals stated herein --- integrity, justice, collaboration, defense, prosperity, liberty, and perpetuity --- and to cultivate limited services to us by the USA. I want to collaborate with other citizens on this paraphrase, yet would always preserve the original, 1787, text.   

Today’s thought, G.E. Dean (Psalms 55:21-22 CJB), The Advocate, March 16, 2018, 7B.

“What he said sounded smoother than butter, but his heart was at war. His words seemed more soothing than oil, but in fact they were sharp swords. Unload your burden on Adonai, and he will sustain you. He will never permit the righteous to be moved.”

Dean, omitting V. 21, says, “You don’t have to bear that burden alone. Give it to the Lord.”

Each human has the authority to develop comprehensive fidelity with the commitment:  In every thought, every word, every action, first do no harm. Thereby, he or she has no burdens to try to pawn off on some other authority.

Maybe Dean will one day discover his personal authority to behave for the good. In the meantime, The Advocate may discover theirs and reform.

  

Other forums

libertylawsite.org/2018/03/16/the-strange-case-of-mitsutoki-shigeta

I agree with you, timothy. Moreover this story speaks of infidelity.

But I do not think “the view of life that accepts limitations that are neither of our own devising nor rationally arguable but only agreed by instinct and tradition,” is required. I recently discovered that the individual may develop human authority to behave according to personal preferences, choosing to develop fidelity to the-objective-truth. An explanation follows:

Four Powers

Each human may potentially balance four powers: individual authority to behave according to personal preferences; actual reality or the-objective-truth; humankind’s social order---both civilization (coercion) and legalization (force); and the American dream---private liberty with (voluntary) civic morality among the people.

Behave means control personal energy in each moment during the individual’s life. Behavior may be good, bad, criminal, evil, or otherwise un-civic. The-objective-truth can only be discovered. Events may change the course of action, yet consequences conform to the-objective-truth. For example, Bush II claimed weapons of mass destruction, and the consequences are unfolding according to the-objective-truth. There may be as many gods as there are believers, but the-objective-truth does not misrepresent God.  Civic refers to individuals collaborating for each other’s lives more than for a municipality, or for doctrine, or for society, or for ceremonial tradition. Thus, civic morality or collaboration for comprehensive safety and security supersedes social morality. The American dream holds promise for all people in the world.

Possible future

If the American education system, beginning now, taught and encouraged attention to the above four powers the next generation could emerge with public integrity. We propose coaching in K-12 schools and in adult education published by hometown newspapers. We envision better statements of the powers after collaboration by civic citizens. With awareness of the four powers, most people may individually develop two key practices: fidelity and first do no harm.

The fidelity is comprehensive. It begins with collaboration to discover the-objective-truth. For example, in physics, humankind once perceived the earth is flat but now knows it is like an earthen and water globe with a molten core that is orbiting in space-time. In psychology, lying to avoid conflict was an accepted practice; but Albert Einstein, in 1941, informed us not to lie, in order to lessen misery and loss. From the-objective-truth, fidelity incorporates self, immediate family, extended family and friends, the nation (its people), the world (its people) and the universe, both respectively and collectively.

As a person develops comprehensive fidelity, he or she may concurrently develop the individual commitment:  In every thought, every word, and every action, first do no harm. At first this might be a daily reminder, but in time it becomes a habit. This practice stems not only from the Hippocratic oath, but from my paraphrase of Agathon’s speech about appreciation in Plato’s “Symposium”:   Appreciation’s courage is that coercion/force is neither imposed nor tolerated. Learning to apply Agathon’s principles is not easy. So far, I have learned three lessons. First, if I imagine my plan could harm someone, I speak to him or her and listen, then either proceed, adjust to the collaboration, or change altogether. Second, if I perceive the need to report bad service to the service department I do so with commitment to effectiveness. I have only been practicing these two commitment for about two months. Third, President Donald Trump has exhibited a practice of confronting falsehood with trivial, even made-up responses, so as to prevent the other party from taking advantage of information Trump’s integrity would disclose. (I interpret Trump’s behavior as an unexpected, brash practice of Matthew 7:6. If so, I do not fault him.) I have not yet incorporated this practice, but see incentives to protect integrity.

Purpose and aims of the American dream are offered in the preamble to the 1787 Constitution, so no immediate legislative change is needed to embark on an achievable, better future. All that is needed is for civic Americans to articulate their understanding and commitment to the goals and honestly collaborate to achieve them, knowing there are dissidents. There were about 1/3 dissidents when the USA was established on June 21, 1788.

