Three guiding principles of isopublic
1. Greatest equal freedom–making isopublic a state without government, i.e. a self-governing society.
2. Democratic integrity of state–to keep the Authority free of corruption and accountable to the People.
3. The Compact as a literal social contract–making isopublic a voluntary state.
Isopublic is the “rule yourself and no one else” society where all possess the equal right to pursue their greatest well-being as long as they do no harm to others. Isopublic is not about “equal opportunity” or “equal outcome,” but equality of being under equal selfdom, i.e. equal self-dominion. In isopublic, you are what you are and what you strive to become so long as you don’t do harm to others in the process.
Isopublic is a new model of state based on the political doctrine of the Trilibrium which is expressed as, “equal freedom, equal rule, and equal justice maintained in steady-state equilibrium.”
The principle of equal freedom was first posited by 17th century English philosopher, John Locke, the father of political individualism and what today is called “classical liberalism.”
In his Two Treatises of Government , Locke argued that the Bible grants no divine authority to kings, contributing to the demise of divine right of kings, and that the only morally legitimate purpose of government is to secure individual freedom and personal property.
Equal freedom was later advocated by well-known 18th century German philosopher, Immanuel Kant, in his essay “The Principles of Political Right” as a necessary condition of being good.
Then by 19th century English evolutionary philosopher and classical liberal, Herbert Spencer, who argued equal freedom produces the social conditions for optimal human progress in his treatise, Social Statics . It’s Spencer’s vision of equal freedom upon which isopublic is based.
“Every man has freedom to do all that he wills, provided he infringes not the equal freedom of any other man.”
Herbert Spencer, Social Statics (1851)
Equal freedom meaning greatest equal freedom in the context of natural scarcity. Meaning that absolute equal freedom is the target, the unattainable ideal, while greatest equal freedom recognizes the need to constrain individual freedom, but only so far as is necessary to have a viable society.
For example, we can’t occupy the same physical space at the same time, thus, there must be a governing principle who has the rightful claim to occupy the space both might want, e.g. the non-aggression principle or non-interference principle. These natural conflicts are to be resolved with moral and legal precepts such that greatest equal freedom is achieved.
What’s on this site
The moral philosophy of evolutionary utilitarianism or fittest society principle
The moral philosophy of isopublic is evolutionary utilitarianism meaning–the greatest equal freedom of each to exercise their personal evolutionary advantages of tool-use, cognition (i.e. thought, reason, space-time awareness, dreaming, etc.), and speech resulting in the greatest well-being of the greatest number.
By fittest society, this refers to greatest equal freedom producing the greatest evolutionary fitness for Homo sapiens in nature, as in survival of the fittest properly understood.
Evolutionary utilitarianism is the moral foundation for the Eudemic Code (see below) which is the system of morality for isopublican civil society, i.e. the Eudemic Society.
“The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools.”
Herbert Spencer, An Autobiography, Vol 2 (1904)
“Man being born, as has been proved, with a title to perfect freedom, and an uncontrouled enjoyment of all the rights and privileges of the law of nature, equally with any other man, or number of men in the world, hath by nature a power, [to preserve] his life, liberty and estate, against the injuries and attempts of other men…”
John Locke, 2nd Treatise of Government (1689)
Where is isopublic on the political compass?
From Wikipedia, “A political spectrum is a system to characterize and classify different political positions in relation to one another. These positions sit upon one or more geometric axes that represent independent political dimensions. The expressions political compass and political map are used to refer to the political spectrum as well, especially to popular two-dimensional models of it.” Read the source
The political compass (left) uses state-sponsored aggression (social and economic) as the axes. As the graphic illustrates, the political system of isopublic in principle affords the People the theoretical maximum protection against state violence, all things considered over time.
