Manifesto of the Project

An ethical foundation for society, politics, and the economy

1. Introduction: What is the project about?

A project is not a system. Not an ideology. Not an answer to everything.
It is based on a fundamental principle – the Logos, which precedes all political, legal, and economic thought.
From this Logos, responsibility, freedom, and justice are derived – not the other way around.

The project is therefore an invitation to rethink our world – starting from the human being.

2. The Logos: Thinking from the human being

The human being is not a means to an end. Not a production factor. Not a voting unit. Not a cost item.
He is the origin and the goal of every legitimate order.

It is not the state that grants rights to the human being – rather, human dignity defines what a state may be.
It is not the system that determines justice – justice determines whether a system has the right to exist.

The project aims to ethically ground this order:
Not through dogma, but through insight.
Not through power, but through mutual respect.
Not through obedience, but through shared responsibility.

3. The Starting Point: Life itself

Every person has the right to live – without prior obligation, without conditions.

• A right to sustenance without being forced to work.
• A right to participation without the duty to conform.
• A right to dignity – regardless of market value, origin, or performance.

These rights are not abstract, but concrete.
They concern income, education, justice, health care, housing, time, language, participation.
They affect everyday life – and the conditions that make it possible.

4. The Guiding Principles of the Project

1. Freedom begins with the freedom to say no.
   Anyone who cannot say “no” is not free. Freedom therefore needs material security, alternatives, and self-respect.
2. Justice is not a state, but a conversation.
   Justice does not arise through uniformity, but through fair, transparent, and understandable negotiation processes.
3. Responsibility is voluntary – or it is not responsibility.
   True responsibility grows from insight, not fear or coercion. It is not moral pressure but an ethical response to connectedness.
4. The state is an enabler, not a ruler.
   It moderates conflicts, secures fundamental rights, protects the weak – but it must not become the purpose of life.
5. Work is an expression – not a condition – of life.
   People work to create, to give, to express themselves – not to earn their existence.
6. The economy exists for people – not the other way around.
   Capital, technology, and markets are means. They must serve the goal: a dignified, free, and social life.
7. Society begins with encounter at eye level.
   Not dominance, not leadership, not submission – but conversation, trust, and mutual respect are the beginning of every just order.

5. Conclusion: The Beginning

The project is not a blueprint.
It is a beginning.
A space for thoughts, questions, possibilities.

It is not a law. Not a program. Not a party.
It is a Logos.
A quiet promise:

That it is possible to imagine a society – not against the human being, but for them.