“The continued existence of a free and democratic society depends upon recognition of the concept that justice is based upon the rule of law grounded in respect for the dignity of the individual and the capacity through reason for enlightened self-government. Law so grounded makes justice possible, for only through such law does the dignity of the individual attain respect and protection. Without it, individual rights become subject to unrestrained power, respect for law is destroyed, and rational self-government is impossible”. Fundamental Principles of Professional Conduct. Rules as adopted by Washington Supreme Court (2006).

We the People have a sacred social and legal Pact with those elected officials who govern us.  In exchange for our votes and consent, the Government is expected (and mandated) to protect and promote our fundamental and constitutional rights to live less in the chains of ignorance, stress, fear and diseases than in “ complete physical, mental and social wellbeing" as provides the World Health Organization's Constitution:

“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (The World Health Organization’s Constitution).

To which the Preamble of our Federal Constitution adds legal force:

“ We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America ”. (Preamble of the Federal Constitution).

In this perspective and in  compliance with Section 12, Article 3 of the State Constitution, if elected, I would veto all bills that would not be in compliance with the exigencies of the "public good" and “life”. And i would sign all legislation that would increase the government's transparency and respect the central principle of my program: “primum non nocere” (First, do no harm), a principle upheld by Dr Hippocrates (the father of modern medicine), by  Sun Tzu (the father of the  military arts ), by Montesquieu (the father of modern political philosophy), by  Bhouda (the Indian healer, via his “ahimsa” doctrine)  and by the 19th century political thinker and British Parliament member John Stuart Mill (the father of modern political and economic liberty, see his "no harm" doctrine by CLICKING HERE).

In the economic, health and environmental fields, this holistic approach can also be subsumed under the notion of "Precautionary principle”.

 “When an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically.”(Wingspread Statement, 1998).

In this perspective, if the State Legislature refused to legislate in favor of the Precautionary principle, the Common Good and Life, then i would convene, in conformity with constitutional provisions, extra legislative sessions by proclamation to reconsider key proposed legislation and open the debate up to the People via my proposed weekly internet forum.

Of all of what characterizes Spiritual and  Holistic Civilizations (and over the last 10,000 years, there have been many, see the Site’s “Mission in historical perspective”), Holistic Health, eco-sustainability based on self reliance skills and self-determination structures  are the three common threads which have weaved human excellence and progress. The concept of  enlightened self government or sovereignty is nothing less than the ushering in of the finality of History as we know it, as Kissinger defined it (“a succession of failures”).

To honor life and to unite community awareness via social networking, self determination endeavors and human rights and duties activation is the paradigm wherein Individual rights and duties  can flourish, thanks to which our basic needs can be best met. This is the adopted general philosophy.

THE GOVERNOR'S PRESENT CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGE

“Every act which shall have passed the legislature shall be, before it becomes a law, presented to the governor. If he approves, he shall sign it; but if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to that house in which it shall have originated, which house shall enter the objections at large upon the journal and proceed to reconsider.” (Constitution of Washington State)

In Article One of Washington’s State Constitution, the framers declared that :

“All political power is inherent in the people, and governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and are established to protect and maintain individual rights” .(Article I, State Const.)

Thus,  in light of our two Constitutions and the Laws of Civilized Nations, the governor’s job is  to be the Constitution’s guardian, the State’s social architect, the People’s servant and educator, the one who will object to unconstitutional legislation which harms the People, in conformity with the governor’s duties (See quote above).

The governor must therefore inform the People and the State Legislature of all relevant options regarding the protection and the maintaining of our individual (or personal) and fundamental (e.g. constitutional).

When the governor's information and proposals are truly inspired, then the People's consent becomes enlightened. And peace and prosperity blossom. (For the Governor's constitutional mandate, CLICK HERE)

BRIEF DISCUSSION:

“ ….........when dissoluteness and disease abound  in a city, are not law courts and surgeries opened in abundance, and do not Lawyers and Physicians begin to hold their heads high ? ” (SOCRATES, in  Plato’s Dialogue. In this piece, eco-philosopher Socrates (5 B.C.) is   chating with Glaucon on the consequences of a plant-based (barles, wheat, olives, figs, beans, myrtle berries, beech nuts and wine in moderation, inter alia) versus meat-based diet preferred by Glaucon).

The issue we have before our politically awakened consciousness is this: What does the Federal Constitution mean by the Government needing to "promote the general welfare" ?

