The Covenant of Responsibility

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Wisdom, insure domestic stability, provide for our general Sanity, promote Common Sense, and secure the Blessings of Responsibility to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Covenant for the United Stated of America.

Article I – Financial Responsibility

Section 1. Governmental

We shall cease voting for any and all Officers of Government who promise to both lower taxes and increase government services. All Representatives, Senators, and Presidents will be held accountable by the People for financially irresponsible conduct with public funds.

As the Government of the United States has proven to have only limited power to improve the economy, we agree to refrain from complaining about the President or Congress every time the economy suffers.

All Officers of Government shall support legislation in favor of keeping and maintaining a balanced budget, such that Congress shall pass no law allowing deficit spending. In addition, they shall pass legislation requiring the setting aside of a portion of all tax revenues for a rainy day, to be spend in times of emergency or war.

Section 2. Individual

Each of us will spend less than we make. We will avoid debt whenever possible, and we will repay our debts quickly and honorably.

Debt shall be considered permissible for simple housing, transportation, education, and other necessities. We will implement financial education in our families, communities, and schools.
We will be honest and diligent in all paid work, in order to increase the value of the goods and services we provide, and in order to maintain our self-respect.

Section 3. Community

Each of us who has more than enough for the necessities of life will give a generous portion of their income to Charity, to provide food, shelter, psychological services, medical treatment, and other necessities to those who cannot support themselves, including the mentally and physically disabled. All such systems, whether public or private, will be designed to reward those who do everything they can to support themselves.

Each of us will give careful reflection and discussion to what is truly a necessity, and we will lower our expectations for our quality of life, if necessary.

Each of us will look for opportunities to help those who need it on a personal basis, but we will also respect and encourage others' need to develop independence.

We will provide special care, including health care and Education, for children who are neglected or have few opportunities.

If public systems of Charity exist, tax deductions will be given to those who donate to private charity, so that each Citizen may choose how they wish to support those in need.

Article II – Familial Responsibility

Section 1. Gender Equality in Families

Every person—female or male—who participates in creating a child will be responsible for their efforts in caring for that child.

Each of us will appreciate, respect, and participate in the unpaid labor that takes place in home a
and family life.

Spouses of both genders will have equal say in family decisions.

Section 2. Parenting

The community will recognize that the primary Responsibility for nurturing children lies with the parents. If parents have patterns of abuse or severe neglect, their children may be placed in foster care. However, in all other cases, community-based programs of child care, education, and health care will be designed to support the parents in nurturing the child. Parents should be given the opportunity and responsibility to have a voice in decisions concerning these programs. If educational or other administrators do not grant this voice, parents have the right to fight for it. No authority should be more binding in programs for children than a majority or consensus of parents.

As parents, we agree to recognize our children's responsibilities. If our children fail to meet their duties for any reason, we will help them to understand and cope with the natural consequences of their actions, and we will encourage them to grow and fulfill their responsibilities in the future. We will also make it clear that our love for them is not dependent on their successes or failures.

Article III – Use of Freedom

Section 1.

We will hold ourselves responsible for any and all exercise of Liberty, and we will recognize that a Right never includes the right to harm others.

We will hold ourselves accountable for the use of Free Speech, since it comes with the ability to express love, hate, knowledge, ignorance, gratitude, and selfishness.

We will hold ourselves accountable for the use of Property, since it was once God's, and it will someday belong to another.

We will hold ourselves accountable for the use of Religion, since millions have been given death in the name of God, yet millions have been given comfort and care in the name of God.

We will hold ourselves accountable for the use of Sex, since it can be a power of love and creation, but it can also be a power of abuse and manipulation. We will hold ourselves accountable for the children we choose to create, or take the chance of creating.

We will hold ourselves accountable for the use of the Courts, and we will not petition the government for a redress of grievances which could be resolved in another way, or which are inconsequential or fictional.

We shall hold ourselves accountable for the use of these and all other rights, and we will fulfill our duties to God, to each other, and to our families.

Signed,
Michael Reed Davison