A Civic People

The preamble to the US Constitution may seem obsolete. To the framers, we are the 12th generation of "our Posterity" and the "ourselves" to the next generation. We each may own an interpretation. Mine on 6/21/24 is: We the People of the United States consider, communicate, collaborate, and connect to practice 6 public disciplines: integrity, justice, peace, strength, prosperity, and responsibility so as to encourage both today's and tomorrow's citizens to practice human, civic independence.

Friday, September 12, 2025

Discover Necessary Goodness That Motivates Good Behavior

Update: 9/28/25

A mimic: What goodness brought together let no person divide.

Workshop to Discover Necessary Goodness That Motivates Good Behavior

Accepting authority, power, and responsibility perceived in primitive literature and imposed by physics

Civic citizens defend and preserve each other’s opportunity to pursue necessary goodness. Civic citizens do all they can to enhance children’s natural desire to discover and practice good behavior.

Seven seemingly ineluctable principles:

1. Only the person may and can constrain chaos in her or his way of living

a. Higher power – Church, state, or the partnership of the two, fails every individual

b. Extant education fails

c. Each person keeps beliefs humble to whatever constrains the consequences of choice.

2. The civic person is humble to a mystery: necessary goodness at the recent edge of discovery

a. Civic tradition continually yields to discovered goodness.

3. Every human infant innately desires to pursue good behavior yet many children puzzle over erroneous social influences.

4. Good behavior defines human being (the practice); inspires acquisition of wisdom.

5. Civic citizens do all they can to aid children’s natural desire to comprehend and intend good behavior.

a. Lesser species often neglect or abuse the children.

6. A civic faction, We the People the People of the United States, pursues statutory justice* “to ourselves and our Posterity”. Posterity includes newborn-to-citizens and legal immigrants.

7. A civic people amend the Constitution when injustice is discovered; through representatives, civic citizens legislate reform unto statutory justice.

*In statutory justice, injustice-discovery invokes legislative consideration to possibly amend the law, while maintaining obedience to the Constitution.

Preface to the workshop

Dream: The civic people reform every education institution and function so as to encourage children to comprehend and intend to develop good behavior during a complete lifetime. Each child pursues this knowledge through adolescence, unto adulthood, into retirement, and unto death. Civic people mutually preserve each other’s opportunity to pursue goodness. They collaborate to accomplish what nations and religions, so far, failed: legislating and enforcing statutory justice when harm is discovered or imposed. In other words, a civic people pursue necessary goodness.

Adults choose to aid children. Adults pursue hopes and comfort yet practice civic integrity.

Colloquially, “civic integrity” displaces the “freedom and liberty” slogan: 1) Fellow citizens grant the Declaration of Independence (1774) takes its accurate status – colonial declaration of war against England, in order to clarify that the 13-states’ negotiated United States Constitution. Its ratification to 14 states, on December 15, 1791, marks the beginning of the pursuit of statutory justice to the USA’s 50 states. 2) Civic citizens do all they can to aid children in their natural desire for good behavior or, to the mirror, “I do all I can to aid children”. 3) Civic citizens listen to each other with appreciation, in order to establish mutual opportunities. 4) Civic citizens develop the law as statutory justice, in order to avoid and resist harm. 4) Responsibility to goodness prevails yet does not expect utopia. 5) Cultures learn to regard “scripture” as opinion about Homo sapiens.

Origin of this proposal: At Perkins Road Park, Baton Rouge, LA, in Summer 2025 Harry Dunn with Donovan Gray paused Phil’s walk-in-the-park to tell a squirrel story. Phil segued to the discovery of the mystery of necessary goodness, which ineluctably motivates a person to good behavior. Harry and Donovan happily pursued the ideas. The 3 people agreed to work together to present the story to listeners in Baton Rouge. Phil immediately began sharing with the two his opinions about Genesis 1:26-28, which we hereby dub “The Sumerian Perception” to humankind.

We happily cite the Bible as literature with opinions about Sumerian primitive-discovery of the good and essential because it impacts a majority of modern Homo sapiens. The Bible is opinion reported between 3700 years ago and 1900 ya. It records consequences of not benefitting from ineluctable truths that were discovered beforehand. For example, the Sumerians took responsibility for public welfare at least 5500 ya.