Great minds agree on the moral imperative of equal freedom
(even if for different reasons)
John Locke proposed equal freedom as a logical conclusion of natural law, i.e. God’s law, and the Christian belief that all are equal in the eyes of God. Not only did Locke denounce divine right of kings as unchristian, but it seems voting as unchristian too (right in bold). Thus, the concept known as “consent of the governed” (written by Thomas Jefferson, a deist, in the Declaration) is unchristian because being governed means to be ruled.
~ Christian morality ~
“[Since God has not ordained that anyone have power over others] then man has a natural freedom, … since all that share in the same common nature, faculties and powers, are in nature equal, and ought to partake in the same common rights and privileges, till the manifest appointment of God, who is Lord over all, blessed for ever, can be produced to shew any particular person’s supremacy; or a man’s own consent subjects him to a superiour.“
Herbert Spencer proposed equal freedom as the means to producing the greatest happiness–what he rather offhandedly called “rational utilitarianism.”
Note that Spencer’s “rational utilitarianism” is the same as “evolutionary utilitarianism” of isopublic and the eudemic society just more appropriately renamed.
~ Evolutionary utilitarianism ~
“If we start with an à priori inquiry into the conditions under which alone the Divine Idea—greatest happiness—can be realized, we find that conformity to the law of equal freedom is the first of them (Chap. III.). If, turning to man’s constitution, we consider the means provided for achieving greatest happiness, we quickly reason our way back to this same condition; seeing that these means cannot work out their end, unless the law of equal freedom is submitted to (Chap. IV.). If, pursuing the analysis a step further, we examine how subordination to the law of equal freedom is secured, we discover certain faculties by which that law is responded to (Chap. V.). If, again, we contemplate the phenomena of civilization, we perceive that the process of adaptation under which they may be generalized, can never cease until men have become instinctively obedient to this same law of equal freedom (Chap. II.). To all which positive proofs may also be added the negative one, that to deny this law of equal freedom is to assert divers absurdities (Chap. VI.).“
The Tricuria and the self-governing society
The essential relationship between the state and the People is to promote social well-being via the evolutionary process of spontaneous order. Though Spencer uses the word “government” below, the political authority of isopublic does not govern society thus the isopublic is a state without government. Instead of using the word “government,” the political authority of isopublic is called the Tricuria, the institutions of the isopublican state that secure and administer the Trilibrium doctrine.
To that end, the Tricuria consists of courts, police, jails, and administers the national defense, and national monetary system. The Tricuria does not govern the People of the isopublic per se. Rather the Tricuria makes manifest and secures civil society with the “greatest equal freedom for the greatest well-being of the greatest number” via cultural use-inheritance.
“Only by the process of adaptation itself can be produced that character which makes social equilibrium spontaneous. And hence, whilst this process is going on, an instrumentality must be employed, firstly to bind men into an associated state, and secondly to check all conduct endangering the existence of that state. Such an instrumentality we have in government” [i.e. the Tricuria].
Herbert Spencer, Social Statics (1851)
Societal prisoner’s dilemma and preventing the “race to the bottom”
The prisoner’s dilemma is a classic problem of game theory demonstrating logically that cooperation provides the best overall outcome in social exchanges, i.e. a positive-sum outcome with all participants being better off (see graphic below left). Yet, if individuals act purely in their own self-interest, they can maximize their gain by cheating. By cheating the other person, they get the maximum benefit by gaining actual value without giving up any themselves.
The cheating strategy, however, only works if the other party doesn’t cheat, i.e. the classic con. The prisoner’s dilemma shows that if both parties cheat, they’re both worse off than if they’d cooperated and exchanged in good-faith.
On a societal level (see graphic below right), if people can cheat with impunity and most people act in good-faith, the cheaters are highly incentivized to cheat. But if they do, others will too because the cheaters will be the most successful. Game theory suggests that cheating eventually results in an overall worse outcome for everyone including the cheaters, i.e. a societal negative-sum ultimate outcome.
