Finding Our Way Using the Three Directives By Austin Mitchell

What are the Three Directives? (aka Austin’s Philosophy)

The Three Directives Prime Directive: The goal of mankind is to survive Second Directive: The goal of government is to preserve individual freedom and advancement using a society ruled by law and justice Third Directive: The goal of an individual is to be a productive member of mankind.

The Prime Directive: The Goal of Mankind is to Survive Mankind should use science technology, logic and reason to determine the best way for our species to survive. We must take care of our environment because it sustains us We must prevent violence, war, and poverty because it weakens our species as a whole

Prove it!

Support for the Prime Directive “The chief end set us by our creator as a species and as individuals is survival” – John Locke “If we do not lay out ourselves in the service of mankind, whom should we serve?” – John Adams The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government” – Thomas Jefferson

The Second Directive: The Goal of Government is to preserve individual thought, expression, and advancement Government should create a society ruled by laws and justice that advances the individual Governments should work together to benefit mankind

Support for the Second Directive “The shallow consider liberty a release from all law, from every constraint. The wise man sees in it, on the contrary, the potent Law of Laws” – Walt Whitman “To deprive a man of his natural liberty and to deny him the ordinary amenities of life, is worse than starving the body; it is starvation of the soul” – Mohandas Ghandi “If liberty and equality..are chiefly to be found in democracy, then they will be best attained when all persons alike share in the government to the utmost” - Aristotle

The Third Directive: The Goal of the Individual is to become a productive member of mankind The Individual should use logic, reasoning, and the scientific process to find new ways to better mankind Each person can strive to advance their own status, but not at the expense of others or mankind The job of the individual is the question, test, and improve the laws of the government in promoting individual freedom while ensuring the survival of mankind

Support for the Third Directive “The only sure bulwark of continuing liberty is a government strong enough to protect the interests of the people, and a people strong enough and well informed enough to maintain its sovereign control over the government” – Franklin D. Roosevelt “The end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but preserve and enlarge freedom. For in all the states of created beings capable of law, where there is no law, there is no freedom” – John Locke

The best way to achieve the three directives is to use science, reason, and logic. “The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty” – James Madison “When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon” – Thomas Paine “The gods plant reason in mankind, of all good gifts the highest” - Sophocles

Are People Good or Evil?

The Nature of Good and Evil: According to the Directives People are neither inherently good nor evil Good and evil is subjective and defined in the society in which you live Let the rule of law and justice define good and evil as long as it does not conflict with the survival of mankind An individual should follow the rule of law and be a good citizen since this promotes their self interest and the advancement of mankind

Support for the rule of law and justice “Mankind is not likely to salvage civilization unless he can evolve a system of good and evil which is independent of heaven and hell” – George Orwell “He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself” – Thomas Paine

Support for being a good citizen, a good person “Happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected” – George Washington “Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest” – Mark Twain “To love our neighbor as ourselves is such a truth for regulating human society, that by that alone one might determine all the cases in social morality” – John Locke

The last word “All mankind..being equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions” John Locke “Ditto” Austin Mitchell