NINE PRINCIPLES:
(updated 10-27-24)
Politically, the United States government finds itself in a period of unprecedented dysfunction. The Democratic and Republican parties are polarized to the point where the majority of items on the congressional agenda are mired in gridlock. New legislation, when it does pass through congress, does so strictly on partisan votes. Many new bills are written as nothing more than political posturing, their authors knowing full well that there is no chance that they will ever be enacted into law.
The gridlock is in large part due to the fact that the US Congress is evenly divided. Republicans, on the political right, currently have a thin majority in the US House of Representatives while Democrats, on the political left, currently have a thin majority in the US Senate. That delicate balance is a source of great anxiety about the rapidly approaching election on November 5th. But many, if not most Americans identify themselves as moderates, in the political center. And although the moderate vote is thought to be crucial in determining the outcome of virtually every recent election, moderates as a group, unfortunately, have no true representation of their own in congress.
Moderates have been completely disenfranchised by our two-party political system. And because we have no true representation, those of us who consider ourselves to be moderates are forced to compromise our beliefs every election where we need to choose between a Democrat on the left and a Republican on the right. One obvious solution to giving moderates a louder, more unified voice is an alternative moderate political party, with a central, moderate political philosophy. And that's where K9 comes in.
K9 is a moderate, philosophically central political party. And because K9 is based upon easy to understand principles, it's much much more. K9 is a philosophy of life, the intellectual framework of a moderate political ideology, and a recipe of nine principles for achieving world peace.
K9 gets it's name because each of the 9 principles is based upon one of the three ideal behavioral attributes of dogs that make dogs so special, those attributes that have earned dogs the moniker of “man’s best friend.”
Dogs are unique in the animal kingdom because dogs have evolved the remarkable ability to live peacefully with humans. Dogs have found peace with humans regardless of our political affiliations, nationality, religion, wealth, education, intelligence, sexual orientation, gender, body order, or any other human quality that drives us apart and leads to hatred, conflicts, political gridlock, and wars.
The nine K9 principles are modeled after the three ideal behaviors of dogs that allow them to live at peace with humans: unconditional love, simple needs, and readiness to defend. Mother nature evolved man-eating wolves into a species of animals that live by our sides, in peace. The nine K9 principles of Loving, Lean, Strong, Social Liberalism, Fiscal Conservatism, Military Preparation, Religious Pluralism, the Sovereignty of Nation States, and the Unification of Nation States to advance shared goals are adaptations of mother nature's ingenuity that carry the potential of evolving humans from our current state of conflict, to the universally shared goal of world peace.
Elephants on the right and donkeys on the left have failed, but dogs in the center have the answers to unleashing political gridlock, and it's high time for dogs to take the lead! The good news about an evenly divided congress is that even a single elected representative committed to the K9 philosophy could cast the deciding vote on virtually every divisive legislative bill! An evenly divided congress means that even with a small number of elected K9 moderates could swiftly steer the congress in a more productive direction. And because the K9 principles apply equally well to all people of every nationality, K9 forms a simple set of values that set the stage for worldwide appeal, worldwide participation, and worldwide peace.
Harnessing Ideal Behaviors
Compared with humans, dogs are simple creatures, and yet they have won over our hearts and integrated themselves peacefully into human society. They achieved this amazing feat based upon three ideal behavioral attributes. Dogs give humans unconditional love, dogs have simple needs, and dogs are always ready to defend us from danger.
Human personal relations are one-on-one social interactions, directly comparable to the relationship we have between individual humans and dogs. But human societies have additional layers of complexity due to our organization into communities, municipalities, cities, states and nations. These "higher orders" of social structure, referred to here as political relations, all include some element of governmental authority and regulation that is unique to humans, that isn't a part of the day-to-day interactions between humans and dogs.
At the highest level, humans have organized into sovereign nation states. Sovereign nations are further subject to the complexities of international relations and international governance. Although politics plays a crucial role in both political relations and international relations, these two types of human to human interaction are fundamentally different in that there is no ultimate authority on the international stage. If your neighbor steals your credit cards and identity, he might be punished and be sentenced to jail. If the identity thief lives in a foreign country, US officials have no authority to punish the thieves, even if they are identified. The one-on-one relationships we have with our pet dogs lack the complexities of national governments and international regulatory bodies found in human societies. In order to adapt the three ideal behavioral attributes of dogs to the complexities of human society therefore requires a three layered approach that includes three guiding principles for each layer of human to human interactions. Our Human to human social interactions therefore can be thought of as being divided into three distinct categories: personal relations, political relations, and international relations.
