You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you. The United States of America’s Constitution was the first written constitution in the World. It has served Americans well, enhancing freedom and prosperity during the changed conditions of nearly three hundred years. Frequently copied, it has become the United States’ most important export. After two centuries, every nation in the World except about six have adopted written constitutions, and the United States Constitution was a model for all of them. No wonder modern revelation says that God established the United States Constitution and that is “should be maintained for the rights and protection of all flesh, according to just and holy principles,” reports Doctrine and Covenants 101.77. The most desirable condition of maximum freedom and responsibility is our God-given moral agency. In this condition humans are accountable for their own sins and cannot blame their political conditions on their bondage to a king or a tyrant. This condition is achieved when the people are sovereign, as they are under the Constitution God established in the United States of America. #RandolphHarris 1 of 21

We know that the cosmos manifest itself out of the divine Mind, and within it, too. However, why there should be such a manifestation at all, we do not know. Many students raise this query and are dissatisfied at the failure to obtain a good answer. However, the fact is that such questions cannot be adequately answered on the same plane as that on which they arise. If we could shift our consciousness to a higher one, we would find that they simply do not exist there. However, although complete adequacy may be unattainable, some sort of working answer can be formulated and used for and by those who are unable to effect such a shift. If the human entity has no other purpose to fulfill on this Earth than to return to the sphere of its origin, then it has no business to leave that sphere. If the Universe has any sense in it at all, there must be something to be gained by its Earthly journey. The human destination is also their origin. However, to say that one was born in the eternal Spirit starts the question, “How can time, which is placed outside eternity, bring on to eternity?” The answer is that it does not being one there; it only educated one to look for, and prepares one to pass through, the opening through which one can escape. Need it be said that this lies at the point where ego surrender wholly to God? #RandolphHarris 2 of 21

The Goal towards which humans are slowly travelling by successive steps is a threefold one: the fully developed environment, the fully developed intelligence, and the realized soul. The last is the best and the other two are but servants of it, for here one comes first to a comprehension and then to a realization of oneself. Yes, one is on one’s way to the grand awakening into the full self-consciousness. All this vast evolution of environments and their entities has but one ultimate aim from a human’s point of view and so far as one is concerned. It is to bring one into a miniature likeness to one’s divine Parent, to make one into an image of Godlike beauty, power, wisdom, and being. “We the people are superior to the government and should remain master over it, not the other way around. An unrighteous king doth pervert the ways of all righteousness. Therefore, chose you by the voice of this people, judges, that ye may be judged according to the laws.  Now it is not coming that the voice of the people desireth anything contrary to that which is right; but it is common for the lesser part of the people to desire that which is not right; therefore this shall ye observe and make it your law—to do your busines by the voice of the people,” reports Mosiah 29.23-26. #RandolphHarris 3 of 21

Yes, the Earth has been, through this long travail of countless ages, brining forth the mineral, the plant, the animal, and the human kingdoms. In humans, the Earth has given birth to a child who is destined to rule with her when one’s Intelligence becomes perfected and consequently when one is able to rule oneself. The process of human evolution serves a twofold purpose. The first is to develop the physical, emotional, and intellectual characteristics. The second is to lead the individual to enquire into, and become fully conscious of, one’s divine origin. The journey of life is both an adventure and a pilgrimage. We pass from body to body to collect experience. The fruit of experience is Enlightenment: the knowledge of God, established awareness of His presence; and knowledge of the Unseen Power behind the Universe, established connection with it. We are here in this World for a higher purpose than the obvious physical one of self-preservation, for even that is contributory to it. We are here to evolve into the consciousness of God. Every physical experience is only a means toward such spiritual development. Popular sovereignty necessarily implies popular responsibility. #RandolphHarris 4 of 21

Instead of blaming their troubles on a king or other sovereign, all citizens must share the burdens and responsibilities of governing. “The burden should come upon all the people, that every human might bear one’s part,” reports Mosiah 29.34. When power comes from the people, there is no legitimacy in legal castes or classes or in failing to provide all citizens the equal protection of the laws. Without some government stability against an outraged majority, government could not protect minority rights. The Constitution was framed in order to protect minorities. That is the purpose of written constitutions. In order that the minorities might be protected in the matter of amendments under our Constitution, the Lord required that the amendments should be made only through the operation of very large majorities—two-thirds for action in the Senate, and three-fourths as among the states. This is the inspired, prescribed order. Participation is the active involvement of a group of individuals in a collective process on actual or intended actions of administrative authorities. Participation can refer to taking part in preliminary arrangements, influencing decision-makers, or taking part in actual decision-making process. #RandolphHarris 5 of 21

