Truth and Wisdom that would insure a far better world

I found the following 5 principles while doing some online browsing -- there was no attribution, but I think they are excellent and worth passing along. If only we could all live this way, the earth would be a much happier place (Warning to right wingers -- just skip this one--it's guaranteed you won't like it or agree with it):

1) The objective of society is not to multiply wealth, but to provide a secure and stable place for people to live in harmony with each other.

2) A democratic government exists to serve the common good. Any government that allows the rich to continually get richer at the expense of the poor is not serving its purpose.

3) The poverty of the poor is as much due to systemic inequalities as it is to differences of motivation and willingness to work. The rich are rich, partly due to hard work, and partly due to luck and ability to game the system. (Read Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers, for a fuller exploration of this topic.)

4) The earth and its bounty belong equally to all – humankind, animalkind, and plantkind; and the health of any affects the health of all. Our responsibility as human beings is to manage our use of resources in a way that safeguards the viability of the resources for us, for all, and for future generations. We have a responsibility to prevent some from monopolizing and destroying the viability of the earth and its resources for their personal gain. Government should function to safeguard and promote this value.

5) Those who prosper have a responsibility to help those who have not prospered. That is the basis of society. This does not mean that everyone must live at the same level; but it does mean that we who have more means have a responsibility to share some of that with those of less means; and to work toward rectifying the systemic injustices that exacerbate differences, until we live in a society that provides a secure and stable place for all people to live.