Health and Happiness
Adapted to personal relations, and out personal lives, the ideal behavioral attributes of dogs becomes:
Loving, Lean, and Strong.
Loving, in the context of our personal lives, is a straight forward adaptation of a dog's unconditional love for us, and like all nine of the K9 principles, is meant to be interpreted in the broadest possible sense. Loving implies an attitude of appreciation and respect for all of our fellow humans, regardless of our differences, and is meant to include love and respect for ourselves, regardless of our history or our shortcomings. The love our pet dogs shower upon us crosses the "lines" of separation between different biological species. Likewise, the human adaptation of Loving is intended to extend to other species in nature, and the natural environment we all live in. The K9 principle of Loving therefore can be generalized as a love, awe, and deep respect for mother nature and the grandeur of the natural world.
Companionship, shelter, food, and exercise is pretty much everything a dog needs, and Lean is the adaptation of a dog's simple needs to our personal lives and personal relations. The principle of Lean reminds us of the important physical health benefits we might reap from maintaining a lean body weight. But in it's broadest sense, Lean includes an acknowledgement of the profound mental health benefits we can find in life just by striving to simplify our needs. Like our pet dogs with their very simple needs, the principle of Lean helps us learn not to overlook or discount life's most basic pleasures like family, friends, adequate shelter, clean water, clean air, regular exercise, and adequate good quality food. Lean encompasses the attitude necessary to appreciate and cherish what we have, rather than always searching for something better, fretting about our shortcomings, or fixating upon the endless list of possessions that we lack and might never acquire. Lean is the principle that reminds us that we only need to eat and consume as much as we truly need in order to survive, and is the concept that empowers us with the knowledge that sometimes, less is more. Lean is the K9 principle that guides us to see the "glass of life" before us as being half-full, instead of half-empty, and it embodies the ideal canine behavioral attribute of simple needs.
Strong in our personal lives is an adaptation of the ideal canine behavior of readiness to defend. The principle of Strong reminds us of the important health benefits that come from regular exercise and maintaining our physical strength. In a broader sense, Strong also includes the mental strength and strength of character needed to keep our priorities straight in the face of challenges or temptation. Even small dogs respond ferociously when confronted by an intruder. They instinctively demonstrate strength and courage even when faced with seemingly impossible odds. Strong is the K9 principle that drives us to exercise our bodies and our minds so that we might hone our physical and mental capacities, achieve our goals, and protect ourselves and our loved ones from danger.
Taken together, living a life that is Loving and Lean sets us on course to a life of greater Happiness, and living a life that is Lean and Strong sets us on course to a life of optimal physical and mental Health. By demonstrating what it takes to live peacefully with humans, dogs have the answer to the question of how we might lead healthier and happier personal lives. The three K9 principles that lead us to greater Health and Happiness are:
Loving, Lean, and Strong.
Freedom and Security
Adapted to political relations the ideal behavioral attributes of dogs becomes:
Social Liberalism, Fiscal Conservatism, and Militarily Preparation.
The first known nation states developed some 5,000 years ago in Mesopotamian in response to the shifting flows of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. It is believed that a shift in the flow of these rivers suddenly left groups of farmers without water for their crops. In response, they pooled their economic resources and delegated responsibility to certain representatives in order to build the canals and irrigation systems essential for survival of everyone in a rapidly changing landscape. Governments and taxation were born out of economic necessity.
The purpose of Government remains the same today, to aggregate financial resources and create structures and institutions that no individual could ever achieve, but that are necessary for everyone in society to survive and thrive. Infrastructure to deliver water and power and take away sewage, roads, train stations and airports to efficiently move us around, schools to educate and train the next generation of citizens, judicial systems to ensure fair treatment of every citizen, and fire departments, police departments, border security agents and military troops to defend us from aggressors in foreign nation states are some of necessities of modern human society that we have delegated to government in order to help us all thrive.