If participants can cheat with impunity, thus maximizing their gain at the expense of others, they’re motivated to do so and, with success, motivate others to cheat too. Thus, when cheating is a successful strategy in society, either by absent or ineffective countermeasures, i.e. a corrupt system of justice, all are forced to either cheat or exit and society overall suffers and the race to the bottom manifests.
In the societal prisoner’s dilemma, the different transactions indicate a win-win outcome (top-left), win-lose (top-right and bottom-left), and the lose-lose (bottom-right). With the win-win (i.e. positive-sum) outcome, both parties get what they want, i.e. each get what the other considers equal value. With the win-lose outcome, the winner gains without giving up equal value and the loser loses what they had and what they expected to get. With the lose-lose outcome, not only do both get nothing but, if unchecked, leads to retribution, e.g. gang wars, mob hits, i.e. tit-for-tat violence.
The only way to solve the societal prisoner’s dilemma is to enact proper laws and enforce them with an effective system of justice. The laws must punish cheaters and the state effectively and consistently prosecute those laws. In plutocracy (as is the United States and every other “democracy” so-called of the West), the rich and their paid-for politicians are cheaters. They cheat the People with impunity causing harm to everyone else, i.e. a societal zero-sum outcome.
Under isopublic, cheaters are more effectively prosecuted and punished, and no one gets special treatment.
Isopublic provides maximum freedom for the People by…
- Employment in the isopublic is to be arranged through private employment contracts between employer and employee. There is to be no state regulation of employment.
- Except science necessary to national security and defense, science research, including basic research, is funded via the private sector.
- There is to be no Authority interference in the sexual affairs between consenting adults (i.e. legally independent persons). Children and other mentally immature or unfit individuals (i.e. legally dependent persons) are to be prohibited by law from engaging in sexual activity.
- In isopublic, there are no marriage licenses. Consenting adults are free to enter any kind of living arrangement they choose typically by voluntary marriage contract honored by the courts.
- The Authority is not to interfere in the family except as a matter of remedying harm done to children (e.g. child abuse, child sexual exploitation, etc.). There is to be no state regulation of the family.
- Education in the isopublic is market-based with parents deciding how their children are to be educated.
- Under isopublic, there is to be no regulation of medicine or healthcare. The Authority via the courts is to remedy harm done in cases of medical malpractice, adverse drug effects, etc. Remedies could be civil damages or punitive (i.e. jail sentence plus civil damages).
- The Authority is not to engage in social engineering or propagandizing for or against lifestyle choices. The state acts only to remedy harm done as a matter of criminal or civil justice.
- The Authority is not to engage in propagandizing the People via entertainment (e.g. movies, TV, news, etc.).
eudemic /judemɪk/ – relating or belonging to the fit society, i.e. greatest social well-being, based on the fittest society principle and evolutionary utilitarianism.
eu- from Greek eu “good, fit, happiness, well-being; sense of greatness, abundance, prosperity” + -dem- dēmos “society or people” + -ic ikos “in the manner of; pertaining to.”
The Eudemic Code
The Eudemic Code serves as a system of secular morality for the isopublican civil society, i.e. the eudemic society.
Note: The Code isn’t intended to be law itself but the standard for judging the morality of civil law and personal choices. The Code is the measure by which all laws of the Tricuria that act or are proposed to act (via nomothesion) on the People are judged.
1ST IMPERATIVE. The People shall possess the unalienable equal Rights of Selfdom, Freedom and Property.
2ND IMPERATIVE. The People shall not act to cause a nontrivial, nonconsensual, objective 1ST IMPERATIVE violation of another except in rightful defense of oneself and or others.
3RD IMPERATIVE. The Authority shall not act on the People except to dutifully and justly; (1) remedy not prevent a 2ND IMPERATIVE violation, or (2) to fulfill ALLOWANCES OF VITAL NECESSITY.
