If we get this right, it will really be right for us.
Democracy is not a rule of State. The Republic is our system of rule.
Democracy is our way of nurture. It has everything to do with the peace that lives in the heart of our people. A people at peace with their freedoms is a people strong and steadfast, fully capable of building up the earth and of bettering their society.
Democracy is freedom kindled by the unfailing light of reason. Liberty is its sheltering burden. The rule of the State is thus received freely by the nation and popular government is enlightened by it.
Democracy is received by the soul of a people. It may only be sown by its own citizens and grown from out of the soil of its own nation. It must be received by the sovereign State. It is an unfolding of itself in time. It must therefore be directly experienced by the people.
It may be helped along in good will by learning of the shared successes and failures of Countries similarly nurtured by its guiding ideals - through reforms. It can not be safely transferred intact and complete from Country to Country.
Elections are not it's measure. What lasting wealth it establishes in the community of the nation and the fruits of it in the people are its true measure. Justice, Equality, Liberty, Humanity are some of its common ideals.
The way of amity among nations. The right of family with the nations. The duty of common defense and the ideal of dedicated arms. Sovereignty emanating from the unity of the people. Citizenship established through faith in God and faith in each other. Sufficiency through reliance with Providence as the highest Reliance.
Enlightened liberties as primary guarantor of justice and domestic tranquility. The dignity of the human being and the unleashing of the human potential. Human development led national development.
Human citizenship. Common rights and human responsibilities. Free expression. Rule of law. Equal protection under the law and equal justice before the law. The protection of minorities and representation of the dissenting voice.
Belief in human enterprise. Belief in an enterprise economy driven by capitalism. Economic cooperation in a free market structure driven by initiative, daring, entrepreneurship, opportunity, and competition. The pursuit of happiness. The multiplication of capital, the improvement of means. The alleviation of the humiliation and poverty of the human condition in the nation and also among the nations.
Plurality of religion without hypocrisy or syncretism. Freedom from war. Civilian superiority over the military. Freedom of the national press. Freedom of academic thought. The establishment of National and Civic Endowments for the sciences and scientific research, technologies, arts, sports, humanities, and life values.
Reciprocity of the good both common and individual. The integrity of the family. The integrity of the national ecology and the preservation of indigenous flora and fauna. The conservation of the national will and culture through interdependent, plural and harmonious community.
The conservation of the national wealth through proper stewardship of resources. The common trust of the generations. Posterity as a living and spiritual economy.
Equal Taxation and responsible use of public funds through due representation in the formal affairs of State. The prudent preservation (through necessary transformation) of national institutions, laws, and infrastructures of State to guide the national progress and support the vision of the national success through changing times.
Food, water, power, human mobility (transportation and communication), and human safety (public health and public hygiene, medical emergency and healthcare access) as principal elements of human and national security. Physical elements of human and national security being only secondary.
Historical sensibility and a sense of sacred remembrance of the living and eternal memory of the nation. An understanding of the place and purpose of the nation among a family of nations. Love of friendship.
These are all principles of a free State. If we, the people, desire democracy we have to be willing to carry its burden with vigilance. Much depend on the spirit of our citizenship. And how steadfastly we identify truthfully with our labors, failures and successes.
There is no perfect democracy. It shall always be a work in progress while time is time...
Every generation shall be challenged by evils sufficient for their own days.
The LORD shall require a harvest of the fruits of these enlightened freedoms every season. He shall from every generation demand His portion of the life of our nation, according to the whole of each His intended good for each our generation.
Through covenant decreed by the Almighty from eternity, His Providence shall not increase or decrease His portion for each human life.
How it is we shall succeed depends much on our meeting the challenges of each present time as a lineage of human generations embraced and sheltered by our nation, represented and guided by our State, and fostered and served by our Country.
Thus, we shall never be able to triumph or fare well enough to raise the dignity and promise of our common humanity without abiding in a peace that does abide and prevail in us. For without peace we place ourselves under the dominion of war and it shall our troubles and woes multiply exceedingly with tears that make bitter the earth. We shall have no defense against the despoliation of the sword that wanders the earth as a restless spirit. It shall with violence and blood lust consume our people and destroy us from within.
Neither sky nor earth, night or day shall come to our aid until we remember in ourselves no more: That life is sacred. That each human life is to be cherished. That these are our values. That our society is in the service of man and woman as living souls made to shine for the earth, in behalf of the life of the earth; a little less than the stars in heaven but precious to God above all.
Adversity shall come against our democracy. It shall as a violent storm crash against our foundations and hurl itself against our labor of Country. Time and time again it shall test our generations - how deep are its roots? How much watered by the soul of our citizenship is our peace? How right are our freedoms? How sovereign our Liberty?
We will endure the test and leave things as they were, we will fall short and lose length to our days and light to our years, or we will together prevail over it, prosper our people in glorious triumph and add to age of our Country in time, the memory and sacrifice of our own life and times.
In our civics, unlike our politics, little things matter... small things count. From the exercise of little things - for ill or good - arise the magnificence of our values. Democracy is a way of awakening and of nurturing the seeds of these values.
That we become in time, surely as we must.
If we get our democracy right, it will be really right for us.
If we get it wrong, we are always free to make it right.
Vigilant trust. Self-determined destiny.
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