“Respect, Equity, Solidarity”

Hello everyone,

The APROFED association is coming back to you this week on the country’s identity signs.

Following on from these first two articles on the name of the country and the common flag dated February 27 and March 3 of this year (see An agreement for a federated state of Kalédony – APROFED and Proposal for a common flag – APROFED ), the association aims to define today the PRINCIPLE of the country, generally going hand in hand with the motto, which aims to define the values, the set of moral rules governing the way of acting of someone, of a group and which it respects scrupulously.

Indeed, if New Caledonia already has a motto: “Land of Words, Land of Sharing”, like France (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity), corresponding to a thought, a feeling revealing a rule of life for an individual or a group, the fact remains that the territory does not have a principle. That of France, as a reminder: a government of the people, by the people and for the people, taken up by the American president Lincoln during a speech in 1863.

To this end, the association proposes to take up the proposal of Veylma Falaeo, of Eveil Océanien, current president of the Congress of New Caledonia, who in a press article in August 2024 (see “Surprise”, “vote of hope”, “new era”… Reactions of the political class to the election of Veylma Falaeo | Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes ) recalled that Oceania is not for us an ethnic group, but a way of life, a way of being, a state of mind, and above all, values ​​which echo those of the (French) Republic  : respect, equity and solidarity.

The association therefore proposes for the country, the principle of: RESPECT, EQUITY, SOLIDARITY, in view of what these notions represent.

Respect , first of all, as:

      – feeling of regard, of consideration to have towards an individual or something,

      – ability to consider what has been stated and accepted in the past and to draw conclusions from it in the present,

      – the act of considering something as right and not undermining it, not violating it.

Equity , then, corresponding to:

      – a natural feeling of right and wrong,

      – absolute respect for what is due to everyone,

      – a situation in which everyone has the same opportunities from the start, meaning that those who are disadvantaged are helped more than others,

– natural justice on the rights of each person,

Equity should not be confused with equality. Equity implies that everyone has the same assets, which can lead public authorities to treat citizens unequally, favoring those whose initial assets are fewer.

Solidarity , finally, aims to :

      – the relationship between people which entails a moral obligation of mutual assistance,

      – to make a group work together for an action or process,

Solidarity consists of a social duty, a humanitarian feeling of mutual aid which leads individuals to think of themselves as links in the same chain.

The first letters of each of these words ( Respect , Equity , Solidarity ) form the word RES, meaning “the thing” in Latin , which qualified any concrete or abstract reality perceived or conceivable as a unique object, what is, what exists, what is real, what can be thought, affirmed.

This term is found in particular in the formation of the word Republic (Res Publica) or public thing aiming to conceptualize the governing principle in terms of the good of the people.

This notion of RES thus refers to the State, to the general interest, to the way of governing and to the thing that all men have in common.

Similar to the word REX meaning king, sovereign, this principle would thus consist of being above all, applying to all and whose power would not be limited by that of any others.

The association therefore renews its proposal to apply as a principle in the country the values ​​of: Respect, Equity, Solidarity, which could concretely be applied within society in a concrete way by the implementation of measures such as :

– a universal civil citizen service compulsory for every inhabitant of the territory from the age of majority to replace military service, of a duration equivalent to the latter, and which can be renewed each year for a period of one week, by participating voluntarily in associations,

– the establishment of social justice , such as social security in the medical and social fields, which would consist, on the same operating principle, of allowing each individual, particularly the most disadvantaged, to have easier access to justice,

– the implementation of a genuine , simpler principle of patronage, in order to enable the development of associations and foundations at the local level, which can compensate for the lack of intervention by public authorities in certain sectors and enable the hiring of people, no longer being confined to simple volunteering, and the development of the so-called solidarity economy ,

– etc.

The APROFED association