What is the Free Capitalist Pledge?

FreeCapitalists acknowledge the paramount importance of economic liberty as the foundation of all other freedoms and accordingly strive to personally realize the three core values illustrated in the Prosperity Prime™ model; namely self-reliance, economic independence and ultimate freedom. Members accept and recite the FreeCapitalist Pledge™ as a part of each weekly Study Group meeting.

“We who are not about to die, we who love our lives and who freely
choose to acknowledge that ‘God governs in the affairs of men’ ;

Stand forth and individually pledge -

• I choose to create more value in the world than I consume.
• I choose to reject mysticism, force, deception & graft.
• I choose to think, to act and to govern myself.
• I choose faith in principle not speculation or chance.
• I choose liberty & life; happiness & peace.

In a world addicted to scarcity, I dissent.
I am a Capitalist.”

You can join the Project and begin a new path of prosperity for yourself, your family and for your community if you are willing to take the Pledge <<<Right Now>>>

Why have a Pledge?
Some might wonder why would an organization of capitalists have a pledge at all.  The mission of the Project is to usher forth a revolution.  This is not hyperbole or rhetoric.  The Project is about uniting individuals based upon a principled foundation and the pledge forms the basis of that unity.

Pledges and Principle-based Unity
The term pledge is derived from the Latin root plevium meaning “to make sure” or “secure.” To be a “citizen” in this context implies to be voluntarily united, through a mutual pledge, as part of some specific society.  In all free societies, citizenship is ultimately, consciously, and deliberately chosen.

The absence of government rule or law is an absolute threat to liberty and social unity.  Thus, enlightened individuals seek to unite with others through voluntary pledges in order to form some basic agreement how cooperating might better secure man’s individual rights. These pledges form the foundation of government and society. The purpose of the pledge in the FreeCapitalist Project is to deliberately form a volunteer society of free men and women, united in bringing about a moral revolution restoring the fundamentals of the American way of life centered upon liberty, prosperity and peace.

Free Society versus the “Common Good” of Tribalism.
Almost all freedom minded individuals are naturally resistant to all forms of collectivism where the fundamental principles of liberty are sacrificed for the good of the “whole” or of the “tribe.” This creates the first and most important challenge of understanding free society.  Since man is a social animal and prosperity is the natural result of free interaction and exchange with others, those who love freedom must determin how to cultivate, protect, and advance society without sacrificing the principles of individualism.  In this arena the American experiement has been the most successful in modern history.

In the American tradition, the purpose of government is not the protection of any one group, or class, or ruler.  The purpose of government is the protection of the individual rights of man.  Interestingly, the Founders observed, this is also the formula for best protecting society.

In order to appreciate this formula it is essential to observe that freedom and prosperity are fundamentally threatened by physical coercion and deception.  Therefore, at the heart of civilized society, and at the beginning of any legitimate government – men are right and wise to form governments that exercise the delegated powers of its representatives to protect against these twin relics of tyranny.  This basic formation provides the basic building blocks for a new kind of society.

If this basic foundation is not observed, society naturally tilts towards preserving certain elite members.  Even unconsciously the natural tendency of men working together is to prefer the society of friends and associates to such a great degree that the paramount, principled foundation of individual rights can fade into the background and ultimately be forgotten altogether.  This is what happens in collectivist or “tribal” societies.

In a free society, the rights of individuals cannot be sacrificed for “the greater good”; meaning more specifically that the society which results from a voluntary coming together/uniting of minds and wills, has no unique moral authority to do anything which would undermine the voluntary action of participating individuals.  This is to say, all societies and all governments to a lessor extent, are simply the form of free individuals exercising their God giving, natural rights, by voluntary agreement.  Principles govern, and no group of men is right to violate the true principles of Nature and Nature’s God.

Unfortunately, when this basic idea of voluntary action by free individuals unquestionably protected in their natural rights is forgotten, tyranny is the only possible result.  In our modern day, this has been happening for the greater part of the last century as the phrase “common good” has been redefined to imply the supremacy of altruism and collectivism rather than the common protection of individuals.

