Simple wisdoms - Stephen Waters - Bog

The most significant threat our country has ever faced is the attempt to invert the structure of America to become, not bottom-up governance, but top-down rule. America's founding fathers built government to rise from individuals and their principles. Individuals deduce and validate fundamental principles. They use those principles to encourage society with others in ways that lift them above other animals living under the Law of the Jungle.
Individual mental maps used to make decisions are made more accurate through interaction with others. Their principles of humility and reciprocity are the minimum requirements for society at edges where any two individuals or groups meet. From such civility springs culture, cooperation, and our market economy.
We discover principles, re-validate them for ourselves, and then confirm them with others. Welcome to America! Today, individuals working together are the key to reclaim our country from opportunists, authoritarians, and scoundrels.