ALLOWANCES OF VITAL NECESSITY. Only by the Citizens’ Will shall be granted or denied to the Authority express allowances to infringe, no more than justifiably necessary, upon the People’s 1ST IMPERATIVE Rights to perform only those functions vital to the viability of the State.
THE GOLDEN MAXIM. Be egoistic foremost, altruistic as able, and always virtuous.
Click on the link below to download the Code as a pdf.
Eudemic Virtue and the Golden Maxim
Eudemic Virtue means living by the Golden Maxim which expresses the values of acting in one’s self-interest first, helping others as one can, and always striving to be virtuous in either case.
Virtuous meaning a synthesis of the do no harm principle and Aristotle’s virtue ethics repurposed for the equal freedom society, i.e. the Eudemic Society.
It’s important to distinguish Eudemic Virtue from other moralities such as Christian ethics. Thus for example, Christian morality treats adultery as an unqualified sin which would condemn the adulterer to eternal damnation. Eudemic Virtue is concerned with promoting maximum personal well-being in the material world, not in an afterlife. Under Eudemic Virtue, adultery isn’t itself immoral per se. To be immoral in the Eudemic sense, one must act to cause ill-being to oneself and or others. So for instance, adultery isn’t Eudemic vice in-and-of-itself (e.g. an “open marriage” isn’t itself a vice per se), but becomes eudemically wicked when the activity involves breach of contract (e.g. violating a marriage contract), deception, or endangering spousal health (e.g. exposing to an STD) without their informed consent.
The three conditions of Eudemic Virtue:
- Do no harm to yourself.
- Do no harm to another.
- Do not act such that a virtue becomes a vice (either by single egregious instance or habituated).
There are three conditions of Eudemic Virtue–don’t do harm to yourself, don’t do harm to others, and don’t behave such that a virtue becomes a vice (i.e. a virtue in deficiency or excess of Aristotle’s “middle state,” i.e. the Golden Mean). This, because a vice increases the risk of violating the first two conditions, i.e. of doing harm to yourself or another.
There are 50 Eudemic Virtues each, if exercised appropriately at all times over a lifetime, is intended to maximize one’s well-being, all things considered. Click on the thumbnail (below) to see a table of Eudemic Virtues and corresponding vices.
Egoism before altruism, but altruism is a moral obligation.
“That is to say ethics has to recognize the truth, … that egoism comes before altruism. The acts required for continued self-preservation, including the enjoyment of benefits achieved by such acts, are the first requisites to universal welfare. Unless each duly cares for himself, his care for all others is ended by death; and if each thus dies, there remain no others to be cared for.”
Herbert Spencer, The Principles of Ethics, Vol. 1 (1851)
“Virtue, then, is a habit or trained faculty of choice, the characteristic of which lies in moderation or observance of the mean relatively to the persons concerned, as determined by reason, i.e. by the reason by which the prudent man would determine it. And it is a moderation, firstly, inasmuch as it comes in the middle or mean between two vices, one on the side of excess, the other on the side of defect; and, secondly, inasmuch as, while these vices fall short of or exceed the due measure in feeling and in action, it finds and chooses the mean, middling, or moderate amount.”
Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics (4th century B.C.)
Why “Golden Maxim”? Isn’t that confusing with the Golden Rule? Maybe, but almost every English speaker uses the term “Golden Rule” and almost none say, “Golden Maxim.” Though the two can be synonymous, maxim and rule are different words–with “rule” being more general in usage, and “maxim” meaning a fundamental principle. And the fact is, the Golden Maxim is more “golden” since it’s superior to the Golden Rule.
Just war theory in practice
Just war theory is, as interpreted here, the doctrine that a nation goes to war only when attacked or under a direct and credible threat of attack. In this way, the nation is non-interventionist and doesn’t aggress against other nations.
National defense of isopublic is a citizen-militia modeled after the Swiss military. By signing the Compact (i.e. the citizen contract) thus becoming a citizen, the individual (male and female) also becomes a member of the militia. Thus unlike Swiss military conscription, serving in the isopublican national militia would be consensual.
