It was time to lay down the law. As dramatic as that sounds, it was exactly that dramatic. The things we decided as the core rules tonight, would probably be in effect for years, at the very least. Tremendous pressure comes with that, since you are the people defining how others will live.

I viewed our first set of rules as a draft of an eventual more complex set. I also didn’t fancy myself to be any sort of advanced political thinker. I just stuck to what I knew.

We hit our first snag before we ever really got started. Of course, we did. That’s how this shit goes. Timmons weaseled his way off the council, offering his wife up as a replacement. His excuse was that he would be gone too often to be a valid contributor. Fabiola would take his place. Bastard actually left immediately, to ‘go watch the children’ as an excuse. Slick move on his part.

We got down to business. Sonya was recording and I was running the meeting. We started with the basics.

Rule #1: All persons are equal and have the same rights.

Done, no equivocations, no conditions. This part was easy. Hell, I was appointing myself to be the judge and I would enforce that ‘all persons’ meant everyone, regardless of anything short of a capital crime. The fewer words the better; there'd be less to be twisted around later. I would explain to Pete what this meant tomorrow morning. That would be a fun conversation.

Rule #2: Religion is a private matter between a person and their chosen deity. Religion is confined to private property and shall not be used in any manner to limit Rule #1.

I know you love your version of god, but I’m not interested, so take it on back home. If you want to build a church, build it on your own land and pay the taxes associated. Proselytizing would be strictly prohibited. I had seen the deadly power of churches and the blood they had shed for centuries. I wasn’t going to allow that here. I expected the Christians to blow a gasket over this one.

Rule #3: You will not kill or assault other citizens.

Easy, folks. Don’t hurt the village. We’d all need each other to survive. If any hurting needed to be done here, I’d be the one doing it. Assault meant everything and anything physical that the other person did not want.

Rule #4: Full citizenship can be obtained at the beginning of the eighteenth year or any time after by pledging an oath to these rules.

It’s not hard to join us, but you have to swear that you will follow the rules. Eighteen is the age of full adulthood.

Rule #5: You will not steal, defraud, or over-charge.

Again, not rocket science. Be on the up-and-up with all transactions or face judgement.

Rule #6: You will not bear false witness, spread rumors, or, in any way, publicly injure a citizen with communication.

A bit tougher, but I knew what the future would bring. Mass media would unleash hell on the rights of those publicly judged and shamed without warrant. Don’t say anything you can’t prove in front of the judge. Falsely accusing another of a crime…well, that earned you whatever punishment the accused would have been in line for.

Rule #7: You will not commit adultery.

I got to define adultery. To me, that meant having sex with someone’s partner without their prior agreement. As I knew from personal experience, cheating brings on way too much havoc and I wasn’t going to have it. If you were desperate to bang the neighbor’s partner, you must get that neighbor to agree without enticement. Keep yourself at home and out of other people’s relationships.

Rule #8: Family and partnerships are defined by those involved and can only be entered into by adults.

Personal relationships are not our business. Stay together or breakup with whomever you like. No getting together with children with the strict exception of some rare situations covered by Rule #9.

Rule #9: The Seven Year Rule.

Relationships with those under the age of eighteen are controlled by the Seven Year Rule. It’s a simple equation and easy to understand: take your current age, divide it by two and add seven years. If the number is more than the age of the younger person, the relationship is not allowed. Under this rule a twenty-two year old could not have a relationship with a seventeen year old. Rounding up to the nearest even number would be enforced. So a twenty year old could have a relationship with a seventeen year old but a twenty-one year old could not. The math worked well to prevent the exploitation of the youth while allowing for the natural curiosities of youth. In the aftermath of Mary’s story, this rule had received strong support from my women.

Rule #10: All voices will be counted.

Voting is a right and duty of all adults. Votes will be private to each person and voting will not stop until all sworn citizens within our borders have voted. The vote will stay open for up to thirty days to account for citizens with planned absences, and will contain accommodations for those with known extended absences. No quick votes while people are traveling; we aren’t going to allow those types of games.

Rule #11: A person is responsible for the spawn of their loins.

If you make a kid, you help support that kid. The adult raising the child pays half of all costs associated with raising that child, including direct costs such as food, and fractional costs such as a share of home maintenance. The other half is paid by the other parent. Visitation is a right and responsibility, unless deemed otherwise by the council.

Rule #12: All people within our borders must pledge or leave. Invited guests are excluded from this rule.

You can’t stay here and just live off the rest of us. Survival and success require work on the part of all parties. I’d give everyone thirty days to opt in or out. If you were out, you were on the road immediately. I would also make all property grants conditional on a number of items; nothing good is free.

Rule #13: Every person is entitled to one day of rest each week. Exceptions occur only on a village level basis.

You get a day off unless something urgent is going on. The hard reality is that planting and harvest season don’t really care if you’re tired.

Rule #14: Every person will contribute to Village projects as directed by the Council.

The answer is ‘Yes, you will be helping to build that.’ We have no room for slackers right now and everyone needs to roll up their sleeves.

Rule #15: These Rules may be changed or amended by edict from Mr. Narrater.

This would last until the situation stabilized. Right now, we remained on war footing and would stay that way until we were strong enough to be secure. So I got to out-and-out change things as I decided they needed to be changed. I wished I could start with a pure democracy but I knew that would fail without the proper infrastructure. We were going with 'this is Narrater’s land and Zachariah Ebenezer Narrater is in charge.'

For now.