FUNDAMENTALS
Table
of Contents
1. Essential Fundamentals
2. Rules to Live by
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1.
What are the essential fundamentals for American citizenship?
I
propose that the following are key criteria, and to the extent that a person
fails to meet these criteria, he or she is lacking in that respect: Integrity,
Responsibility, Morality, and Honesty.
In the
military, there are three words that are frequently seen prominently displayed:
Duty, Honor, Country. These fundamental qualities go to the “Honor” part, and it is
my contention that a person cannot be a good citizen without meeting the test
of these four qualities.
Many
people I know believe these qualities are all the same.
I,
however, see differences and nuances that need to be understood. All I
can do here is let the reader know what these qualities mean to me and decide
for himself or herself what they mean to him or her.
On the
following pages of this website, these are the standards to which I am
committed as I write.
Integrity: To me, this means that my word is
good. If I represent the facts to be a particular way, the person to whom I
make that representation can take those facts to be as I have said, without
fear that they will later find out that I have misrepresented those facts to
them. If I make a presentation to someone and represent the facts to be one
way, it is because I believe those facts to be true. If I am mistaken about
some particular facts, but have credible reasons to believe the facts are a
particular way, I will represent those facts as I believe them to be until I
find out differently, but after that I have an obligation to correct my
position.
Responsibility: I am responsible for my own
behavior. I am not a helpless pawn, moved around the board of life by a greater
power. If I bang my finger, it isn’t the fault of the hammer. If I try to fly
my airplane without gasoline in the tank, and the engine quits, it isn’t the
fault of the airplane or engine manufacturer.
Morality: We each have a moral obligation
to look out for others. We do not all have the same capacity for taking care of
ourselves, and we should not be making someone else’s situation worse in order
to make our own situation better. Caring for others is an essential part of
this quality and is essential for real humanity.
Honesty: I make every effort to tell the
truth. If I tell a lie, which is making a statement I know to be untrue, it
diminishes me and reflects badly on my own character, so I try to avoid
that. If I forward an e-mail message that contains misrepresentations, my
character is attached to that e-mail, and it amounts to me telling a lie to the
extent that the e-mail is not completely true. I do tell “white lies”
occasionally, if I think the bare truth will hurt someone unnecessarily. Please
forgive me.
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