1. We are here.
None of us chose to be. We opened our eyes one day inside a universe already in motion — on a planet we did not design, among people we did not select, for a span of time we cannot extend. That is the human condition: no choice in arrival, no control over departure, and very little time in between.
2. Because we did not choose to exist, no one holds authority by birth or belief.
Every claim to power, privilege, or moral superiority collapses before this truth. We are equals in origin and in destiny; any hierarchy must justify itself by service, not status. No book, flag, ideology, or bloodline can grant a person the right to treat another human being as a possession.
3. The only universal right is autonomy.
Each individual has the right to live, speak, love, and act freely — until their choices invade another person’s equal right to do the same. Freedom is bounded only by the autonomy of others. This is the line that separates liberty from abuse.
4. The only legitimate purpose of law is protection, not control.
Government exists to defend autonomy — not to dictate belief, silence opinion, or engineer obedience. Laws may restrain violence, theft, fraud, and coercion. They may not decide what people must think, whom they must love, or which ideas they are allowed to hear.
5. Accountability is the twin of autonomy.
Choice without consequence is chaos; consequence without choice is tyranny. True justice balances both — it defends the innocent and confronts deliberate harm swiftly, proportionally, and decisively. Those who repeatedly and violently violate others forfeit certain freedoms until justice is restored.
6. Life itself is sacred because it contains autonomy.
To end a life is to extinguish an entire world of potential choice. The unborn, the weak, the elderly, and the powerless all possess this spark and must be protected. We oppose convenience in killing and insist on radical honesty about what it means to end a human life at any stage.
7. Children deserve protection until autonomy is real.
Freedom is earned through understanding and maturity. Adults may choose their identity, beliefs, and path; children must first be safeguarded so they can grow capable of genuine consent. Irreversible decisions must not be forced or enticed upon those who cannot yet fully grasp their cost.
8. Truth, speech, and inquiry must remain free.
Ideas themselves cannot harm — only actions can. Censorship breeds ignorance; debate breeds progress. No thought should be forbidden, and no person should be punished simply for questioning, doubting, or speaking. Real harm must be proved, not presumed.
9. Compassion and discipline must coexist.
A just society tempers strength with empathy and empathy with strength. Mercy is earned through responsibility, not granted through excuse. We can understand the forces that shape a person without surrendering protection of those they might harm.
10. Humanity must outgrow tribal politics.
We are not left or right, religious or secular, national or global first. We are human — finite beings sharing one brief stage. The time we have should not be wasted on hatred, deceit, or domination. Systems that pit us against each other for power or profit betray the basic fact that we are all temporary guests here.
Autonomism is not a rebellion — it is a reckoning.
A recognition that freedom without morality collapses, and morality without freedom enslaves. We stand not against any people, but against every system that denies the dignity of choice.
We are here. We have so little time.
Let us use it well — and leave the next generation free.