However, participation can also be justified from the point of view of a sensible government finding out potential flaws and realizing ownership. The term “public participation” presumes that the initiative and procedures are in the hands of citizens, the participation process is generally managed by public entities. The participation principle can be also about participation as a right, and the question of what consequences are there for the direct and guiding function of the administration. Participation is important under the democratic rule of law as well. Public participation can be motivated by democratic, constitutional, corporatist, or administrative motives. While the distinction between these motives for participation is not always unequivocal, these do offer an indication of the various perspectives—and consequently motives—of the parties involved in public participation. With regards to participation, a distinction can be made between the type and the level of participation achieved, id est form and degree of participation. Forms of participation are popular initiatives, the citizen’s panel, the referendum, and the community level forms. #RandolphHarris 6 of 21

The degree of participation is quantified by using indicators, including the number of individuals, the time invested in and the frequency of participation, the involvement of individuals, the extent of influence on the process with respect to the issues addressed by the public authority and the level of participation that citizens are entitled to. Citizens could play different roles, for example one of co-decision-making, co-producing, counselling, consultation, or of distribution information. It is evident from the account of the principle of participation that there are three ways to limit its application. The constitution may define a more or a less extensive freedom of participation; it may allow inequalities in political liberties; and greater or smaller social resources may be devoted to insuring the worth of these freedoms to the representative citizens. The extent of the principle of participation is defined as the degree to which the procedure of (bare) majority rule is restricted by the mechanisms of constitutionalism. These devices serve to limit the scope of majority rule, the kinds of matters on which majorities have final authority, and the speed with which the aims of the majority are put into effect. #RandolphHarris 7 of 21

A bill of rights may remove certain liberties from majority regulation altogether, and the separation of powers with judicial review may slow down the pace of legislative change. The question, then, is how these mechanisms might be justified consistent with the two principles of justice. We are not to ask whether these devices are in fact justified, but what kind of an argument for them is required. To begin with, however, we should observe that the limits on the extent of the principle of participation are assumed to fall equally upon everyone. For this reason these restrictions are easier to justify than unequal political liberties. If all could have a greater liberty, at least each loses equally, other things the same; and if this lesser liberty is unnecessary and not imposed by some human agency, the scheme of liberty is to this degree irrational rather than unjust. Unequal liberty, as when the precept one human one vote is violated, is another matter and immediately raises a question of justice. Supposing for the time being that the constraints on majority rule bear equally on all citizens, the justification for the devices of constitutionalism is that they presumably protect the other freedoms. #RandolphHarris 8 of 21

The best arrangement is found by noting the consequences for the complete system of liberty. The intuitive idea here is straightforward. We have said that the political process is a case of imperfect procedural justice. A constitution that restricts majority rule by the various traditional devices is thought to lead to a more just body of legislation. Since the majority principle must as a practical necessity be relied upon to some degree, the problem is to find which constraints work best in given circumstances to further the ends of liberty. Of course, these matters lie outside the theory of justice. If any of the constitutional mechanisms is effective in achieving its aim, or how far its successful working presupposes certain underlying social conditions, we need not consider which. The relevant point is that to justify these restrictions one must maintain that from the perspective of the representative citizen in the constitutional convention the less extensive freedom of participation is sufficiently outweighed by the greater security and extent of the other liberties. #RandolphHarris 9 of 21

Unlimited majority rule is often thought to be hostile to these liberties. Constitutional arrangements compel a majority to delay putting its will into effect and force it to make a more considered and deliberate decision. In this and other ways procedural constraints are said to mitigate the defects of the majority principle. The justification appeals to a greater equal liberty. At no point is there a reference to compensating economic and social benefits. One of the tenets of classical liberalism is that the political liberties are of less intrinsic importance than liberty of conscience and freedom of person. Should one be forced to choose between the political liberties and all the others, the governance of a good sovereign who recognized the latter and who upheld the rule of law would be far preferable. On this view, the chief merit of the principle of participation is to insure that the government respects the rights and welfare of the governed. Fortunately however, we do not often have access to the relative total importance of the different liberties. Usually the way to proceed is to apply the principle of equal advantage in adjusting the complete system of freedom. #RandolphHarris 10 of 21

We are not called upon to abandon the principle of participation entirely or to allow it unlimited sway. Instead, we should narrow or widen its extent up to the point where the danger to liberty from the marginal loss in control over those holding political power just balances the security of liberty gained by the greater use of constitutional devices. The decision is not an all or nothing affair. It is a question of weighing against one another small variations in the extent and definition of the different liberties. The priority of liberty does not exclude marginal exchanges within the system of freedom. Moreover, it allows although it des not require that some liberties, say those covered by the principle of participation, are less essential in that their main role is to protect the remaining freedoms. Different opinions about the value of the liberties will, of course, affect how different persons think the full scheme of freedom should be arranged. Those who place a higher worth on the principle of participation will be prepared to take greater risks with the freedoms of the person, say, in order to give political liberty a larger place. Ideally these conflicts will not occur and it should be possible, under favourable conditions anyway, to find a constitutional procedure that allows a sufficient scope for the values of participation without jeopardizing the other liberties. #RandolphHarris 11 of 21