With these principles, discovered injustice would prompt amendment of the law. Over time, the present system of rule by dominant opinion would transform to statutory justice; in other words, use of the-objective-truth. Dissidents have the personal authority to resist unjust law based on dominant opinion, and more readily accept the integrity of the-objective-truth. The system of laws that unfairly distribute the Gross National Product would be amended so that people who provide needed labor may both earn a living and accumulate wealth for civic mobility. Soon, extant barbarity toward some of the nation’s children would lessen, and the need for civic redistribution of taxes would lessen.  As a majority of civic people became evident, rational dissidents would be attracted to statutory justice and reform. Statutory justice is grounded in the-objective-truth. Yet, dissidence, like all biological variations, cannot be eliminated:  Utopia is not expected.

  

Historical facts that support the above ideas

First, although July 4 is celebrated as a birthday, the USA was established on June 21, 1788. The people’s representatives in nine state conventions ratified the preamble to the constitution, with its articles that created the opportunity to develop statutory justice. The preamble is neutral to wealth, religion, and race, and so are the 1787 articles, and therefore, they accommodate collaboration on the-objective-truth. The people of the nine ratifying states hoped the other four free and independent states (named in the Treaty of Paris, 1783) would join the USA. One state, Virginia, joined the USA in time for the seating of the First Congress, on March 4, 1789.

The facts are controversial. So called “founders” may be various leaders of record in events dating from September 4, 1774 until December 15, 1791, a period of 17 years and beyond. In a revisionist example, in 1863 at Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln referred to 1776 as the year “our fathers brought forth . . . a new nation.” Also, he imagined governance of, by, and for the people. Two years earlier and more formatively, representatives of twelve colonies established the Continental Congress including the thirteenth colony. The colonies changed their style or designation to “states” and made plans for independence from England. State began to hold conventions to write constitutions. Early into the revolutionary war, the confederation perceived weakness and negotiated help from France. Victory at Yorktown, Virginia, included England’s surrender to France, ending their second Hundred Years War. In the 1783 Treaty of Paris, England agreed that the thirteen states were free and independent, naming each one. The thirteen ratified the treaty and struggled to operate as free and independent states until June 21, 1788, with USA operations under We the People of the United States beginning March 4, 1789, with three states still dissident.

The First Congress, with representatives from ten states, bemused the work of the 39 of 55 delegates who signed the draft constitution on September 17, 1787. The delegates who signed created the possibility to prevent Divinity disputes in political debate and prepared for emancipation of the slaves, consistent with the freedom they had won for themselves. Some of the 1/3 dissident delegates wanted to preserve the confederation of states and some wanted to partner with God in government; some believed African slavery was an institution of God. Dissonance prevailed in 1789, and by May, Congress hired Protestant ministers, assigning to itself American Divinity in competition with Parliaments’ English Divinity. There were fourteen states when the First Congress ratified the Bill of Rights, completing the constitution the nine state ratification conventions committed to without essential debate. In other words, the established USA politically completed its own constitutional negotiations on December 15, 1791. A political mess had been created, and our generation has the privilege of collaborating for justice.

I assert that only the 39 signers of the 1787 Constitution, the signing 2/3 of delegates, may be considered Founders. Groups before 1787 included British loyalists; groups after 1787 included dissidents to the draft constitution for their reasons. The 1787 Constitution made possible statutory justice for the people who collaborate to discover the-objective-truth rather than the people who conflict for dominant opinion, such as elitism, theism or racism. Merely by adopting the preamble’s aims for civic collaboration, restoration of the intent of the signers of the 1787 Constitution is possible, and discovery of the-objective-truth for statutory justice may be resumed. Repeating, the USA has all it needs---the preamble and the-objective-truth---to immediately re-establish the path to statutory justice.

Failing republicanism invites the chaos of social democracy

I have written before about our work, A Civic People of the United States. I was excited a few weeks ago to discover the above mentioned human power---individual authority to behave for personal happiness---and situate it with the other three powers discussed above. However, since about 2000, I have struggle to understand why many people including some writers for the Wall Street Journal refer to “our democracy” when the constitution promises a republican form of government and Federalist 10 speaks against pure democracy. I had surmised that some talk of voting and others talk of human rights as democracy. Either way, democracy begs chaos and woe.

This week, I gained new insight, for me, on reading Eric Foner’s book, Tom Paine and Revolutionary America, 1976. On page 255 Foner wrote, “And, as Paine had done in The Rights of Man, the [Democratic Society of Pennsylvania] redefined the meaning of the word “democracy,” using it simply as a synonym for republicanism, a government based on the will of the people.” That’s pure democracy, which the American republic defeats with its balance of three powers. Yet the indeterminacy of the will of the people empowers the financial wealth, religious and racial divisions the USA suffers. Collaboration to discover and benefit from the-objective-truth would lend integrity to both the people and the government.

I will continue to read, write and collaborate when possible.  

 Phil Beaver does not “know” the actual-reality. He trusts and is committed to the-objective-truth which can only be discovered. He is agent for A Civic People of the United States, a Louisiana, education non-profit corporation. See online at promotethepreamble.blogspot.com.