A citizen-militia is effective for defensive war and ineffective for offensive war. Thus, isopublic would be unable to engage in empire-building or colonialism, i.e. unjust war. The isopublican military maintains a small cadre of careerists.
The militia is vital to maintaining a free society, not only as an alternative to a dangerous standing army, but serves as a manner of secular “civic religion” that brings the isopublic citizenry together under an umbrella of shared vital national interest. Doing so is necessary in a free society to overcome tribalism and “us and them” mentality that comes with freedom of association and disassociation.
The militia improves the character of the People by developing personal skills in areas such as survival, first aid, gun safety, self-reliance, self-discipline, teamwork, community cohesion, and more, i.e. the militia builds national character. Service in the militia should fun, but serious fun–like the Boy and Girl Scouts but for adults with guns.
Finally, the militia instills the sentiments of patriotism and national pride.
“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” – Lord Acton
But Acton got it wrong. All humans are born corrupt by our primal nature–it’s in our genes. Civilization is less than 10,000 years old but Homo sapiens is 100s of thousands of years old with little change in human physiology. Thus, our primal genes still have considerable influence on our behavior.
And possessing political power allows primal human tendencies we call “corruption” to manifest (e.g. cheating, lying, stealing, killing), i.e. politics is something akin to Lord of the Flies in suits and ties. The more power possessed, the more the primal human is unmoored from our more recently evolved moral sentiments. As for elections, they attract the most primal humans like moths to a flame—the dark triads who through their control of the state prey upon us.
Even if there are a few angels who walk the Earth, because we can’t know who is until it’s too late, we must take extraordinary precautions against corruption of power. In isopublic everyone selected to posses political power is to be subjected to democratic methods of accountability and transparency, thus maintaining the integrity of state.
“My political opinions lean more and more to Anarchy (philosophically understood, meaning abolition of control not whiskered men with bombs) … Government is an abstract noun meaning the art and process of governing and it should be an offence to write it with a capital G or so to refer to people. … the most improper job of any man, even saints (who at any rate were at least unwilling to take it on), is bossing other men. Not one in a million is fit for it, and least of all those who seek the opportunity.”
J.R.R. Tolkien, 1943 letter to his son from The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (1981)
Ending political corruption with democratic integrity of state
Whatever criticisms are leveled at Athenian democracy, political corruption isn’t one. The political authority of isopublic, the Tricuria, is arranged to minimize political corruption through the adoption of numerous conventions of ancient Athenian democracy. These include:
And more.
Note: True democracy (i.e. Athenian democracy) means selecting public officials by lottery from the entire body of citizens, thus in the isopublic, all citizens possess an equal chance to hold high office. Electing office holders is oligarchy.
As Aristotle wrote in Politics, “… the appointment of magistrates by lot is democratical, and the election of them oligarchical.”
In addition to the Lottery, isopublic via the Triennial Selectoral employs a ranking process called the Autoselect to ensure the most competent people serve on councils.
Ending political anacyclosis
Anacyclosis is a classical Greek political theory held by philosophers such as Aristotle and Polybius. The theory proposes that governments are forced to change by first becoming corrupted then by revolution sequentially from monarchy (kingship) to tyranny to aristocracy to oligarchy to democracy then finally ochlacracy (mob rule)–then the cycle repeats.
Anacyclosis doesn’t happen in such explicit terms as the cycle formulation indicates, but we do see a general historical pattern of less corrupt government (i.e. kingship, aristocracy and democracy) change to a truly corrupt form of government (i.e. tyranny, oligarchy and mob rule) then back to less corrupt government usually by violent revolution. Anacyclosis, the cycle of corrupt government and revolution, is very destructive to human well-being–that isopublic could end for good.