The United States congress, our representatives in government, are currently gridlocked over passionate disagreements between well meaning, but completely opposing political beliefs on the political right and the political left. But when you analyze the factors driving those disagreements from the perspective of the political center, you realize that in between the right and the left there actually is a great deal of common ground. Freedom is the foundation of the United States Constitution and a fundamental right that every American voter can proudly support. By prioritizing Freedom we find the means to combine the personal freedoms advocated for by the political left with the economic freedoms advocated for by the political right. By focusing upon Freedom, moderates can building a bridge of shared values between the left and the right, between Democrats and Republicans.
Social Liberalism in the context of our political lives and our political relations is an adaptation of the canine ideal behavior of unconditional love. A dog does not judge us based upon our nationality, religion, race, sexual orientation, gender, wealth, education, or any other factor. As long as it causes no physical harm to him, a dog's unconditional love for you "grants" you the freedom to be the person you strive to become. Social Liberalism in politics is the conviction that individuals should have the Freedom to live their personal lives in peace, without undue governmental interference. In human societies, Social Liberalism is the K9 principle that represents the ideal canine behavioral attribute of unconditional love.
Likewise, Fiscal Conservatism in politics is the conviction that individuals, and the businesses that they own or operate, should have the Freedom to operate without undue governmental interference. When we teach our children not to spend their lunch money on candy or toys, we're teaching them the principal of Fiscal Conservatism. Fiscal Conservatism in this sense is a universally acceptable adaptation of the ideal canine behavioral attribute of simple needs to our political relations, and it mirrors the principle of Lean. Fiscal Conservatism is the belief that we should be judicious in how we spend our limited tax dollars, and it implores our government representatives to prioritize how they spend our money on things that we all truly need to survive.
Our very first nation states in Mesopotamia formed over the need for water and food, and the scientific study of nature has given us insight into what it is that we truly need to survive as a species. Fresh air to breathe, clean water to drink, shelter from the elements, and sufficient food to eat are the four most essential items we all need to survive, and these basic items should always rise to the very top priority of government spending.
The list of admirable, well meaning projects and services our government could provide us with is endless. Fiscal Conservatism is the K9 principle that embodies the ideal of simple needs and implores us to be judicious in how use utilize the limited resources of public funds in the name of the common good.
One of the most basic needs of every person in society is protection from outside threats. When peace is the stated goal, preparing for conflict seems contradictory, and yet we know that "high fences build good neighbors," and a German Shepard or a Doberman Pincher in the living room is a pretty darn good deterrent to keeping thieves away from the house.
Human history is defined by conflicts, invasions and all out war. The world has been completely at peace for only 8% of recorded history, so the chances of personally experiencing the tragedies of war in a human life-time is high. The best deterrent to an unanticipated military strike is investing and training ahead of time and being prepared for the worst. As man's best friend, our dogs are potent weapons ready to defend us from unanticipated threats. With regards to our political relations, Military Preparation is the K9 principle based upon the ideal canine attribute of readiness to defend and it mirrors the K9 principle of Strong that guides us in our interpersonal or personal relations.
The K9 principle of Military Preparation combined with the K9 principle of Fiscal Conservatism leads us to societal benefits of physical and financial Security. With World Peace as the ultimate goal, the overriding hope is that Military Power never needs to be implemented. But the realities of the world we live in, where natural resources are concentrated in one place and lacking in another, the anger over prior conflicts run deep, and the closely held beliefs of one group of people are at odds with the closely held beliefs of others, there will always be temptation for one sovereign nation to invade another. The best deterrent to military conflict is Military Preparation, and Military Preparation is the K9 principle that embodies the dog's ideal behavior of readiness to defend. "High fences build good neighbors," and "Walk softly but carry a big stick" are expressions that exemplify the importance of Military Preparation of nation states as an essential element of World Peace. That big powerful dog in the living room may never bite anyone, but his presence in your home helps insure that your home remains safe. Military Preparation insures that your country remains safe.
The three K9 principles that lead us to greater Freedom and Security are: Social Liberalism, Fiscal Conservatism, and Military Preparation.
Acceptance and World Peace
Adapted to international relations the ideal behavioral attributes of dogs become:
Religious Pluralism, Sovereignty of Nation States, and Unification of Nation States around shared goals.
