The.American.Word.

It’s hard to make sense of so much of the news without some kind of basis for determining what, exactly, each of us really deserves. We mean that in the most literal sense. Certainly a maid cleaning a hotel room deserves some kind of security in her own person, while a man accused of a crime is entitled, as well, to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. The process of reconciling these seemingly-at-odds principles takes time and thought, but not much more than that. A bit of social trust is what makes it work – that and, as our thought began, a sense of what we all deserve.

John Locke laid the right foundation for all this, we think. Beginning with the idea that all of the earth had been given, collectively, by God to all of mankind, he then asked how any one of us could rightly claim a slice of it for ourselves. His thought experiment in response involved plucking a single fruit from a single tree, and taking a bite. Making that small part of creation a small part of ourselves held some propriety for him. More than we can digest would be too much; as much as we need, and can find and grasp on our own, a good amount. And the land itself had a similar logic within it. As we reach out hands into the soil, mix our blood and sweat with it, and most importantly make it better, we earn some right to that small piece of the earth.

Make it better, then, becomes our demand of those who seek our trust, and certainly our demand of those who seek our votes. Make it better.