As one of the two fundamental operating principles of isopublic, democratic integrity offers the potential of ending the spiraling descent into political corruption combined with the other principle of equal freedom. In combination, these two principles could be the best political pathway to sustained progress and increasing well-being for all.
Isopublic will be the most Christian-friendly state—
even more than a Christian theocratic state, even more than a state with no Christians
“5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; 6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds [i.e. God judges actions] 10 … glory, honour, and peace … 11 For there is no respect of persons with God. [i.e. all are equal in the eyes of God]” [emphasis added]
Romans 2:5-11, King James Bible
Christ taught that all humans are God’s children equally, and that only by individual choice and action can one sincerely demonstrate their Christian virtue.
The inescapable conclusion of Locke’s 1st Treatise of Government is that Christians mustn’t accept or consent to being ruled over by anyone but God. This means that to be ruled over by anyone else, the Christian is unable to truly act by exercising their free will. And if unable to act freely, one is inhibited from acting in accordance with God’s will thereby usurping God and interfering with one’s relationship with God.
It would seem vitally important to a Christian’s salvation that one possess the maximum freedom to act in accordance with his or her conscience to show, through their voluntary choices, that they do sincerely live according to Christ’s teachings and in honor of their Lord. Thus, by voting to be ruled, i.e. consenting to be governed, is acting contrary to the will of God by forsaking personal responsibility.
“This paternal regal power being by divine right only [God’s], it leaves no room for human prudence, or consent, to place it any where else; for if only one man hath a divine right to the obedience of mankind, no body can claim that obedience, but he that can shew that right; nor can men’s consciences by any other pretence be obliged to it. And thus this doctrine cuts up all government by the roots.” [emphasis added]
1st Treatise of Government
Thus, the Christian is morally bound to choose to live, as much as possible, under political equal freedom—even if by doing so, the Christian is surrounded by sinners and heretics.
And if Christians must be free of being ruled over (either by force or consent), Christians mustn’t rule over others. Thus, for Christians not to sin against God, they mustn’t accept any political office that involves ruling over others (Christians or unbelievers alike). Thus, running for political office is sinful if that office means acting on the People more than to secure their equal freedom.
Even a theocratic Christian nation would be an affront to God since by forcing others to “act” Christian without sincere belief subverts God’s will, i.e. to be a true Christian, one must be so in one’s heart. Even to demand the display of the 10 Commandments in public school classrooms, the words “In God we trust” on the dollar bill, a prayer at political functions, “under God” sworn in political oaths, are to act most unchristian and sinful. It can be asserted, and is consistent with Locke, that for Christians to be Christian, the only political stance available to them is maximum equal freedom.
What should be important to Christians isn’t for the state to be Christian but for it to minimally interfere with Christians being Christian. To understand that the state being truly neutral toward Christianity, i.e. neither for or against, i.e. atheistic, is the best political arrangement for Christians.
Only by embracing equal freedom and selection of political leadership by sortition (i.e. by lottery thus leaving selection of political leaders to God) is the Christian able to live in greatest accord with God’s will. Only isopublic offers the Christian that political arrangement.
Isopublic could offer Christians the best of both worlds–the greatest well-being in the material world; and the greatest opportunity for eternal salvation by possessing the greatest freedom to live according to Christ’s teachings with the least interference from the state.
The Christian case for isopublic
Given that:
- Humans possess free will (Genesis 3:6).
- Humans possess the faculty of reason (Genesis 3:7).
- To please God, one must act in accordance with Christ’s teachings (Matthew 7:24).
- One must voluntarily and sincerely choose to act in accordance with Christ’s teachings to be saved (Hebrews 4:12).
- All humans are equal in the eyes of God (Romans 2:11).
- Christians must of necessity possess equal freedom to have the maximum freedom to choose to act in accordance with God’s will (Romans 2:5-7).
- Only under law that enacts equal freedom can equal freedom be made manifest.
