from the desk of H. Bowie...

1. We reject extremism from both the Left and the Right.

The extremists at both ends of the political spectrum tend to be authoritarian, dogmatic and simplistic.

We reject these tendencies, and instead favor respectful, fact-informed discussions about modern problems, welcoming differing points of view, but recognizing that in the end we need to reach agreements about how to move forward on often difficult issues.

2. We welcome all citizens to join us.

It doesn’t make any difference what party you supported in the past, or who you might have voted for, or against, in past elections.

It doesn’t make any difference whether you are living in a city center, or in a rural area.

It doesn’t make any difference whether you were college-educated, or acquired useful knowledge and skills some other way.

It doesn’t make any difference whether you belong to a union, or sit on a corporate board.

You’re welcome here if you can support all of these tenets.

3. We respect both business leaders and workers.

We recognize that our economy, and our society, need both business leaders and workers.

We reject any person or group or ideology that attempts to demonize one in favor of the other.

4. We understand the value of our natural environment.

We all need clean water, clean air, healthy food, livable climates, green spaces, raw materials and a healthy profusion of other species on this planet.

5. We recognize the need for responsible governance by nations.

Each nation must take responsibility for managing its affairs for the benefit of its citizens.

It’s necessary and productive for nations to cooperate with one another, to trade with one another, to form alliances, and to provide assistance to one another in the event of emergencies, but this does not change each nation’s need to govern its own affairs for the benefit of its citizens.

Nations are defined by their borders, and their requirements for citizenship, and we respect the rights of all nations to regulate, and humanely enforce, rules concerning immigration, citizenship, and temporary residence.

6. We recognize the many benefits of national identity.

A state’s national identity is often hard to define and, by necessity, is continually evolving.

And immigrants often have a role to play in helping a national identity to grow and evolve.

And a national identity can allow for a great degree of diversity within its population.

But any well-functioning nation-state relies on a cohesive identity of some kind in order to unite its citizens around its laws and policies and fellow citizens.

7. We believe in the Rule of Law.

Reasonably enforced laws provide a climate of stability and predictability that is necessary for any modern society to be productive.

We need representative legislatures to pass useful laws, and to keep these laws up-to-date, and we need various forms of policing and oversight and informed judgment to humanely enforce our laws.

Our laws should establish the rules of society, but avoid becoming overly complex or needlessly burdensome.

Implementation of the law should begin with education, both in terms of the requirements of the law, but also the need for the law, and the ways to change it, when appropriate.

No person or business entity should be held to be above the law.

8. We believe in productive education for all.

We live in a complex, rapidly-changing modern society, and every citizen should have access to sufficient education to enable them to perform meaningful work, to cooperate productively with others, and to usefully engage in civic affairs.

9. Everyone must contribute their fair share.

Those who benefit from society should pay their fair share to keep society going, including the instruments of governance within nations.

We believe in progressive taxation, so that those who derive the most benefit will generally pay more than those with lesser benefits.

However we also believe that everyone with an income, whether derived from their labor or their capital, should pay some tax; and we also believe that the tax rates should not be so high as to be unreasonably burdensome, or to be widely divergent from comparable tax rates assessed by similar nations.

10. We believe in a free and independent press.

Ownership of news and opinion outlets should not be allowed to become overly concentrated in the hands of a few; such outlets should be allowed reasonable access to representative officials and to observation of events of the day; their rights to observe, report and publish without threat of sanction must be defended by the rule of law.

11. Governments must ensure a level playing field.

Our societies, speaking very generally, must represent the interests of the following (sometimes overlapping) groups.

1. Workers
2. Business leaders
3. Consumers
4. Youth
5. Communal resources, including our natural environment

The interests of all these groups must be given roughly equal weight, so that the job of government, to a great extent, is a constant balancing act to ensure each of these parties gets what they need in order to maintain a stable and productive society, both today and into the future, and to ensure that none of these come to dominate the rest.

12. We support freedom of religious belief.

Citizens may hold whatever religious beliefs they like, and meet with like-minded citizens however they please, so long as they are not promoting beliefs that are in fundamental conflict with any of these tenets.

This means that citizens are generally free to worship whatever god they please — or worship no god at all.

– In Closing

Most of us today are frustrated with both the Left and the Right, both of which have become increasingly dominated by their extremes.

But this has opened up a space in the center, not for old-fashioned middle-of-the-roaders, but for enthusiastic, ambitious leaders who are willing to embrace a pragmatic approach to common-sense problem solving, and who are willing to build on the reasonable attitudes and beliefs of most Americans.

My best guess is that at least sixty percent of the country would be willing to unite behind these sorts of foundational principles.

And I think something like this is our only chance to form a government that will actually take constructive action to address our most pressing current problems.