Declaration of Principles
(as they were published in the 1920s)
The rights of the community shall be paramount over those of any individual.
Liberty of action is permissible only when it does not restrict the liberty of another.
Things used productively must be owned collectively.
Law is a restriction of liberty and is just only when operating for the benefit of the community at large.
Values created by the community shall be vested in the community alone.
The individual is not justly entitled to more land than is sufficient to satisfy a reasonable desire for peace and rest. Productive land held for profit shall not be held by private ownership.
Talent and intelligence are benefits which should rightly be used in the service of others. The development of these by education is the gift of the community to the individual, and the exercise of greater ability entitles none to the false reward of greater possessions, but only to the joy of greater service to others.
Only by identifying his interests and pleasures with those of others can man find real happiness.
The duty of the individual to the community is to develop ability to the greatest degree possible by availing himself of all educational facilities and to devote the whole extent of that ability to the service of all.
The duty of the community to the individual is to administer justice, to eliminate greed and selfishness, to educate all, and to aid in time of age or misfortune.