Delights among the Perkins-Road-Park-trio continued and are expected in the future. We request fellow citizens to aid our journey to fulfill our goal: impactful and positive presentation of the mystery of necessary goodness to the city.

Reform from Machiavellian-force to humble-goodness can only be done by individual people collaborating to good behavior: civic integrity. History has proved that power higher than a civic people renders chaos. Neither religion nor government intends to discover and pursue necessary goodness, and they have together brought the world to 2025-chaos. We three men perceive we are insufficient civic-citizens, and our first task is to add women to the team, either as participants or active advisors.

We intend to initiate a global movement grounded in necessary goodness, each element of which must be discovered as time unfolds. We have no intention to solicit money, as long as we perceive no benefit to the world’s children.

Immediate intention: Develop a Grass-Roots Presentation to Baton Rouge Inhabitants

We propose to develop this movement at Baton Rouge libraries then present it to Baton Rouge fellows, perhaps at a BREC facility or other low-cost venue, such as the stadium at Perkins Road Park. Perhaps the city will fund an event at Galvez Plaza. Perhaps millionaires will fund an event at Tiger Stadium, LSU.

Workshop approach: Each month, we will present an essential topic for iteration with the participants, listening for civic improvements; hope to perceive improvements to the improvements then re-discuss. Continue this iterative process until all listeners perceive collaboration has approached the ineluctable* truth: conclusions from which mutual listeners cannot emerge. Then record the process and conclusions, knowing new input could restart iterations. We welcome discussion with groups who have not participated. We invite fellow citizens to suggest new topics to evidence humankind’s progress toward fulfilling the Sumerian Perception. For example, we presently have no presentation on leisure’s impact on goodness.

*Ineluctable: together, not to be avoided, changed, or resisted (Merriam-Webster online); think of a wrestling hold from which the opponent cannot emerge. European dictionaries tend to omit “changed” from the triune constraint.

We will establish and maintain active advisors with nomination by participants. At least for this first year, advice will be accepted or shelved by A Civic People of the United States, the Louisiana corporation founded in 2015.

After this initial year’s extendable meetings, continue the process from generation to generation – “to ourselves and our Posterity”, referring to the preamble to the United States Constitution. The quest for necessary goodness does not expect utopia.

Participation: Participants leave each meeting with consequences for consideration and possible improvement. Each person seeks opportunity to modify the path and direction of the work, in order to pursue humankind’s necessary goodness rather than a narrow view, such as submitting to higher power or mere force. Every participant’s contribution is precious to humankind.

If necessary, the current or a previous topic may delay the next planned topic. Consensus chooses such delay.

Knowledge: Presenters declare they can only express opinion. That is, much as they pursue it, they know they do not possess the ineluctable truth. Rather than cite references, they use key words so participants may independently search Online. The intention is to include essential happenings without attempting to fully explain. Our intention is to touch an overview from the Big Bank, 13.7 billion years ago to the world’s chaos in 2025, but not to explore the depths of knowledge, such as every detail of Sumerian law codes. Not knowing the ineluctable truth, we have no desire to persuade: civic citizens earn their opinion.

Venue:
Goodwood Library, Baton Rouge; 3^rd Sundays, October 2025 through January, 2026, 3 PM until 6 PM excepting October 19 from 4:30 PM until 8:30 PM; second floor, room 2A, 2B, 2B, and 2A, respectively. Reservations for the rest of 2026 are to be made in November 2025.

1st Topic: Homo sapiens in charge of order

See Powerpoint presentation for October 19, 2025.

2nd topic: Consequence of not accepting duty

The complete Bible reports the consequences when Biblical civilizations do not accept the Genesis-1 message, for whatever reason. The Bible is literature on par with the Sumerian codes of law and treaties with other governments.

Genesis 2:4 begins a saga of the G-d seeking a faction’s obedience, branching to factions who claim obedience is not essential.

1. A king and priest, anointed to solve the dilemma, is prophesied in Zechariah 6.

2. The faction was disobedient, so G-d flooded them out, beginning in Genesis 6.

3. G-d made a blood covenant not to flood the people again in Genesis 8.

4. Centuries later, Israel emerged after a covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12.

5. Do 10 commandments in Exodus 20 abide Genesis 1? Advocate necessary goodness?

6. A faction of Israel predicted a messiah in Isaiah 7 and 53.

7. Israel alienated many peoples, including Arabs.

8. Hebrews 9, dismissed by Israel, claims that Christ is the blood sacrifice for all believers, whether circumcised or not and whether obedient or not.

a. Anyone who acknowledges Yeshua of Nazareth 2000 years ago is not a Jew, because Jews still wait for a Messiah or not.

b. Christians project Yeshua onto Old Testament, scattered prophecy.

i. “Jesus” is a miracle-working, western imposition onto Yeshua.

ii. “Christ” is the executed then resurrected Yeshua to some, like Messiah to Jewish Christians, or Christ to Christians.

iii. Christ is G-d.

