This list was sent to me by a friend, and comes from the Georgia Family Council. It is a list of ten foundational tenets of a just and democratic society. I'm just going to list them here, but they have a bit written on each on.

1. The rights of the people come directly from God.
   

   We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

   The Declaration of Independence

2. Government derives its power from the consent of the governed.
   

   We the People of the United States...do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

   The Constitution of the United States

3. Government should only perform those functions delegated to it by the people.
   

   The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government -- lest it come to dominate our lives and interests.

   Patrick Henry

4. Government is instituted to protect rights, not create them.
   

   Government...should be formed to secure and enlarge the exercise of the natural rights of its members; and every government which has not this in view, as its principle object, is not a government of the legitimate kind.

   James Wilson

5. People, through private enterprise, create wealth; government does not.
   

   A people...who are possessed of the spirit of commerce, who see and who will pursue their advantage may achieve almost anything.

   George Washington

6. Government can give nothing except what it first takes from someone else.
   

   It would be a hard government that should tax its people one-tenth part of their income.

   Benjamin Franklin

7. Where government must act, the smallest and most local entity capable of doing the job should do so - as it is closest and most responsive to the people.
   

   We love our families more than our neighbors; we love our neighbors more than our countrymen in general. The human affections, like solar heat, lose their intensity as they depart from the center.

   Alexander Hamilton

8. All government policies should favor long-term health of the country over short term gain.
   

   Posterity, you will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in heaven that I ever took half the pains to preserve it.

   John Adams

9. Where government policies are necessary, they should not encourage irresponsibility, dependence, vice, or sloth among the people.
   

   The life of a nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous.

   Frederick Douglas

10. All government policies must be judged in light of the principles of federalism and the division of powers (checks and balances) as envisioned by our Founders.
    

    When all government, domestic and foreign, in little as in great things, shall be drawn to Washington as the center of all power, it will render powerless the checks provided on one government on another and will become as venal and oppressive as the government from which we separated.

    Thomas Jefferson

These principles seem sound. But something doesn't quite sit right. It's good, orthodox conservatism. Nothing jumps out, which means the matter should be investigated further. This is, after all, merely a list, not a complete set of reasonings. I shall post my musings on this later.