It is sometime objected to majority rule that, however circumscribed, it fails to take account of the intensity of desire, since the larger part may override the strong feelings of a minority. This criticism rests up the mistake view that the intensity of desire is a relevant consideration in enacting legislation. To the contrary, whenever questions of justice are raised, we are not to go by the strength of feeling but must aim instead for the greater justice of the legal order. The fundamental criterion for judging any procedure is the justice of its likely results. When the vote is rather evenly divided, a similar replay may be given to the propriety of majority rule. Everything depends on the probable justice of the outcome. If the various sectors of society have reasonable confidence in one another and share a common conception of justice, the rule by bare majorities may succeed fairly well. To the extent that this underlying agreement is lacking, the majority principle becomes more difficult to justify because it is less probably that just policies will be followed. #RandolphHarris 12 of 21

There may, however, be no procedures that can be relied upon once distrust and enmity pervade society. I do not wish to pursue these matters further. I mention these familiar points about majority rule only to emphasize that the test of constitutional arrangement is always the overall balance of justice. Where issues of justice are involved, the intensity of desires should not be taken into account. Of course, as things are, legislator must reckon with strong public feelings. Human’s sense of outrage however irrational will set boundaries upon what is politically attainable; and popular views will affect the strategies of enforcement within these limits. However, questions of strategy are not to be confused with those of justice. If a bill of right guaranteeing liberty of conscience and freedom of though and assembly would be effective, then it should be adopted. Whatever the depth of feeling against them, these rights should if possible be made to stand. The force of opposing attitudes has no bearing on the question of right but only on the feasibility of arrangements of liberty. The justification of unequal political liberty proceeds in much the same way. #RandolphHarris 13 of 21

One takes up the point of view of the representative citizen in the constitutional convention and assesses the total system of freedom as it looks to one. However, in this case, there is an important difference. We must now reason from the perspective of those who have the lesser political liberty. An inequality in the basic structure must always be justified to those in the disadvantaged position. This holds whatever the primary social good and especially for liberty. Therefore the priority rule requires us to show that the inequality of right would be accepted by the less favoured in return for the greater protection of their other liberties that results from this restriction. Perhaps the most obvious political inequality is the violation of the precept one person one vote. Yet until recent times most writers rejected equal universal suffrage. Indeed, persons were not regarded as the proper subjects of representation at all. Often it was interests that were to be represented, with Whig and Tory differing as to whether the interest of the rising middle class should be given a place alongside the landed and ecclesiastical interest. For others it is regions that are to be represented, or forms of culture, as when one speaks of the representation of the agricultural elements of society. #RandolphHarris 14 of 21

At the first sight, these kinds of representations appear unjust. How far they depart from the precept one person one vote is a measure of their abstract injustice, and indicates the strength of the countervailing reasons that must be forthcoming. Now it frequently turns out that those who oppose equal political liberty put forward justifications of the required form. They are at least prepared to argue that political inequality is to the benefit of those with the lesser liberty. Consider as an illustration Dr. Mill’s view that persons with greater intelligence and education should have extra votes in order that their opinions may have greater influence. This is a serious concern with the TV news media and social media having so much power that they can control investigations, sway elections, and ban the president of the United States of America and limit his time on television. Other concerns are the growing numbers of people with intellectual disabilities and criminals may not fully understand the impact of their votes or the consequences. That they are just voting because the think it is the right thing to do. Should people do something just because everyone else is doing it? #RandolphHarris 15 of 21

Dr. Mill believed that in this case plural voting accords with natural order of human life, for whenever persons conduct a common enterprise in which they have a joint interest, they recognize that while all should have a voice, the say of everyone need not be equal. The judgment of the wiser and more knowledgeable should have superior weight. Such an arrangement is in the interest of each and conforms to human’s sentiment of justice. National affairs are precisely such a joint concern. Although all should indeed have the vote, those with a greater capacity for the management of the public interest should have a larger say. Their influence should be great enough to protect them from the class legislation of the undereducated, but not so large as to allow them to enact class legislation in their own behalf. Ideally, those will superior wisdom and judgment should act as a constant force on the side of justice and the common good, a force that, although always weak by itself, can often tip the scale in the right direction if the larger forces cancel out. Dr. Mill was persuaded that everyone would gain from this arrangement, including those whose votes count for less. #RandolphHarris 16 of 21