- Isopublic via the Trilibrium Doctrine and the Eudemic Code’s 1st Imperative produce the greatest equal freedom to be enacted under Compact Law.
Thus, does isopublic become the most Christian choice of state.
The above conditions to be a good Christian are reasonably what Locke was striving to elucidate. That equal freedom to Locke entailed equal rights of life, liberty and estate (i.e. property). And given that elections are oligarchic, voting is inherently unchristian. Thus by voting, the Christian consents to political conditions that diminish equal freedom and move them further from God, i.e. by voting for a ruler, Christians consent to put the state between themselves and God. Thus, though being ruled without consent is an unchristian condition, so too is a Christian voting to be ruled, i.e. “consent of the governed” must be considered sinful.
Even though prostitution and adultery are sinful to Christians, it’s a sin for Christians to interfere or prohibit those activities by law using the power of the state. This, because people must voluntarily act in accordance with Christ’s teaching. By forcing abstinence, Christians interfere with people choosing not to be sinful, and thus, with God’s judgment.
Other features of isopublic compatible with Christian values are—the Eudemic Code including the Golden Maxim and the do no harm principle, practice of just war with a citizen-militia only used in defending the nation, a virtuous and laissez-faire Tricuria that doesn’t interfere with Christian practices as long as Christians don’t interfere with non-Christians.
The isopublic permits the People to engage in almost all activities freely so long as they don’t harm others in the doing. Christians should agree since doing harm to others also infringes on their equal freedom to choose to act with Christian virtue.
Isopublic is the most Christian-friendly model of state because it produces the greatest freedom for individuals to be Christian. The ideal political arrangement for Christians is under the Eudemic Code and isopublic whereby each person has the maximum freedom to choose to live in accordance with Christ with the least interference from the state. Even a theocratic Christian state would itself be unchristian if it means imposing Christian values and not allowing individuals to come to Jesus voluntarily. Even if there’re no Christians in the state, isopublic is still the more Christian state because it affords the greatest opportunity for individuals to be Christian, i.e. its not the number of Christians but the operating principles of the state that makes it the more Christian.
“… the law of nature stands as an eternal rule to all men, legislators as well as others. The rules that they make for other men’s actions, must, as well as their own and other men’s actions, be conformable to the law of nature, i.e. to the will of God, of which that is a declaration, and the fundamental law of nature being the preservation of mankind, no human sanction can be good, or valid against it.”
John Locke, 2nd Treatise of Civil Government (1689)
Destroying the “One Ring”
—The Fellowship of the Ring movie (2001)
We can bring an end to most social conflict and systemic evildoing throughout by bringing an end to the metaphorical “One Ring,” i.e. ending government, i.e. ending the idea of governing society in favor of the self-governing society. What’s even the relevance of “leftwing” and “rightwing,” “liberal” and “conservative” when there’s no government to use to rule over the People? What’s even the meaning of “politics” when there’re no rulers but the People themselves?
“It is a mistake to assume that government must necessarily last forever. The institution marks a certain stage of civilization—is natural to a particular phase of human development. It is not essential, but incidental.”
Herbert Spencer, Social Statics (1851)
Isopublic, a true land of the free and home of the brave
Being free means being courageous and not expecting “Mommy and Daddy” government to solve all one’s problems or make one safe from all that offends. Liberty means taking responsibility for one’s own actions and living in peaceful cooperation with others–even with those one’s challenged to tolerate. And in the isopublic, there’s jail for those who would force others to submit to their will (i.e. intimidate, harass, bully and crybully, or otherwise interfere with the peaceful activities of others), i.e. unable to live by the laissez-faire ethos demanded by isopublic. As long as no one is being harmed, live and leave alone.
To be free, one must have courage. This, because freedom makes one responsible for one’s choices. Personal responsibility means acting with greater care and dutifully, making one more useful to everyone else. Isopublic encourages personal responsibility and by multiplying this value across society and down through subsequent generations, society becomes far more fit in nature.
