On the Philosophical Assumptions Underlying the Constitution of Spikelandia

05/25/2008 7:09 AM – 7:30 AM

And hopefully this won’t end up like yesterday – just going on and on and not finding a resolve. But maybe there is no resolve in following such emotions through. You can’t really do anything about politics. Everyone wants political freedom to be limited to their own perspective.

So. The first principles then, the First Principles of Spike, all without a generally recognized proof but containing personal warrant: 1) I exist, 2) Existence exists, 3) Other minds exist, 4) God exists, 5) God is good, 6) Life is good, 7) the primary activity of existence is pursuing happiness, 8) the first ethical commandment is “do no harm,” all other ethical concerns spring from this.

These cannot be tested or proved and holding things to be self-evident only works as a starting point for statements of intent. Which is fine. What then do I intend? I intend to establish a personal country with its own constitution and set of laws which do not change despite the machinations of political creatures that rule the Outerlands. The territories of this sovereign country encompass both the fields of Allegiance and Outlaw in varying degrees as what passes for law in the Outerlands fluctuates regularly. Let the laws we lay down in this interior constitution be few and rigorously followed. Do you want to do it? Will doing this cause harm to another mind? If the answer is “yes” to the first and “no” to the second, your ethical concerns are removed and you may proceed to the questions of personal utility. Can you do this? Will doing this interfere with any previously establish goals? If “yes” to the first and “no” to the second, proceed to the theological. Will this piss-off/make-sad God? If “no,” proceed to the legal. Is this contrary to the laws of the Outerlands? If “no,” commence, if “yes,” ask “can I get away with it?” If “yes,” commence. See, that didn’t end up like yesterday at all. It’s always better to be a rat pirate bastard than to try to convince people that their politics are just polite tyranny.