Religious Pluralism is nothing more than the acceptance of all religions as valid expressions of an individual's freedoms and beliefs, and is a straightforward adaptation of the canine ideal behavioral attribute of unconditional love. The connection of Religious Pluralism to world peace is obvious, as most, if not all of the world's armed conflicts include at least some component of clashing religious ideologies. To embrace Religious Pluralism requires us to accept different people as they are, and it draws upon our personal conviction to the principle of Loving, and our political belief in Social Liberalism, the two other K9 principles that are based upon the ideal canine behavior of unconditional love. Because religious teachings can sometimes be extremely polarizing; if my religion is right, then your's clearly must be wrong, Religious Pluralism is in many ways the ultimate form of Acceptance of our fellow humans, no matter what their customs and beliefs.
Acceptance is presented here as a benefit derived at the most abstract and least familiar level of human relations, the complex human to human interactions ultimately involved in international relations. Obviously, most of us will never find ourselves directly involved in treaty or trade negotiations, or conversing with world leaders. But the value of Acceptance as a principle to help guide us in our personal relations and our political relations is readily apparent.
Like the other K9 promises of Health, Happiness, Freedom, and Security, Acceptance by others is in fact a universal desire and universal need. Obviously, some people and some religious groups have been more subject to persecution throughout history than others, but each and every one of us has felt the pain of not being accepted for the way we look like, the language we speak, how we act, what we have or haven't achieved in society, or what it is that we believe to be the truth. Acceptance by other requires actions by other that are out of our control, but Acceptance of others can be challenging, and requires that we be tolerant of different religions, different cultures and the many other seemingly irreconcilable differences that exist between the citizens independent, sovereign nations. Acceptance lies at the interface between the K9 principle of Religious Pluralism, and the K9 principle that calls for the Sovereignty of nation states.
There are roughy 195 independent, Sovereign Nation States on our planet. In the span of about 250 years, the United States elevated itself from a cluster of colonies under British rule, to the wealthiest, most powerful, most influential nation in the world. Much of that success can be traced to the brilliance of the United States Constitution, that bestowed upon our people broad individual Freedoms and individual rights, and with those rights came the unprecedented opportunity for achieving excellence and the accumulation of wealth.
Some people look at economic, and other forms of inequality as a weakness in our nation, but we need to keep in mind the we all intrinsically value excellence, and in a society that is free to create excellence, there will, by definition, never be absolute equality in every respect.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn famously wrote:
"Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free."
The great American "experiment," that fantastic transformation from 13 renegade colonies to the world's richest and most powerful nation are directly derived from the Freedom and individual rights granted to us by the US Constitution. The Freedom to thrive does not mean however that all individuals will excel to the same extent. It is important to keep in mind, however, that our success as a nation does not require us, nor does it entitle us, to impose our beliefs upon others. Respecting the absolute Sovereignty of nation states is a critical manifestation of the Acceptance of others, and a necessary condition in the establishment of World Peace.
The success of our nation therefore was built upon the profound benefits of Freedom. The K9 philosophy builds upon that success by supporting our individual and economic Freedoms, and provides a framework of principles with the potential for widespread appeal, and they provide us with all of the necessary elements for bringing about World Peace. Widespread application of the nine K9 principles carries the promise of transforming the entire world into an unprecedented state of harmony and richness of Health, Happiness, Freedom, Security, Acceptance, and Peace. But if we are to be peaceful, it is imperative that the Sovereignty of Nation States be preserved, and that all nations be allowed to self-govern without outside interference.
The Unification of nations in pursuit of shared goals is the final K9 principle, and a necessary component of establishing World Peace. The very first human societies were born when humans organized themselves in the pursuit of shared goals. In that sense, Unification is a concept that lies at the very core of the value that our organization into societies has brought to the advancements of the human species. When water for farming became scarce due to migration of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the ancient farmers of Mesopotamia organized into governments, pooled their resources, and built life sustaining canals that no single farmer had the resources to complete alone. The survival and the thriving of our species is in part owed to the ingenuity of banding together and Uniting into societies and nations. Likewise, the future success of our planet depends increasingly depends upon the Unification of nation states in the pursuit of shared needs and shared goals.
Modern governments have become so large, and so bloated however, that we have, in many instances, lost track of the very role of what the government "should and should not" be providing. We can all think of examples of government spending run amok. One of my pet peeves are the 50 redundant state licensing boards. Professionals holding licenses issued in one state should be able to legally work in any state. Imagine the lost productivity and chaos that would ensue if our driver's licenses were only valid for use within the state borders where the license was issued. Governments and nations therefore need to have logical, mutually agreed upon systems for prioritizing spending.