In addition to courage and responsibility, another important virtue of isopublic is laissez-faire, i.e. “let people do as they will,” meaning we must be willing to accept that not everyone will do as we will. That on an individual basis (i.e. not by group or demographic), if a person does harm to another, the isopublican state is obligated to remedy. That it’s not up to individuals (i.e. not “social justice warriors”) to remedy what they consider to be social wrongs. A sickness today is too many who want everyone else to bend to their will. This mentality leads to constant social conflict and its own brand of societal “race to the bottom.”
What’s absent from isopublic (a partial list)
Isopublican metric / decimal calendar and time
Current isopublican
day of week and date:
short date: (IEy-Mon-d) or (IEy/m/d) or (IEy.m.d)
long date: (IEy Month d)
Notes:
- IE is Isopublican Era to avoid confusing Gregorian dates.
- The isopublican decimal calendar has a zeroth year.
- IE0 Gaion 1 equals March 20, 2020.
Not easy to do the below with the Gregorian calendar and 24-hour clock!
With decimal date and time, a single value contains the following information with no need of calendar or computer–month, day of month, day of week, time of day, and week of year at a glance.
The decimal day.time values are directly useable for math operations with no need for unit conversions. Also there’s no need to reference a calendar to know day of week, month, or day of month throughout the year for any given year.
Decimal day.time example:
decimal time of day (decidays)
hour of day
decimal day of year (year day.milliday microday)
percent hour done
percent day done
percent week done
Example spoken decimal times:
- 0.00 dd is "zero-oh-zero decidays"
- 0.01 dd is "zero-oh-one decidays"
- 2.06 dd is "two-oh-six decidays"
- 3.40 dd is "three-forty decidays"
- 4.43 dd is "four-forty-three decidays"
- 5.00 dd is "five-oh-zero decidays"
A deciday is a decimal hour. Omit "decidays" or use "hour" if unconcerned over confusing with 24-hour time.
Example spoken decimal partial decidays:
- 00 md is "zero millidays"
- 23 md is "twenty-three millidays"
- 3.40 dd could be said as "forty millidays after three"
Millidays can be shortened to say, "md's" or "minutes." One milliday is a decimal minute.
Unit equivalents (decimal to 24-hr):
10 hrs/day = 24 hrs/day
1 hour = 2.4 24-hr hours
1 minute = 1.44 24-hr minutes
1 second = 0.864 24-hr seconds
As a matter of policy, the Tricuria is to consider operating on a decimal (or metric) calendar and time.
The isopublican decimal calendar is base-10 with a 10-day week (1 decaday), three weeks per month, and 12 months per year. The remaining 5-6 days are added as a partial week at the end of the year. Five days if not a leap year and six days if a leap year for a 365-day or 366-day year, respectively.
The isopublican decimal calendar differs from the French Republican calendar (1793-1805) improving on the latter in several important ways such as having 4-day weekends, moving New Year's Day to the spring equinox, being Christian-friendly, adding holidays throughout the year, and having sensible month names.
Isopublican decimal time is base-10 using a 10-hour day with 100 minutes per hour and 100 seconds per minute. The main advantage of decimal time is convenient calculation. Unlike 24-hour time which uses awkward base-24 hours and base-60 minutes and seconds, decimal time uses the much simpler base-10 for hours, minutes, and seconds.
With decimal time, arithmetic operations don't require unit conversion as 24-hour time does. This is true for all math operations, i.e. subtraction, division, multiplication, etc.
Unlike Gregorian dates and 24-hour time, decimal date and time are mathematically combined allowing for date and time of day to be represented as a single decimal value. See example bottom left.
Decimal time is also the same for both civilian and military use which is important to isopublic because all isopublican citizens are to be members of the national militia.
Note that the isopublican decimal calendar and time are not to be imposed on civil society, but only as the official calendar and time of the Tricuria.
