The Republican Constituition is not an end in itself but a means to achieving the society we desire
There are Five Ends that we identify as together defining the society that we wish to live in:
A. Civic Virtue
B. Personal Freedom
C. Popular Aspiration
D. Private Wealth
E. World Peace
A. We need Civic Virtue because we want a Good Society. An efficient state that somehow managed to deliver material wellbeing without any sense of ethical human values would not satisfy us. And in any case it would not work.
B. We need Personal Freedom because we want society to be ruled by Truth. And, without freedom, truth goes by the wayside. We need Personal Freedom because we want to be able to have independent economic lives, and control to an extent our own destinies and that of our families. We want to be able to live our lives in a well regulated, but not overregulated, society.
C. We need Popular Aspiration for through it we can express with others how we wish society to be. We all have Vision and ambitions, however modest, that we want to achieve and share with others. Society must give vent for such feelings and be able to accommodate them.
D. We need a degree of Private Wealth for without it we have no Stake in the society. We need a degree of Private Wealth for our own self respect and to allow us to have position. We have a right to expect that a rich society has a responsibility to make sure every citizen achieves a degree of wealth for themselves and their families.
E. We need World Peace for we want our own nation to live in peace unthreatened by the terrors of war. We want all Humanity to share this privilege. We want to know foreign lands. Only with peace can we maintain the world for future generations.
Virtue, Freedom, Aspiration, Wealth and Peace.
These are the Five Ends we need and want.
These are the Five Ends the Constitution must be able deliver.
