The Good Of The People Must Be The Highest Law

Marcus Tullius Cicero, the Roman Statesman and philosopher who lived before the birth of Christ, believed that the good of the people was the highest law. His concept formed the cornerstone of democracy in ancient Greece and, until recently, shaped the highest laws in our own democracy, as it has in much of the Western world.

Now, we wonder if the good of the people should even be factored into the highest law. We question whether it's practical on any level in today's competitive world.

Cicero would say it is. He would tell us that the law itself is implanted in nature, determining what must be done and forbidding the opposite. This implies we can't escape such a law.

In Christianity, it may be referred to as divine intelligence—that spark that imbues everything in nature, including human nature, with its own god-given inclination.

Human beings are naturally inclined toward goodness, but much in life can eventually disrupt it. Wars will do that. Famines, too. And there's our own free will that needs managing.

This is why Cicero argued that the legal system's role was to reform vice, and promote virtues based on the guiding principles of nature. In other words, nature's glory lay in its ability to thrive and provide for everyone, and as such was the best teacher for all of humanity.

On a personal level, I believe the law of nature is in each of us, guiding us, and I believe it is unequivocally divine and beneficent. It's why when we created Youtropolis we set our intention to illuminate such benevolence through our call to action: "Let's respect and uphold the law of nature, and pledge to care for each other across distinctions of gender, race, religion, and nation." The platform is designed to facilitate such action.

Caring for each other is the most intelligent thing any society can do. It's also the divine thing to do. But we live in a world that is maxed out financially, addicted to self-pleasing, and broadly unmindful of the action-oriented quiet voice within that should captivate us instead.

If we were to become as enthralled by that quieter voice as we are, say, an influencer's, we would embrace the idea that the good of the people is the highest law and should become the highest priority of every government. Everyone deserves to take part in nature's bounty. God did not design it just for the elite among us.

But too many ordinary citizens have made the corporation their highest law, or the voice of the influencer, or the civic, state, or national leader who put themselves above the law.

It's complicated, I know. It's easy to put all our eggs into the biggest, brightest basket...the one that stands out instead of the one that's quiet, gentle, loving, and personal. It's easier to follow the leader instead of walk to the beat of your own drum. But maybe it's time.

Maybe it's time to get back to our most natural selves and return to uplifting each other across the senseless divides that are not part of nature.

The brick wall that long separated East Berliners from West Berlin came down through the efforts of common people on both sides of the wall. Let's use their playbook. Isn't it time we knock down our own invisible walls that are not part of nature? Haven't our leaders separated We the People long enough? Wouldn't unification be the first step toward Making America Great Again?