Prophecy, miracles, and blood sacrifice confound the Bible’s influences to necessary goodness. The consequence is that differing believers exclude most civic people. The civic people among the various believers may and can reform use of the Bible story, in order to facilitate rather than prevent good behavior.

If Judeo-Christianity collaborated on discovering necessary goodness, and good behavior became evident, the rest of the world -- humankind -- might be on the way to order on earth according to Genesis 1:26-28’s Sumerian Perception.

It is important to limit belief in humility to whatever constrains the consequences of human choice.

(To be developed.)

3rd topic: Judeo-Christian values

Extensive New Testament reports of Yeshua, the actual person, influencing necessary goodness that accommodates the Sumerian Perception. Yeshua and Biblical constructs about miracles, blood sacrifice, and obedience influence 55% of the world’s population and is a controversial topic to 90% of the world’s Homo sapiens. Judeo-Christian values repress Yeshua’s influence to goodness with the miracles of “Jesus” and the “blood of Christ”. Focus on necessary goodness may and can resolve this worldwide dilemma. Maybe it’s better to drop the controversy and focus on goodness. (To be expanded.)

4th topic: Homo sapiens’ quest for statutory justice

European or western political thought accommodates Yeshua-improved Sumerian Perception. Outline:

· improving Sumerian law codes started 5500 years ago under polytheism headed by a goddess

· A Semitic-speaking group left Ur to escape human sacrifice, 4000 ya, and wrote Genesis 1.

· Genesis 2 then Moses’ law further subjugated women, 3400 ya

· Cyrus Cylinder, 3000 ya, Persian abolition of slavery, and the Roman republic instead of kingdom

· Papal bull authorizing Portugal to trade African slaves to the Americas, 1455

· Magna Carta, 1512

· John Locke, 1690

· Edmund Burke, 1790

· Thomas Paine; “African Slavery in America”, 1775

· The Treaty of Pairs; ratified by Congress to 13 independent states in the USA, 1784

· The negotiated US Constitution, ratified to 14 states December 15, 1791

· Ralph Waldo Emerson; “Divinity School Address”, 1838; persons can pursue perfection

· Marx, 1848

· The civic faction of America ends slavery in America, 1865

· Marcuse (1965) and Cone (1970)

· WikiLeaks , 2006, documents reveal governments’ resistance against human responsibility

· A Civic People of the United States, a Louisiana corporation, 2015

· Workshop, “Discovering Necessary Goodness”, 2025

(To be developed.)

5th topic: appreciating necessary goodness.

Humankind classify themselves according to harm they perpetrate or none:

1. Civic citizens practice necessary goodness and influence civility, impacting,

a. Passives and divines, who may awaken to civic duty,

b. Dissidents and rebels to the law, who may choose to reform,

c. Criminals, who harmed others or their property, who may be constrained and provided aid to reform, along with

d. The wicked, who perversely abuse others, e.g., sex trafficking, and

e. The evil, who perpetrate atrocities, such as microwaving babies, inviting annihilation.

Civic citizens collaborate to aid necessary governance with the other classes; influence, facilitate reform, constrain, avoid and resist, and annihilate, respectively. Categorizations are based on practice rather than values; intolerance of oppression. Practice follows comprehension and intention. Thus, a person born into a criminal community may accept his or her desire for good behavior and therefore pursue comprehension of necessary goodness.

(to be developed).

6th topic: Achievements through science

(to be developed).

7th topic: United States’ proposal

The United States Constitution improves western or European thought (to be developed).

8th topic: Opportunities to amend the US Constitution respecting the Sumerian Perception; Machiavelli Chapter XI (to be developed including indications from the 1774 Congress’ development of the Declaration of Independence). First Amendment’s inadequacies; religion, speech, press. Majority jury votes, 9:3 in criminal trials.

