Neighbor Solidarity

Definitions (from Merriam Webster):

Neighbor: fellow person, a kindred human being

Solidarity: unity (as of a group or class) that produces or is based on community of interests, objectives, and standards

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New Definitions:

Fruit: the result of labor, positive or negative

Good Neighbor Roots: The moralist foundation of the Good Neighbors' Coalition

Neighbors of Faith: kindred humans who derive morality from faith-based paths, such as adhering to the Golden Rule, whichever form they follow (all religions welcome)

Neighbors of Science: kindred humans who derive morality from science-based paths, such as Rawls' "fairest rules" stance. See above.

Convergent Moralism: The convergence of two or more moral derivations, mutually compatible in nature, that all people are people with certain inviolable rights.

Neighbor Solidarity: Unity among neighbors based on a new style of post-identity politics where the content of one's character is the only deciding factor.

Stewards of Justice: The role of a Good Neighbor; the logical fruit of Neighbor Solidarity

A New Framework

All people are people. Regardless of qualifier, all people are born, and if people are born, should it not be equally? Should some people be valued more just because of who they were born to? An answer of anything but "no" to this question lead to various iterations of autocratic and authoritarian rule but never to a true democracy. By framing it in this way, it makes it difficult for reasonable people to disagree on principle; instead most disagreements would regard scope. Is our goal to eradicate homelessness or shore up the middle-class? Do we build society to primarily help the least of us, or shoot to maximize the mean or average position? Some amount of pragmatism will always be necessary, but if utilized properly, it could eventually end the debate on whether or not social programs should exist.

Our Good Neighbors' Roots value equally each road taken to get to the conclusion that all people are people with certain inviolable rights.  We call this conclusion convergent moralism.

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." -- John Rawls

Our progressivism 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 classism, 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. We target institutions, both public and private, but not the individual. Since our progressivism 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 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. 

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. 

Example: 

The natural imbalance between capitalists and workers is eased with Unions, not because capitalists are the enemy but because all Good Neighbors, workers and capitalists together, are obligated by their morality to balance their power to the best of their ability. Good Neighbor Business is not only possible but is already happening. Costco and HEB are great examples of this (we still want them to unionize). The point being is that the economic system itself does not hold the key to Justice; we do. Whether we're on a barter system, capitalist, socialist, communist or otherwise, the equity of the system is a direct result of our expression of morality, completely independent of the economic system itself.