Of course, as it stands, this argument does not go beyond the general conception of justice as fairness. Dr. Mill does not state explicitly that the gain to the uneducated is to be estimated in the first instance by the larger security of their other liberties, although his reasoning suggests that he thought this to be the case. In any event, if Dr. Mill’s view is to satisfy the restrictions imposed by the priority of liberty, this is how the argument must go. His view enables one to see why political equality is sometimes regarded as less essential than equal liberty of conscience or liberty of the person. Government is assumed to aim at the common good, that is, at maintaining conditions and achieving objectives that are similarly to everyone’s advantage. To the extent that this presumption holds, and some humans can be identified as having superior wisdom and judgment, other are willing to trust them and to concede to their opinion a greater weight. The passengers of a ship are willing to let the captain steer the course, since they believe that he or she is more knowledgeable and wishes to arrive safely as much as they do. There is both an identity of interests and a noticeably greater skill and judgment in realizing it. #RandolphHarris 17 of 21

Now the ship of state is in some ways analogous to a ship at sea; and to the extent that this is so, the political liberties are indeed subordinate to the other freedoms that, so to say, define the intrinsic good of the passengers. Admitting these assumptions, plural voting may be perfectly just. Of course, the grounds for self-government are not solely instrumental. When assured its fair value, equal political liberty is bound to have a profound effect on the moral quality of civic life. Citizens’ relations to one another are given a secure basis in the manifest constitution of society. The medieval maxim that what touches all concerns all is seen to be taken seriously and declared as the public intention. Political liberty so understood is not designed to satisfy the individual’s desire for self-mastery, much less one’s quest for power. Taking part in political life does not make the individual master of oneself, but rather gives one an equal voice along with others in settling how basic social conditions are to be arranged. Nor does it answer to the ambition to dictate others, since each is now required to moderate one’s claims by what everyone is able to recognize as just. #RandolphHarris 18 of 21

The public will to consult and to take everyone’s beliefs and interests into account lays the foundations for civic friendship and shapes the ethos of political culture. Moreover, the effect of self-government where equal political rights have their fair value is to enhance the self-esteem and the sense of political competence of the average citizen. One’s awareness of one’s own worth developed in the smaller associations of one’s community is confirmed in the constitution of the whole society. Since one is expected to vote, one is expected to have political opinions. The time and thought that one devotes to forming one’s views is not governed by the likely material return of one’s political influence. Rather it is an activity enjoyable in itself that leads to a larger conception of society and to the development of one’s intellectual and more facilities. As Dr. Mill observed, one is called upon to weigh interests other than one’s own, and t be guided by some conception of justice and the public good rather than by one’s own inclinations. Having to explain and justify one’s views to others, one must appeal to principles that others can accept. #RandolphHarris 19 of 21

Moreover, Dr. Mill adds, if citizens are to acquire an affirmative sense of political duty and obligation, that is, one that goes beyond the mere willingness to submit to law and government, this education to public spirit is necessary. Without these more inclusive sentiments humans become estranged and isolated in their smaller associations, and affective ties may outside the family or a narrow circle of friends. Citizens no longer regard one another as associated with him one can cooperate to advance some interpretation of public good; instead, they view themselves as rivals, or else as obstacles to one another’s ends. All of these considerations Dr. Mill and others have made familiar. They show that equal political liberty is not solely a means. These freedoms strengthen human’s sense of their own worth, enlarge their intellectual and more sensibilities, and ay the basis for a sense of duty and obligation upon which the stability of just institutions depends. All of Heavenly Father’s children are accountable for their effort and progress in developing their divine potential by improving performance, acquiring knowledge, perfecting attitude, and building character. Understanding the great plan of happiness helps individuals develop their divine potential and promotes professional growth. #RandolphHarris 20 of 21

An understanding of the worth and divine potential of each soul helps leaders and teachers guide others to Jesus Christ. As I grow and learn, please help me O Father, to know what is right and to do only that. To God that spread forth the Earth above the water, for His loving kindness endures forever; to God that made the great lights, for His living kindness endures forever; the sun to rule by day, for His living kindness endures forever; the moon and stars to rule by night, for His loving kindness ensures forever; to Hum that smote Egypt through their first-born, for His loving kindness endures forever; with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, for His loving kindness endure forever; to Him who divided the Red Sea, for His loving kindness endures forever; and made Israel to pass through it, for His loving kindness endures forever; but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea, for His loving kindness endures forever; to Him who led His people through the wilderness, for His loving kindness endures forever; and struck down mighty kings, for His loving kindness endures forever; and Og, king of Bashan, for His loving kindness endures forever. #RandolphHarris 21 of 21

MILLS STATION AT CRESLEIGH RANCH

Rancho Cordova, CA |

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