POLITICS and Rotary in a time of war. Plus a global prescription for action.

In politics Rotary has long held a principled position.  It is not partisan!  Yet Rotary International is deeply political in the most fundamental sense.  It's concerned with how we (Rotarians and humanity) organize ourselves to serve the common good. This distinction is critical.  Avoiding partisan alignment does not absolve anyone from confronting whether our national or international systems of governance are fulfilling their most basic purpose. 

Rotary proudly promotes that at least 49 Rotarians served as delegates, advisors, or consultants from various national delegations in drafting the UN Charter at the San Francisco conference during World War II.  Three notable Rotarians were Archibald MacLeish, a U.S. delegate that helped shape the Charter’s preamble, including its enduring moral language.  Lester B. Pearson who later became a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, participated as part of the Canadian delegation, and contributed to diplomatic negotiations that influenced the Charter.  And John Foster Dulles, was part of the U.S. delegation, and played a role in negotiations and the Chater’s structural elements including the UN Security Council.   In hindsight, the Security Council has been the greatest barrier to preventing, stopping, or resolving conflicts and genocides (more deadly that wars).  Or in protecting other unalienable human rights or holding those who committed them accountable.

While the UN Preamble remains inspirational, the Charter itself cemented the protection of national sovereignty over the protection of human rights and the environment.  This has been tragic for hundreds of millions of people and billions of square miles of nature.

In 1776, six months before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Paine’s pamphlet, Common Sense, was published.  In the first 5 pages his reasoning defined the vital importance of politics. He reminded us that ‘government’ is a necessary construct - precisely because we are not angels. And its legitimacy rests on a simple foundation: the protection of human “freedom and security”.  Not the preservation of nations, political parties, the defense of abstract borders, or the enrichment of corporate elites. Thus, when government drifts from that purpose, it becomes not a safeguard of liberty, but a distortion of it.  And the Declaration of Independence followed six months later, building on his logic with “Truths” that “WE” should all “hold” “to be self-evident...”

Current disruptive conditions are the result of at least 8 decades of ignoring these Truths. Particularly since the onset of GWAT (the global war against terrorism) we have witnessed an acceleration of problems, starting with the erosion of clarity with constitutional mandates.  Just today the US Supreme Court is considering ‘birthright’ citizenship language in our Constitution.  A few ambiguous words within that statute will eventually be decided on human principles.  Principles decided about 240 years ago by wealthy white landowners participating in Constitutional convention. In the sweltering heat then is surprising they didn’t consider the biological ‘fundamental principles’ exhibited by “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God” offered a decade earlier in the Declaration.

Today’s Supreme Court Judges and lawyers kept using the words “fundamental” and “principle”.  But never paired them together.  This is the human mind rationalizing a defence of concepts that do not exist in our DNA or the human spirit.   Then American citizens wonder why our nation’s partisan politics are increasingly polarized, and sometimes literally insane.

Engineering a government and its laws using ambiguous or delusional words that cause division instead of unity is a form of insanity -based on the delusion of independence.  Consider the blurring of the power to declare. Or the definition of “terrorism” that has been expanded with zero precision into endless ambiguity.  Like enabling the lethal targeting of individuals and/or groups based on suspicion, no trial, or any clearly defined legal standards.  Such mind calculated policies (domestically and globally) shifts our nation further from the original intent of government - as envisioned in both the US Constitution’s Preamble and the UN Charter.  Zero consideration of the wisdom within the Declaration of Independence - with the prioritization of universal freedom and unalienable human rights.

History offers a parallel insight and call to action. Abraham Lincoln decided to run for President because of a proposal by a US Senator suggesting voters in above the Mason Dixon line use democracy to allow slavery if into territories where it had previously been prohibited.  Lincoln felt this was an abomination, making for an even less perfect union.  His objective wasn’t merely political victory. He intended a moral realignment—bringing the Constitution closer to the ideals expressed in 1776.  And this is exactly the realignment between governance and principle urgently needed now.

Rotary’s Four-Way Test—asking whether something is the TRUTH, is it FAIR to all concerned, Will it build GOODWILL & BETTER FRIENDSHIPS, and Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned? —provides a powerful, nonpartisan framework for evaluating today’s Presidential, Congressional, and Judicial decisions. Applied honestly, it demands that we have the courage to question policies that undermine international law, including clear violations of the United Nations Charter, or that weaken the commitments embedded in the preamble of the U.S. Constitution: to establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty.

There is a growing contradiction between our nation’s stated ideals and our collective actions. We pledge allegiance to “liberty and justice for all”, yet to often tolerate policies that fall far short of those promises—both domestically and globally. This dissonance is not merely political; it is ethical and detestable.  A literal blood stain on a Rotarian commitment to service above self.

An emerging insight into our human cognition suggests that our primary challenge is not just institutional, but neurological.  As sociologist Erica Jordan framed it, some minds are oriented toward pattern recognition and systems analysis, while others are oriented toward social connection and cohesion. Whether or not one accepts this evolutionary framing associated with these differences, the practical implication is clear: healthy societies require both capacities. When policy is driven solely by strategic calculation without empathy and compassion, or by group identity without systemic understanding, an imbalance and conflict will follow.

The question is not whether we have both—but when, where, and how can we unite build something just and sustainable together. And ASAP. The evolution of weapons, pathogens, and hate is not going to stop on a dime.

Rotary is uniquely positioned to model that integration and possible transformation of human thinking and action. Rotary is a global network of 1.4 million members, 46,000 clubs, in over 200 countries. All have sworn a commitment to ‘service above self’ and have credibility across cultures placing it at the intersection of moral vision and practical action.  In this unique moment in history, this role should be elevated—not diminished by hesitation.

Central to this effort must be an enlarged and undivided commitment to achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. These goals are not abstract aspirations; they are a comprehensive blueprint for human and ecological well-being. The potential to attain most of the 30 rights listed in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights for most of humanity.  By ending poverty, ensuring clean water, sanitation, primary health care, basic education, protecting and restoring ecosystems, and creating more peaceful/non-violent communities. These are the real measures of whether governance is serving its purpose.  They represent a shared global agenda that transcends borders, ideologies, and partisan divides.  An affordable, achievable, measurable, holistic, comprehensive and synergist plan that requires our species to finally unite and apply our minds to solving problems – not creating them by defending unsustainable concepts and principles.

Prioritizing the SDGs is not an optional extension of Rotary’s mission.  It is its natural evolution. Service above self, in today’s interconnected/interdependent world, means recognizing that the health of people and nature are inseparable. It means understanding that insecurity anywhere - creates vulnerability everywhere.

If Rotary is to remain true to its values, it must be willing to engage—not in partisan advocacy, but in principled political critique. It must ask difficult questions, challenge inconsistencies, and encourage a re-alignment of governance with the foundational ideals/principles of freedom, justice, and our shared humanity. The future will not be shaped solely by those in positions of formal power, but by those willing to transform and align how we think – and with what we know to be true.

In that alignment of mindsets and governing policies—lies our best hope of building a world that is not only more secure, but more just and sustainable for all.  A legacy far beyond eradicating Polio.