`` for those of you who do n't know , '' he said , politely addressing the room in general , `` the soil improvement league , aka the sil , is a loose association of people who have been quietly overseeing most of the work of getting people up top accustomed to the ideas of thinking for themselves , of freedom , of compassion ; whatever they could do to open them up to the possibility of the government being returned to sane operations , in nation states instead of global rule , with the focus on protecting inalienable rights , instead of trampling them .