9th topic: How education departments repress children’s natural desire to acquire goodness. The decision to parent a child according to necessary goodness (to be developed including Kahlil Gibran’s “On Children”).

10th topic: Wellness

Physical

Diet

Exercise

Work

Psychological

Reading and writing

Motivation and inspiration

Civic integrity

11th topic: Conclusion: Since the Sumerian Perception, humankind constructed “higher powers” – governments, churches, and ideologies – they brought the world to chaos. For 5500 years there have been billions of victims and oppressors, and humankind has not accepted the authority, power, and responsibility to provide order on earth. Despite the endless details that could distract fellow citizens from the overview, this workshop developed and intends to expand, most individuals may perceive that only the civic faction of the people can accept the duty to reform their associations so as to discover necessary goodness to humankind and encourage, facilitate, and empower good behavior. The civic faction, continuously pursuing good behavior, seems to be the ultimate constraint-on and hope-for humankind.

Proposals for the first city-wide presentation: Necessary Goodness in a Confused World: how adults may and can aid children in the pursuit of good behavior during life. (to be developed).

12th topic: Review and finalize the work.

13th topic: Organize the first city-wide event (to be developed).

Flyer (attached)

Obsolete:

Do you feel your church (like-minded participants) should reform your religious institution toward pure goodness? Is necessary goodness an option?

Do you long to justify the claim that you do all you can to aid children’s natural desire for goodness?

If so, join our 12 month-project to develop a theory of necessary goodness that inspires and motivates good behavior. Our intention is to share the results with Baton Rouge in about two years, or in 2027.

Our audience is civic people -- Baton Rougeans who pursue good behavior as they understand it.

We need a steering committee to help design the 11 presentations for accurate, precise, and deep impact toward comprehending and reporting necessary goodness in human being (the practice).

Participants will, by mutually listening for shared concerns and empathy, direct the steering committee.

Please consider contributing to this work.

Volunteer registration (draft in process)

Active Advisors

Family: Holly Beaver, Rebekah Beaver, Minta Marionneaux, memories with deceased loved ones

Friends: Nicholas Ortego

Possible Help to Phil

https://nonprofitleadershiplab.com/free/5practices/?

Find this document, updated from 9/12/25 using the search: "Discover Necessary Goodness"

Click on the first URL listed and go to the 9/12 post, currently the first one.

Saturday, August 23, 2025

Law professors naturally overlook DEI's gift: the call for necessary goodness

https://lawliberty.org/podcast/from-equality-to-dei-and-back-again

Perhaps it’s been 10 years since lawliberty.org published public commentary such as mine. Some review board must have decided citizens ought not be considered academically “serious”. So much for “higher learning”.

In the first sentences of “From Equality to DEI—and Back Again?”, I thought word choices by James Patterson and Robert VerBruggen prevent them from exploring the gift of DEI or wokism as the latest development from liberation theology. I surmised there was no way they could make the leap to necessary goodness as humankind’s purpose. Too bad for their opportunity to aid churches.

I use an outline style to address their extensive coverage.

Phil’s points:

1. Tolerance is not a civic word: in civic dialog, each party owns their opinion. The party who perceives tolerance pities the other, often changes the topic to avoid belittling them.

a. “Serious” commentary on law and other opinion is rendered by civic citizens.

i. Law professors may and do ignore civic citizens.

b. Citizens may be appreciative and responsible but are not free of physics and psychology.

c. Tolerant people deserve to chat about LSU sports or recent hurricanes.

i. I don’t tolerate tolerance offered to me.

2. Perpetrators of harm cannot be justly included in civic society.

a. When harm is discovered, it must be adjudicated with statutory discrimination.

b. Pursuit of law requires civic citizens to discover and legislate statutory justice.

3. DEI stands for diversity, equity, and inclusion. A faction wants it to be mandatory, to constrain institutionalized white supremacy. Another faction holds that DEI imposes incompetence.

a. Much of DEI has always been illegal.

b. In practice, DEI is failure to accept humankind, that species with synapse-connected neurons that accommodate, language, grammar, and pursuit of necessary goodness.

c. Collaborating humankind pursues good behavior. Factions require justice.

i. Civic citizens support good behavior.

ii. Dissidents and rebels may be encouraged to reform.

iii. Criminals may be constrained.

iv. Wickedness can be resisted and opposed.

v. Evil can be annihilated.

d. Civic citizens aid government to litigate and maintain statutory justice.

i. Discovery of injustice inspires the work to establish justice.

e. Race has never been a valid way to divide humankind.

i. DEI seems a development from affirmative-action law.

ii. And wokeness is only used to divide humankind on race.

iii. Civic citizens collaborate for good behavior rather than divide.

iv. The 1964 Civil Rights Act is about humankind, not race.

