Commonwealism, in brief

Commonwealism: the common good, held in common

This is the short version. The full statement of the philosophy, with its programme and answers to common objections, is THE-COMMONWEALIST-MANIFESTO.md.

A nation is more than a market and more than a government. It is a people bound together by a shared home, shared language and laws, shared memory and shared obligations to one another. Its wealth, in the old sense of its weal, is the wellbeing of all its people, not the fortune of a few.

Commonwealism is the belief that the nation's interest and the people's interest are the same, and that every institution should be judged by how well it serves that common good. It takes from both left and right, because the common good belongs to neither:

• From the tradition of the right: love of the nation, respect for faith, family and heritage, and the conviction that some things are worth preserving.
• From the tradition of the left: solidarity with workers, care for the sick, the disabled and the poor, and the insistence that the economy must serve the people, not the other way round.

What we believe

• The nation is its people. The national interest is the people's interest. A policy that enriches the few while the many go without fails the nation.
• The strong owe the weak. Workers, the sick, the disabled, the elderly and children have first claim on the nation's care. Need, not worth, decides who is helped first.
• One nation, open to all. Anyone of any race or origin can belong by taking up the nation's shared language, laws and civic customs. Once part of the nation, everyone is equal in every respect. Skin colour and ancestry never decide who belongs.
• Faith honoured, never forced. Many of us believe in God and in Christ, and faith shapes the nation's traditions. But faith cannot be compelled, so religious liberty is total: every faith, and none, is free.
• Tradition is a trust. Inherited customs, crafts, festivals and wisdom are held in trust for those who come after. Change them with care, and keep what is good.
• Liberty in private life. People should be free to live, speak, worship and raise their families as they choose, and the state should stay out of private life.
• Commonwealths, united by the Nation. Society is organised into commonwealths: self-governing neighbourhoods, towns, cities and regions, nested inside each other. Each governs what it can do best (the principle of subsidiarity). The Nation is the commonwealth of commonwealths: it alone makes the laws, guarantees the rights, sets the standards and shares wealth between rich and poor regions.
• A strong state that answers to the people. The nation needs a capable, central state that can plan and act for the whole. That state's power is only legitimate while it serves the people and while the people can overrule and replace it.
• Owners are stewards. Companies, land and economic institutions exist for the common good. Their managers run them day to day, answerable to the people's state, which ensures fair distribution and protects the national interest. Workers share in how their workplaces are run.
• Everything open, everything compatible. Technology that runs a nation must belong to the nation. All public systems should be open source, built on open standards and compatible with each other, so no one can lock the people out.
• Toward plenty for all. Our long aim is a nation beyond scarcity, where automation and shared knowledge give everyone enough. As that day comes nearer, the managing class shrinks to what it should be: servants of the common good.

What Commonweal is for

Commonweal is the system that helps a Commonwealist nation run. It:

1. Runs in every commonwealth on the same open code and national standards, serving each one directly and passing upward only totals, trends and alarms.
2. Keeps honest, shared records of what the nation has and what its people need, and helps match them fairly.
3. Carries out routine administration that the people's state assigns it, in the open, and explains every decision.
4. Brings people and communities together, and helps newcomers learn the language, customs and laws they need to belong.
5. Grows a commons of open knowledge, open standards and open technology.
6. Raises the alarm when people are in danger or in need.

What Commonweal will never be

• A ruler above the people. Accountable humans can always overrule and stop it.
• A surveillance system, or a tool for persecuting anyone.
• A judge of who someone is by their race, origin or faith.
• A black box. Every part of it is open for anyone to read.