A creed in the nation of the Free People of America:
I pledge to live free and responsibly, and to respect the freedom of my fellow citizens.
That’s it. But those sixteen words encompass a universe of truth.
The word I is the first person pronoun, and this nation is about the people, the I’s that make up the nation. The United States of America is apparently about some coagulation of political and regulatory entities, with scant concern for the people who give it life. Without respect for the I’s, the US has sickened, and suffers its last death throes. The nation of the Free People of America is a nation of, by, and for the people, not the government. You have heard that there was another nation based on that principle, but it soon went astray.
The word pledge implies that person is making a commitment. In the US today, the concept of commitment is antiquated, where marital commitment is obsolete, commitment to the country is offensive, and commitment to ideals and particularly morality is gauche. But we in the Free People of America have personal fiber strong for commitment, and the fortitude to keep our commitments in the face of opposition.
The verb live free contains an understanding of the effort, work, and treasure required to not only live free but preserve that freedom, at all costs. Living free is not easy, and never has been. Despots see free people as prey, and our living free is a mortal threat to them. Our creed is poison to them. The nation which we overlay is threatened and scared by our freedom, and that nation is acting as our slave master.
The word responsibly is the other side of the coin of rights. Too often in the US we demand our rights, while abdicating our responsibilities. I need not provide examples; you can provide numerous ones from your own experience with irresponsible people who demand their rights.
Responsibility prompts the question, Responsible to what? Or whom? Our creed does not mention God any more than it mentions gravity or Euclid’s Elements or the basic truths of science, but these are assumed and valued, not taken for granted. Our responsibility incorporates the principles of Godly human interaction, including the Golden Rule, respect for others’ lives and property, telling the truth tenaciously, and living out virtue, courage, and honor. Our responsibility stretches from returning a lost wallet, to raising our children right, to risking our life for our neighbor as their home burns.
Responsibility also extends to the defense of freedom. We all know, or have been, members of the military whose lives are on the line to protect our freedom.
Respecting the freedom of our fellow citizens outlines those things we will not do. For example, we will not demand a day’s pay without working. We will also not stand idly by while our injured or sick neighbor who cannot work starves. We will not enslave our neighbor. We will not falsely accuse our neighbor. We will not spread gossip or lies. We will not steal. We will not support governmental systems which put our neighbor into economic or physical or medical bondage. And we will not manipulate the systems we create to oppress our neighbors simply because we disagree with their course of action or specific beliefs, or we want their wealth.
The word freedom does not mean freedom to do just anything, of course, but the freedom to be a whole, contributing member of our society, enjoying its benefits. You are not free to be a moron. Freedom empowers rich life, but is not free and comes at a cost, sometimes a great cost.
Last, the term fellow citizens implies that we have brothers and sisters of all colors and creeds who are living free. It also implies there are others who are not fellow citizens. There are always evil people in the world who would enslave and use us. Those people are not our fellow citizens. They must be fought and defeated, else we would in the end become their slaves. As an example, consider the United States of America, which is full of would-be slave masters, many of whom are highly successful at enslavement.
A poor or oppressed person reaching our shores penniless but ready to work can certainly be a fellow citizen, as has been the case in the past even in the United States. A person seeking the welfare state can not.
The creed incorporates so many virtuous ideas that have been poisoned by the economic slavery and political power greed we see in the US. For example, environmentalism has been co-opted by the liberals as a vehicle of economic suppression and political control. But the basic notions of clean air and water, good stewardship of the land in agriculture, and not poisoning the country in which we live are all right and proper. A responsible person farming their land responsibly in the nation of the Free People of America will take care of the land because they know it supports their life. They love the land. The left despises the concept of land ownership, but only when each acre has a ‘lover’ as a land owner does it thrive. The free areas are beautiful because they are loved by their responsible owners. Thus, stewardship of the environment reaches full adulthood through a free people, without the burden of greedy politicians or government regulations.
Our banking system in the US is corrupt, being easily manipulated by those in government. For example, why are interest rates near zero percent for individuals and businesses who would put money on deposit? It’s because the banks are receiving free fiat money from the government, through the Federal Reserve. If they receive free money, why should they pay you interest for yours? This is a crime and a distortion of the marketplace. Economic responsibility extends even to those who would be bankers in the nation of the Free People of America, so that they would never participate in such a criminal scam to debase and inflate their own currency.
Isn’t this simple?