Becoming sun parents prepares us to become sun citizens in our communities, states, and nations. Sun citizens are committed to the principles of freedom, self-government, and the accepting of personal and collective responsibility by everyone in society. Rather than putting a political system and its ideology ahead of the best interests of the people, sun people will adopt a political and economic system that honors and respects the rights of the individual and their families; encourages self-reliance and hard work; and offers hope for a better, brighter future for everyone.

Following the motto of the E.W Scripps Company, sun citizens are committed to the idea that governments should “give light, and the people will find their own way.” At the heart of a sun society is a sun system of government that believes in the ability, the right, and the responsibility of human beings to govern themselves. As Abraham Lincoln once said, “The doctrine of self-government is right—absolutely and eternally right.”

Shine Brighter examines aspects of sun, moon, and star systems of government and how they impact the lives of citizens. A review of history provides ample evidence of what happens in countries where moon or star systems of governments have prevailed, in comparison to those who have embraced sun principles. Shine Brighter points out the key difference between the American Declaration of Independence of 1776 and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in 1789 and the dramatically different outcomes they produced. And it describes what happens in countries where the leaders participate in “sun talking, but moon walking.” Excerpts from Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s 1978 commencement speech at Harvard University offers some stern warnings to the Western world about what awaits people who are not vigilant in their defense of sun principles in government and in society in general.

Along with systems of government, Shine Brighter also examines how sun, moon, and star people view and use money. That is because governments determine whether their citizens will be free to pursue their economic goals and how they will choose to use those resources. The 20^th century has provided multiple examples of what happens to the people in countries whose system of government denies them these freedoms and employs ”compulsory benevolence” and “false philanthropy” instead. Or as one political commentator explained it, “You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.”  Sun systems of government don’t get in the way of sun citizens pursuing sun economic goals.

And finally, Shine Brighter describes an economic model that began in Mondragon, Spain in 1956 that offers sun citizens an exemplary way to honor democratic principles while also responding to the economic needs of the entire community. This model still exists today and has expanded to over thirty-seven countries around the world. It is an approach that is growing in popularity because it befits a free people by honoring individual freedom while also requiring accountability for the welfare of others.

Shine Brighter is not your average self-help book. It provides a roadmap for all those who want to become sun individuals, sun spouses, sun parents, and sun citizens. I invite you to join others in that pursuit.