The purpose of The Massachusetts Republic is to create The Better World We Know In Our Hearts Is Possible; a free, peaceful, healthy, just, collaborative, sustainable/regenerative world where we all thrive.

 

The Massachusetts Republic is creating a new cultural paradigm, The Better World We Know In Our Hearts Is Possible, based on an understanding of the problems of our existing culture and a vision of a new cultural paradigm based on the ideals of Freedom in the domain of Culture, Equality/Justice in the domain of Governance, and Cooperation/Collaboration in the domain of Economics, addressed below.

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The Problems of Our Existing Culture

 

1. Our current cultural paradigm distorts the three ideals of:

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    - Freedom - in the domain of Culture

    - Equality/Justice - in the domain of Governance

    - Cooperation/Collaboration - in the domain of Economics

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    as follows:

 

Culture –

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Instead of our culture being free, it is unduly influenced by special interests, government influences, and whatever is profitable.

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Examples:

- Scientific research and discovery and wholesome solutions are often curbed and thwarted if they in any way present a challenge to the big

   pharma-military-industrial complex and its ability to generate profits. (Examples: Alternative health solutions challenge the medical establishment and

    big pharma; alternative and free energy solutions challenge the fossil fuel industry; peaceful conflict resolution solutions challenge the military establishment;

    local, organic, and sustainable farming solutions challenge the industrialized agriculture and factory farming industry.)

-  Mainstream media is controlled by a multi billion-dollar franchise.

- Our public education institutions are subject to conformity, compliance, and controls thus limiting the creative impulse and imaginative

   expression of our teachers and youth.

- The existing debt-based monetary system controls us; it distorts and thwarts our human nature by compelling us to work to generate

   money as the priority instead of to necessarily meet the needs of our society and thereby fulfill our transcendent purpose.

- The private banking system renders "we the people" debt and wage slaves through usury.

 

Governance – 

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Instead of a government of, by, and for "we the people" based on equality and justice, it is a corporatocracy, bought and controlled by multi-national corporations. Whoever has the money rules us.

 

Economics – 

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Instead of our economic system being cooperative and collaborative, it is based on competition and the profit motive.

 

- The existing debt based monetary system results in economic inequality and the concentration of wealth, unsustainable growth and

  consumption, and environmental destruction.

 

- A deceptive, corrupt, and usurious private banking system serves to benefit bank shareholders, usurps the public prerogative of

  issuing the money, and renders "we the people" debt and wage slaves.

  Informational Resources: https://www.justabundance.org and http://www.credittothepeople.org

 

2. The extent to which we as individuals and communities are unconscious and fragmented affects the extent to which our culture is unconscious and fragmented, as summarized above. The extent to which we as individuals and communities are conscious and integrated affects the extent to which our culture is conscious and integrated. As within, so without. We are at a choice point, to unconsciously devolve to our eventual extinction and that of many other species, or to consciously evolve and thrive.

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A Vision of a New Culture, a New Paradigm

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The Massachusetts Republic is creating a new cultural paradigm based on the following ideals:

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1. Threefold Social Order

2. Individual and Collective Integration

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1. Threefold Social Order

 

Based on Rudolf Steiner's threefold social order, we are properly aligning the three ideals of Freedom, Equality/Justice, and Cooperation/Collaboration with the three domains of Culture, Governance, and Economics as follows: 

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A. Freedom - in the domain of Culture 
B. Equality/Justice - in the domain of Governance 
C. Cooperation/Collaboration - in the domain of Economics 

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A. Freedom - Culture

 

Our culture needs to be FREE. The following is what we mean by "free": 

 

- By free, we mean the freedom to pursue what inspires us, what we are naturally good at, and what we would find ourselves doing

   anyway if we were truly free, free from the demands of having to “earn” a living to pay for our living.

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- By free, we mean a society that honors and supports our efforts to achieve personal fulfillment and self-actualization.

 

- By free, we mean a society that acknowledges the value of personal fulfillment to the community at large, and finds value in and funds our efforts.

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- By free, we mean we are taught by teachers who value us as individuals and want each of us to discover who we are and what we want to do with our

  lives.

 

The Massachusetts Republic aims to create a culture that is based on freedom of expression, creativity, self-actualization, and personal fulfillment - all supported and funded by the community based on its collective wealth creation and values.

 

The domain of Culture consists of the realms:

- Science (the seeking of truth)
- Art (the creation of beauty)
- Education/Spirituality/Religion (the values and ideals of goodness out of which we live).

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Truth, Beauty, and Goodness are what we are all striving for in the new paradigm.

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B. Equality/Justice - Governance

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Our Governance needs to be JUST.

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We assure Equality and Justice through a dynamic system of self-governance of, by, and for the people within Common Good Communities and Jeffersonian Ward Republics based on a well-conceived organizational structure, operating system, and consent-based decision-making process among equal individuals, known as Dynamic Governance or Sociocracy, which is clear, efficient, transparent, scalable, and doable.

See https://www.sociocracy.info/what-is-sociocracy/ and https://www.Sociocracyforall.org.  

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In Common Good Communities and Jeffersonian Ward Republics, the people in communities or wards know one another and personally provide and perform the functions of governance to and for one another; governance of, by, and for the people. The people decide together what would be good and of value for the community and issue money to fund it.

 

Governance encompasses the Legislative (Funding), Executive (Implementation), and Judicial (Justice) functions.

