Dear Editor,

Democracy is dead in fact, it was stillborn. It never stood a chance, in much the same way, and for the same reason, that capitalism, communism and socialism have all failed and, even if you put democracy in front of them, they lacked the moral foundation necessary to stand up to reality.

Asking three wolves and a sheep to vote on what’s for dinner is obviously a flawed mechanism, especially if you are the sheep; but that is democracy. And democracy elected Adolf Hitler, Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

What we need first is a “moral foundation” that defines clearly what is true “the common good” for all humanity. A moral foundation that cannot be justly refuted. This moral foundation must be easily understood by all, and be easily communicated. It must transcend gender and generations. With such a moral foundation we can bury the old and divisive arguments of right wing, left wing or centrist. An indisputable moral foundation would relegate communism, socialism and capitalism to the same place as ancient thinking, to be replaced by a newer reasoning.

A new word would capture this new philosophy. I suspect we might call this Freedomism. It is not really new, just in need of rediscovery and proper appreciation.

To ensure there is no doubt in the interpretation of this profound moral foundation, we may rephrase it as follows: “You have the right to do with your life, liberty and property as you choose, so long as you do not infringe (without expressed permission) on the life, liberty and property of others.”

With this as our moral foundation and governing principle, our constitution, with its laws and system of governance, would be designed to protect the sovereignty of the individual and, by extension, the sanctity of our nation. The Government would be restricted to effectively providing a safe, clean and orderly environment that protects our individual liberty and promotes personal responsibility under the philosophy of personal respect, dignity and productivity.

Without control of the people’s economy, Government would truly become the servant, and the people would become the masters of their individual destiny and prosperity. By this means the nation would flourish, free of partisan division, political corruption and excessive crime.

Joseph L Patterson

Founder & president

United Independents’ Congress of Jamaica

myuicjamaica@gmail.com