Good Neighbor Roots

Bear Only Good Fruit

Whether one derives their morality from secular or non-secular means is irrelevant. Our Good Neighbors' Roots value equally each road taken to get to the conclusion that all people are people with certain inviolable rights. Whether you choose to believe the admittedly cynical view that morality is derived from our own self-interest at birth, or that it is derived from near universal religious precept, or some hybrid version of the two, the result is the same: a political movement logically and religiously grounded firmly in the idea of universal justice and fairness. We call this conclusion convergent moralism. It becomes our mission, regardless of path chosen, to balance the power imbalance inherent to any society, by standing with all of our neighbors, regardless of qualifier.

This convergence births the potential for a grassroots, bottom-up socialist approach, the kind of socialism that we see and experience every day. Bake sales, PTAs, soup kitchens, a cup of sugar to a neighbor, help another mow their yard, literally just good neighbors being good neighbors. Socialism shouldn't be a bad word, but it is due to what I would call top-down socialism, or the perception of it at least (Lenin's Russia, for example, not actually socialism, but grouped in with other less desirable systems of government). The difference is foundational.

Marx and others envisioned humanity as an organism and condoned horrible atrocities in the name of the common good. No such argument is being made here. We argue the following:

"Each person possesses an inviolability founded on justice that even the welfare of society as a whole cannot override. For this reason, justice denies that the loss of freedom for some is made right by a greater good shared by others. It does not allow that the sacrifices imposed on a few are outweighed by the larger sum of advantages enjoyed by many. Therefore in a just society the liberties of equal citizenship are taken as settled; the rights secured by justice are not subject to political bargaining or to the calculus of social interests."

Our socialism comes not from the state, but from the people. It does not discount or exclude. It creates no enemies to blame or attack. Our institutions have failed us by perpetuating systemic racism, sexism and xenophobia, and by implicitly allowing corruption and calling it "how we do business". We do not adequately enforce morality on corporate entities; instead, we allow corporations to be sociopathic and destructive and excuse abhorrent behavior by calling it a "free market". This is not the fault of the capitalist; thus the capitalist can be a Good Neighbor too, supporting policies that help the next person up the ladder. We support each other. The system is our enemy, not the individual. Since our socialism is derived from a place of inclusion, justice and equality, our Tree will continue to produce Good Fruit as long as we are committed to maintaining its integrity by self-policing our members and leaders and removing them if they stray too far from the path required by our Roots.

Our Good Neighbors' Roots recognize the pitfalls of previous socialist movements and seek to constrain the tendency of the human heart towards greed. From our foundation, we wholly reject any interpretation that seeks to elevate one group over others, or individuals over others, as it is antithetical to Our Roots. Each of us possess the same "inviolability of rights" as every one of our neighbors and we shall defend that inviolability to the last. We stand with ALL our neighbors, regardless of qualifier.

From here, we build our platform, one which balances the power between Neighbors and police, government, courts, corporations, billionaires, and even our Fellow Neighbors. For example, we can begin to shift what it means to be a police officer or abolish the police altogether, replacing it with something designed to be a part of the community rather than above it. We can end qualified immunity as it is a clear form of injustice, making it nearly impossible to bring bad cops to account. In all instances, we filter each situation through our justice lens. We ask ourselves, "What is the power dynamic and how can it be more fair?"

Simply put, our job as stewards of justice is to balance the natural imbalances that occur precisely because we live in a naturally unequal society.