The Community acting in the Legislative function decides what would be good and provides the appropriate funding.

The Community acting in the Executive function selects the best people to implement what we agree would be good.

The Community acting in the Judicial function evaluates the results and judges if it was good. 

The roles for all functions are selected based on who is determined to be the best persons to accomplish them.

 

Non-violent communication (NVC) is an important communication tool in self-governance to help ensure harmonious relations. Resources: https://www.nonviolentcommunication.com and https://www.cnvc.org 

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Restorative Justice is a transformational process for addressing and potentially redressing any grievances or harms. It involves the healing practices of atonement and forgiveness. Resource: http://restorativejustice.org

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C. Cooperation/Collaboration - Economics

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Our Economy needs to be COLLABORATIVE.

 

We cooperatively and responsibly manage our resources and satisfy our material needs and desires by working together, voluntarily as inspired, to create everything that we the people need and desire. We distribute the profits equitably according to our sense of justice. We facilitate the exchange of goods and services by utilizing a community created credit system known as Common Good. See https://commongood.earth/

 

Economics encompasses Production (Nature), Distribution (Infrastructure), and Consumption (Needs). Production transforms nature into goods and services. Distribution involves a series of exchanges that benefit both parties (the seller and the buyer) to the exchange. And we consume to meet our needs and desires. The aim of production is consumption, i.e. satisfying the needs and desires of the people using the sustainable practices that our sense of Truth, Beauty, and Goodness lead us to implement. Production, Distribution, and Consumption is a result of the influence of the Culture and the Governance of the new paradigm.

 

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​In sum, by using the available social technologies based on an understanding of our true nature as individual and social human beings, we can properly align the three ideals of Freedom, Justice, and Cooperation/Collaboration with the three realms of Culture, Governance, and Economics, namely Freedom in Culture, Equality/Rights/Justice in Governance, and Cooperation/Collaboration in Economics. The social technologies we have identified so far that can do this reliably are dynamic governance known as Sociocracy, Non-violent Communication and Restorative Justice, and a community created credit system known as Common Good. These social technologies will reliably establish healthy social structures and pathways for creating together The Better World We Know In Our Hearts Is Possible.

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More About The Threefold Social Order​

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“Three folding” maintains the healthy relationship between the  domains of Culture, Governance, and Economics, thus ensuring a harmonious relationship between the ideals of freedom, equality/justice, and collaboration/cooperation, which may otherwise be in conflict with each other.

 

For example, equality and collaboration/cooperation in the domain of Culture could lead to mediocrity by, for example, preventing competition to sort out best placement, thwarting creativity, or creating a culture of conformity and compliance (in our educational system for example). Similarly, freedom in all matters could result in lawlessness, such as the social sanctioning of theft, breaching of contracts, the lack of appropriate rules and regulations (including financial and environmental), and an economic culture based on rampant consumerism and what is most profitable instead of based on cooperation and collaboration to satisfy expressed needs.​

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It is clear by the summary of the problems of our existing culture described above as well as important to recognize that our current paradigm distorts the ideals of Freedom in the domain of Culture, Justice in the domain of Governance, and Cooperation/Collaboration in the domain of Economics. 

- Instead of our culture being free, it is unduly influenced by special interests, government influences and controls, and whatever is profitable, regardless of its effect on society or the environment. 

- Instead of a government of, by, and for “we, the people” based on our common sense of justice, it is bought and controlled by whoever has the money; special interests.

- Instead of our economic system being cooperative and collaborative so as to responsibly manage our resources for the benefit of all, it is based on competition and the profit motive, which tends to externalize costs onto the society and the environment.​

An important example of what does distinguish the ideals of equality/justice in the domain of Governance and freedom in the domain of Culture is - Governance being the domain that ensures the freedom of beliefs, and Culture being the domain of the beliefs themselves. Our U.S Constitution addresses this in the “Establishment Clause” of the First Amendment, which is characterized as “the separation of church and state”.​

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This does not preclude identifying the values, principles, morals, and ideals that appeal to our common sense of justice and goodness that unify us in the domain of Governance, for example the moral code of “do no harm". This is indeed consistent with the ideals of equality and justice in the domain of Governance.

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In sum, it is important to be conversant in the three potentially conflicting ideals of freedom, equality/justice, and cooperation/collaboration. 

While, as exemplified above, each ideal of freedom, equality/justice, and cooperation/collaboration belongs in the three domains of Culture, Governance, and Economics, our common sense of justice, which arises from our common humanity, is what will determine what would best serve the community. For example, we could determine whether it is best to be cooperating or competing, ensuring equality or creating privilege and achieving excellence, having freedom of choice or being subject to what ensures equality and equal access (such as with private or universal health care). The new paradigm of the better world gives us the opportunity to cultivate our sense of justice, address the injustices we see, and choose the best course of action based on what we agree would be good as well as just. 

 

Interestingly, the famous cry of the French Revolution: liberté, egalité, fraternité was a symptom of humanity’s unconscious longing for a threefold social organism later conceived by the famous philosopher and social reformer Rudolf Steiner.

(See http://www.rudolfsteinerweb.com/Threefold_Social_Order.php)

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2.​ Individual Integration and Universal Synergy

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Ideally, individuals and community members know how to integrate themselves so as to foster universal synergy. For additional information on this important ideal, go to Integration/Synergy. 

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