Getting back to the very roots of government as a provider of infrastructure and water, it can be seen that the primary role of government on the international scale should be to ensure our survival as a species. By prioritizing survival we can rationally prioritize government spending, and Unite nation states in the pursuit of shared needs and shared goals.
Here again is a place where nature can help guide us. Science teaches us that we can only survive three minutes without oxygen, three days without water, and three weeks without food. And depending upon the weather, we may only be able to survive a few hours without shelter. These truths transcend the boarders we have erected between nation states, and they form the basis for international policies and procedures that emphasize the biological similarities we share with all fellow humans. Focusing on survival is the fundamental basis for Uniting nation states around the pursuit shared needs.
And finally, we arrive at the most important benefit of the K9 principles; World Peace. Peace is the benefit lying at the interface between Sovereignty, and Unity, and building the foundations of World Peace is the ultimate goal of adopting the K9 philosophy to our lives. The many facets of Peace is also a common thread that unites all of the nine K9 principles, and all of the six K9 benefits. Health, Happiness, Freedom, Security, Acceptance, and World Peace all contain the basic elements of Peace in the broadest sense of the term. A healthy, happy personal life is a peaceful life. A government that promotes security and freedom is one that promotes peaceful living, and a world were there is universal acceptance and everyone is striving for the same shared goals is a peaceful planet free from the threat of war and self-destruction.
Nothing destabilizes a country and disrupts normal human relations more than war, and arguably, the prospect of a global nuclear war is the greatest existential threat to the survival of our species. World Peace can only be achieved when all humans agree to abide by the same shared principles, and K9 provides a recipe whereby each and every one of us can advance World Peace through our day to day actions.
Though the miracles of nature, dogs have evolved from wolves, and as a species, dogs have developed the remarkable ability to live in Peace with humans. Canines "found" Peace with humans through their fundamental, ideal, genetically derived behaviors of unconditional love, simple needs, and readiness to defend. All that we need to do to as humans, if we truly want to bring about World Peace, and learn to live in Peace with our fellow humans is to mimic the lessons set before us by mother nature and exemplified in our pet dogs.
Summary
In our personal lives and personal relations, we can find Health and Happiness guided by the K9 principles of Loving, Lean, and Strong.
In our political lives and political relations we can find Freedom and Security, guided by the moderate K9 political principles of Social Liberalism, Fiscal Conservatism, and Military Preparation.
And in our international relations, we can find Acceptance and World Peace guided by the K9 principles of observing Religious Pluralism, respecting the Sovereignty of nation states, and by Uniting nation states in the implementation of initiatives that advance our shared needs for our survival as a species.
K9 is a coherent, harmonious, philosophical approach to politics and life based upon NINE PRINCIPLES that lead us to “the six results” of Health, Happiness, Freedom, Security, Acceptance, and World Peace, and Peace is the common thread that weaves the nine K9 principles together. World Peace is the ultimate goal of the K9 philosophy, a goal that all of us share in common, and arguably, achieving World Peace is mankind's most urgent need for the continued survival of the human species.
Please consider the following call to action: Improve your personal life and personal relations through the simple K9 principles of Loving, Lean, and Strong. Help put an end to the polarization of beliefs and the political gridlock that are threatening the constitutional fundamentals of this great Nation, and commit yourself to the moderate K9 principles of Social Liberalism, Fiscal Conservatism, and Military Preparation. Share your enthusiasm and promote K9USA.org on social media. Help us develop a common-sense political platform, and consider deeper engagement in the political process by running for local or national office espousing the principles of K9. Whenever possible advocate for Religious Pluralism, National Sovereignty, and the Unification of Nations around Shared Goals, and never compromise in the struggle to find World Peace. In California, you might even still have the opportunity become a registered K9 voter at registertovote.ca.gov.*
In the simplest of terms, if more of us were guided by the ideal behavioral attributes of dogs that allow them to live at peace with all humans, more of us would get along better with each other, with better Health and Happiness, we would find our way to more meaningful political compromise through the shared values of Freedom and Security, and the world would be a safer place of Acceptance and Peace.
Donkeys and elephants have failed. It’s time for dogs to lead!
Robert Pendleton MD, PhD
Founder, K9USA
[email protected]
* at the end of the form on registertovote.ca.gov, choose "other" from the party preference drop-down menu and type in "K9" to become a registered K9.
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