Can the promotion of general welfare mean more Governement, or less Government ? Is there an inverse relationship between more red tape and less freedom ?  More taxes and less needs met ? More wars, less peace ?  Can the promotion of the general welfare mean accumulating more mainstream hospitals, more allopathic pharmacies, more crutches, more band-aids, more weapons, more consumerism, more cooked processed additive-rich fast foods, more gadgets,  more T.V. violence scenes and "buy this" subliminal ads, more regulatory norms (rules of law), more pesticides, more bureaucracy, more work hours, more prisons, more asphalt roads, more inflation, more debts, more credit, more fiscal obligations, more cigarettes, more prescribed drug, more noise ?

Would not additional roads entice more clogging, more frustration and car accidents ?  (Official institutions like the World Health Organization  are concluding that “road fatalities” in 2020 will be the third cause of death and “Traffic: why we drive the way we do” book author Tom Vanderbilt concluded “dangerous roads are actually safer than the familiar ones…building more highways tends to increase traffic congestion”) ? 

With more hospitals, would this not produce more nosocomial (infection) and iatrogenic deaths ?

The Journal of American Medical Association and the Institute of Medicine already demonstrated in 1999 that American modern medicine was the third cause of premature death and different studies show that when large hospitals are on strike, the death curb dramatically diminishes (See the evidence in the Action plan’s measures and in the Action Committee’s book).

With more prisons, would there not be more pent up karmic frustration and crime ? (It is well established that prisons are schools of crime).

With more laws and lawyers, would there not be more deceit, loopholes and misery ?  (Taoists and Confusian Chinese observers of social collectivities have concluded “The more laws the more bandits”).

With more laws, less liberty ?

Or does this sacred concept “promote the general welfare”  stand for what was then popular in the 18th century, less the idea of consumerism and "control", less the 18th century "persecution" forces against the System's heretics than the conviction that the Human will can and must overcome the dark forces of deceit ?

Or does it mean what was then (we are still in the 18 th century when our 250 French, English and American founding fathers breathed) a mobilizing energy platform: Enlightenment. "Le Siècle des Lumières" (The century of Light) ?
If yes, then what is exactly meant by "enlightenment" ? Is this the state of affairs in which we bath now ? Is the IRS an enlightened institution, let alone a legal one birthed via a legal statute ? Is the Federal Reserve Bank an enlightened Institution,  let alone a constitutional one ? Is the  Defense Department an enlightened institution, let alone a honorable one ? Is the FDA an enlightened institutions, let alone an ethical one ? Is the US Congress’ relinquishing of over half of its legislative duties to the Executive branch constitutional ?

And if these Institutions are not enlightened and conducive to the promotion of the general welfare, if they have become more “special interest” structures than “general interest” agencies,  do the People not have the sacred Duty to themselves, to the Nation, to the Courts, to the World and to the Supreme Creator to legally and ethically over-rule these Institutions ? As provides the July 4th Declaration of Independence, in no uncertain terms: ?

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth (...) We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. (...) when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. (Declaration of Independence, signed by 13 Governors and allies). CLICK HERE FOR THE ENTIRE DECLARATION.

These then are some of the questions that are momentarily simmering in the Candidate' mind. Must we redefine the relationship between the Government and the People whereby the Government will really serve and respect the People ? And if the answer is yes, how must this task get done ?  What is the best political philosophy for these times ?

CONCLUSION

“Peace is not a passive nor definitive state, a kind of Dead Sea where the river of History goes to die. On the contrary, peace is a state of high human activity which mobilizes the highest functions of the human spirit. Peace requires a continuous creation of new values, new emotions, new ways of thinking. It is only at this price that our new institutions that peace requires can live. In a word, Peace is the highest and most arduous form of the Universal Revolution." (Madariaga, president of the "Thirteen", League of Nation, 1920)

"I would like to conclude this brief introduction to my political philosophy and public policy platform by reminding Washingtonians of the uncertainties of beliefs. In this perspective, 19th century political philosopher John Stuart Mill's, after having studied hundreds of Societies like Toynbee, had a relevant observation to make.

"It often happens in History that what appears to be a universal truth during one period is such an absurdity in another that the only difficulty is to imagine how such a belief could have been credible in the first place”. (John Stuart Mill)

In the same way that obscurantism is possible with ignorance, neglect, hubris and greed, in a similar way, Enlightened self sovereignty and prosperity are possible, but only if we will it enough, if we commit ourselves totally to it, invest forthrightly in what we intend for the good of all. It's what we put into the belief that matters. Including, but not limited to the Action Plan's fundamental freedoms belief system. The belief that "enlightened self-sovereignty" and "physical, mental, social and spiritual wellbeing for all" are realizable in the here and the now. The belief that what breathes in the depth of human consciousness is nothing less than a conviction. The conviction that freedom will triumph over oppression. Liberté !

To promoting the general good and general welfare, a government needs a public finance policy philosophy. Ours would simply encourage the satisfaction of the People’s basic needs via fiscal relief, incentive bonus,  enlightened intervention and creative imagination.