1. Allowed to discriminate against bad behavior.

2. Not authorizing modern division because of history’s oppressions.

a. Slavery is as old as Homo sapiens.

b. Factions, such as vocal minorities outside civic integrity, are a consequence of not collaborating to necessary goodness.

4. Education begins with necessary goodness and the human desire for integrity.

a. Humankind’s purpose on earth is to discover, journal, and apply necessary goodness.

b. Necessary goodness is often unknown.

i. Is nuclear fusion beneficial for energy on earth?

ii. Is opportunity necessary to civic integrity?

iii. Is civic integrity the ultimate national goal?

1. Can a nation own integrity when some citizens are dissident, rebel, criminal, wicked, or evil?

2. Does reform begin with legislation?

iv. Can a person demand their favorite food from a bureaucrat?

c. Higher education is bound to fail when necessary goodness is not inculcated in youth.

i. Therefore, reform is needed in homes, churches, lower education departments, and in employment practices.

ii. There is opportunity to inculcate in youth the comprehension and intention to pursue necessary goodness for life.

iii. Employment may then be based on natural abilities and choices and the employer’s desire to hire the best candidate for their job opportunity.

1. Meanwhile, institutions promote, inspire, and facilitate non-civic citizens to reform to necessary goodness.

2. Refusal to reform lessens opportunity.

3. Simplicity lessens legal costs; does not increase law careers.

d. Educating human beings rather than racial factions lessens segregated housing.

i. Yet factions may responsibly create communities they prefer.

1. Black pride need not lessen white pride.

ii. Choosing government contractors on merit spurs qualification for the work.

5. Necessary goodness lessens bigotry and disparity by inspiring good behavior.

a. The present generation cannot take responsibility for achievements of past generations.

i. The Civil War ended slavery.

ii. The Civil Rights Act of 1965 ended discrimination.

iii. Meritocracy is the present generation’s responsibility.

1. Necessary goodness increases human capital.

2. Statistical integrity is essential.

a. Make certain the controlling variable is included.

b. Avoid creative falsehoods like “audit study”.

c. Or “reverse discrimination”.

b. It seems tragic that education departments don’t inculcate the importance of family.

i. Focus on black men disparages civic obligation to humankind.

ii. Marriage is trust and commitment for life, rather than a reported ceremony.

iii. Using a stereotypical name is a personal choice, e.g., Vivek Ramaswamy.

1. Focus on black choices seems like discrimination.

2. Human independence to choose is defensible.

3. But name choice is important to the person.

c. Necessary goodness, which is pursued by the civic faction, We the People of the United States, constrains both constitutional opinion and statutory rule.

i. DEI flees necessary goodness

ii. The court seems to accommodate racial preference as a class issue.

1. Unjust to favor Hispanics over Asians.

iii. Public opinion, lacking civic integrity, does not pursue necessary goodness

1. Americans pursue justice rather than fairness.

2. But not everyone contributes; some insist on illiteracy.

3. They have no chance when education departments fail necessary goodness.

6. The Trump administration seems to be on the right march.

a. Even handed.

b. Solving the problems created by the left

c. Compromise can yield to collaboration to necessary goodness.

d. But DEI employees have no incentive to collaborate.

e. Public opinion is unqualified to civic integrity, and fairness is not justice.

7. It seems DEI and wokeness are synonymous.

a. Debate “since the 1960s” harkens back to liberation theology.

i. Evolution is progressing such that the oppressed will become oppressors.

ii. It seems a Marxian imposition onto Roman Catholicism.

b. The political gift of DEI is to point out that no person, much less a pope, has the prerogative to impose soul onto the life of a human being.

c. By dismissing churches’ opportunities to respond to DEI, law professors miss an opportunity to re-direct 200 thousand years’ Homo sapiens misdirection.

i. Instead of constructing mysteries with which to divide humankind.

ii. Aid humankind’s quest to discover necessary goodness.

iii. Educate, encourage, and facilitate every child to pursue good behavior.

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