Principles

Freedom / Free Will / Free Agency

Many people do not believe in this, and use the excuse that their actions are predetermined, and the tacit conclusion is that they are not responsible for their actions and decisions.

Is it provable that we have free will?  Probably not.  Is it obvious that we do?  Yes, it takes a genius not to see it.

Resources: Latter-day Responsibility, chapter "Liberty"; "Persuasion vs. Force" by Mark and Jo Ann Skousen; D&C 98:4-18; Freedom; 2 Nephi 2:26

Personal Responsibility

We are responsible for ourselves. We cannot expect the government to protect us in every facet of life, or rescue us from our own bad decisions.  

We must be prepared to defend ourselves.  There is no freedom from fear.

Resources: Latter-day Responsibility, Introduction; 

Morality / Integrity / Honesty / Personal moral standards

What is right? Not what is legal.  If our only standard of what is right is what is legal, then we have no moralilty.  Morality comes from within, when we make our own decisions in advance about what is right and wrong. 

If we complain about churches telling us what our standards should be, why don't we complain when the government does it?  Only religions have a vested interest in teaching morality for it own sake.

Resources: Latter-day Responsibility, chapter "Faith and Morality"; 

Self-Government

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Duty / Reciprocality

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you – anything less is morally evil.  See Kant's categorical imperative for a more precise definition.

This is also related to Kant's concept of the "Kingdom of Ends." Always treat other people as ends in themselves and never as a means to some other end. 

Uncle Eric's two principles form the basis for all law. 1. Do all you have agreed to do. 2. Do not encroach on other persons or their property.

Resources: Kant, excepts; maybe John Locke; Uncle Eric's two principles; The Law of Nature and The Law of Reason; Golden Rule News.org

Charity

If we do not help the poor, the government will be forced to do it for us.  The poor will rise up and use their numbers to force the government to take care of them, even if it means supporting a tyrannical government (many historical examples available).  Government redistribution of wealth will only stop when we do it voluntarily.

Resources: Latter-day Responsibility, chapter "Welfare and Charity"

Stewardship / Property / Ownership

Stewardship means having complete control and ownship over your property, but also being accountable and answerable, to God or the general good of society, for all we have. Are we burning up our resources in the short term, or building an infrastructure which can sustain us for a millennium?

Complete control and ownership implies independance. A renter does not have control, so he is not independant. A corporate employee is not in control of his income.  He can only be independant if his skills are such that he is comfortable finding a new job at any time. An unskilled worker in modern society has lost his interdependance with the family and is completely dependant on his employer and government hand-outs. The independant farmer, who was the pillar of society in past times, has also been seduced into dependance by government subsidies and by following large-corporation models of farming.

Resources: "Property" essay; James Madison essay on Property; Jefferson on Property; John Locke on Property

Abundance vs. Scarcity

Which is true? Which are all economic systems based on?

Decentralization (distributism / subsidiarity)

Centralization of power must lead inevitable to tyranny.  Only by maintaining decentralized structures of power can we preserve individual freedom and rights.

That most weighty principle, which cannot be set aside or changed, remains fixed and unshaken in social philosophy: just as it is gravely wrong to take from individuals what they can accomplish by their own initiative and industry and give it to the community, so also it is an injustice and at the same time a grave evil and disturbance of right order to assign to a greater and higher association what lesser and subordinate organizations can do. -- Pope Pius XI, 1931 Quadragesimo Anno

It is a firm principle that the smallest or lowest level that can possibly undertake the task is the one that should do so. First, the community or city. If the city cannot handle it, then the county. Next, the state; and only if no smaller unit can possible do the job should the federal government be considered. -- Ezra Taft Benson, The Proper Role of Government

Resources: The Proper Role of Government by Ezra Taft Benson; "Economics Begins at Home" by Tobias J. Lanz; "The Structure of Power in American Society" - C. Wright Mills

Justice

What is justice? essay pending...

Resources: D&C 98:23-48

Education

We cannot defend our rights if we do not know what they are.  Nor can we control the government if we do not understand its structure and laws.  "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was, and never will be." (Jefferson)

Resources: Latter-day Responsibilty, chapter "Education";

Family

Family forms the basic structural unit of society, and is the model for all other forms of government.

Resources: Latter-day Responsibilty, chapter "Family";