Among the governance principles that modern thinkers have recovered in their search for long-term thinking, few carry more moral weight than the Seventh Generation Principle of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.

Chiefs of the Haudenosaunee, the people of the Longhouse whose Great Law of Peace influenced the framers of the United States Constitution, were required to weigh every significant decision against its impact on descendants seven generations into the future, roughly 150 years ahead.

The question guiding every deliberation was this: what will those who come after us have?