Human Dignity reflects human nature and embraces all of those components of life that make a citizen feel like a respected and respectable member of the polity, e.g., respect for individuality, safety from crime and invaders, family life, work, healthcare, education, property, spirituality, recreation, intellectual life, and culture.

When macro-level systems correspond to human nature, citizens are vastly more likely to feel loyalty, to embrace liberty, to innovate, and to make enlightened choices in a democratic context.

The reader might reflect for a moment on all of the prior ideologies that did not take human dignity as their point of departure.

How did good intentions go off the rails and affect the facets of human dignity enumerated above?

How was the ideology itself used as a justification for degrading human dignity?

Democracy refers to solutions-driven republicanism, not reflexive voting along ethnic or religious lines.

Although democracies make serious mistakes, just as other systems do, they are best able to harness collective intelligence to course-correct. Furthermore, the process of self-governance tends to enhance societal development and a sense of ownership.

Liberty refers to both economic and social freedoms. In general, individuals and communities organize and act most constructively without state control, but there remain situations where governments are best able to promote happiness and prevent suffering.

Loyalty means fidelity to the polity, but also to oneself, one’s family, one’s neighborhood and city, and humanity in general. In the context of the U.S., it entails allegiance to the Constitution. (Strong loyalties along purely ethnic, racial, or religious lines do not necessarily strengthen the polity.)

Innovation means evidence-based, logic-based improvements and reforms — in view of increasing the quality and quantity of human happiness, minimizing suffering, and strengthening the polity’s readiness to face challenges.