Really: no thank you, Mr. Pecker. Or, how to leave a relationship gracefully.

What if, by the time everyone living in the United States turns 18, he/she/they publishes a personal moral code (on medium, on instagram, on snap, or as an amazon list, by God!), with at least three tenets that will apply to one’s own life going forward? What if this became part of the American way?

What would your three element moral code contain today? Will it change over time? Would you have some of the same elements as your birth family? Would you and your partner share similar moral codes?

No matter how you were brought up or who raised you, some authority figure probably gave you some suggestions of precepts to include in your personal moral code. Perhaps these came from a parent, or from your church, or from a teacher. Many of us are taught from an early age that one’s word is everything. That lying is wrong, and that promises are made to be kept. The idea of ‘personal rules to live by’ is ancient. And whether you live by the Ten Commandments, have borrowed from Churchill’s moral code, or have a moral code that you sketched out yourself as a teenager and modified over time, moral codes might be good for everyone to have — a lighthouse providing guidance when things become foggy, and a way to make our society better overall for many people.