Today, for example, the term “common good” is predominantly used to justify or defend immoral action that, when taken by a group (usually the government acting with force),  is seen as good because a majority of citizens will “supposedly” benefit from the action.  The benefits of such actions are “supposed” to outweigh the costs of such a philosophy.

Such simple public policies as free public education mandated by law and administered by the government are offered and supported benevolently by well meaning but usually unaware citizens who cannot see unfortunate harm of undermining the bedrock of freedom that is always perpetuated in such situations.  While such programs are defended as serving the “common good” by undermining the basic principles of individual rights (the right, for example, of a parent to determine the best use of his or her own private property for the purpose of educating children) the long term, unavoidable consequences are deleterious.

As the usually unintended consequences of collectivism become more visible, and the freedoms of individuals become increasingly curtailed in the name of the common good, a very visible contradiction results.  A civilized society strives to protect itself, improve the quality of life for all its citizens but by doing so in a manner that submits the objective rights of individuals to the subjective judgment of some government entity the seeds of tyranny become deeply rooted and the ultimate destruction of freedom becomes an undeniable certain.

The subtle distinction between tribalism and free society is that in a free society no government has the right to compel its free citizens in their value choices or exercise of personal preferences.  In a free society, there may be what are sometimes termed as “sacrifices” but such actions are the voluntary choice made by those who hold such individual action to be in harmony with the achievement of their own values and rational judgment.

Free societies recognize, therefore, that the “common good” is the good of each individual citizen.  In such societies there can be no government compulsion by force (deception is the coercion of the mind, and physical force is the coercion of the body)—so as to become the sacrificial lambs for the satisfaction and desired accomplishments of the ruling elite. This would always be a violation of the fundamental principles upon which all free society is built.  No such society, attributing moral authority to tyranny, can long survive while counting that which is evil and wrong for one man to do to another, to be good and right when a group of men conspire to accomplish the same act.

How Pledges protect Free Individuals in a Free Society
Those who rule in any free society are only protected for the enjoyment of the exact same individual rights as those who consent to be ruled.  Deviation from this philosophically “balanced center” leads to either collectivism or anarchy (the two extreme forms of tyranny).  Tyranny, of either kind, destroys society and renders impossible any citizen’s enjoyment of lasting personal liberty, prosperity and peace.

It is important to also observe that whenever any men seek to work together in any enterprise where cooperation is overseen or directed by a few selected individuals, the seeds of tyranny are found when the rights of individuals are not respected or where the role of approved force is defined with ambiguity.  Such confusion leads to uncertainty which is always at the core of one man’s desire to use force (of either kind) over his fellow man.

Therefore, those free men who desire to create (or re-create as the case may be) society, seek to eliminate this kind of fundamental ambiguity by clearly defining the basic truths to which all who enter into the society must consciously lend agreement and support.  At the founding of America this was the purpose of the Declaration of Independence.  It was a political pledge designed to form a new, free society.  The Constitution of the United States was the practical result of the former pledge.

The Role of the Pledge in the Initiation of New Members
Those who voluntarily elect to formally associate themselves with the Project accept the Pledge.  Members who attend local FreeCapitalist Study Groups recite the Pledge at each weekly meeting.  No matter where in the world he resides, when an individual first becomes associated with the Project by accepting the Pledge he is invited to embark upon the “Pledge Quest” (usually via email).  Completing the Pledge Quest is how the new “pledge” member of the Project completes his initiation an begins down the path of formal membership in the Project including the unique Prosperity Quest civic service program.

The FreeCapitalist Pledge™ is a method which allows the Project to ensure that members are acting voluntarily, deliberately, and in an informed and rational manner to unite with their peers in carrying out the mission of the Project.  While personal prosperity is the natural result of principle based living, and while many members who participate in the Prosperity Quest (and Producer Revolution) programs offered through the Project, no member should join the Project for any other reason than their personal commitment to the basic standard set forth in the simple FreeCapitalist Pledge.

>>>See Information Release, “Atheists and the FreeCapitalist Pledge“