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Our motive: liberation of usCivicWiki was created as a reaction to our deepening political division. Our desire was to surface fundamental principles on which most of us can agree. One of our assumptions is that there are such principles around which a broad consensus can be built. On that, we would like to build a consensus of how government should work. If that is too tall an order we can, at least, hold a civil discourse from which will come better mutual understanding rather than tribal reaction. Our political divisions will become more principled, less tribal, and therefore smaller. Tribalism is not completely bad. A community of like minded people can accomplish great things - the creation of The United States for example. But today tribalism is being pushed to its extreme until it does not require understanding, it discourages it. A tribe's members do not have to understand their beliefs; they only have to conform to them to belong. Nor do they have to understand those of other tribes; they only have to oppose them. (A link to a great example of tribalism at work.) CW will pursue better understanding. To do that well, we need to understand our own beliefs and those that differ. Initially, we worked from an historical perspective. The premise was that the United States was, and still is, the most dynamic and successful society on the planet; that it became so because of the principles and institutions on which its government was formed; and that erosion of those principles and the way we have reconstructed our institutions (the rise of the regulatory state as one example) is damaging our economy, our society and us as individuals. CW’s aim was to persuade that reclaiming our foundation was the best way to repair society and ensure the future for us all. Our direction was shifted somewhat by the realization that our fundamental motive is not, foremost, a reconstruction of society and government or to simply go back in time. CW’s fundamental motive is the liberation of us all as individuals. Featured articleInalienable Rights
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The constitution of AmericaThe United States began as a society determined that liberty is fundamental to life. That premise, carefully adopted by a newly formed nation, would provide freedom, prosperity, and security for many millions over the next 230+ years. Liberty as a preeminent value has never been common. It was not commonplace then and America's impact can only be understood by examining our heritage, political debates, and evolution of government. We created something new - a constitutional republic with democratic input and a novel approach to government as a protector of the rights of 'the people', put in place because we understood that the coexistence of liberty, prosperity, security, and internal peace is fragile. We bet the future of our country on the strength of those protections. And America became the most successful of countries if personal freedom and well being, are the measures.
Please also read about the CW mission.
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CW seeks objective discussion of civic issues. It is in response to the political process as it has become today - a process of partial or distorted information and rhetoric calculated to elicit an emotional reaction, all to serve political agendas. CW prefers political advocacy that places objective truth above agenda. It's a tall order that will require the participation of an expanding group of contributors.
How to Contribute and Why
We made this site a wiki to make it easy for you to contribute your knowledge, insights, and thoughts. We use the same software as Wikipedia which has perhaps millions of independent contributors.
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