Debian's social contract does define it in a different way than yours, yes. And that is what the commmunity enforced, and it did not fail to do so: the main Debian archive only contains free software and some references to non-free software. That is what was promised, and that is what Debian achieved, without the need for one stubborn head at the top.
You highlight exactly why we need that "stubborn head", be it in a single person or a small group. Debian didn't achive what it set out to, and then tried to redefine its own words. > > Writing down the MUSTs to have the community enforce it > > collectively is better than needing somebody with a stick. > > We already have that written down in the form of the philosophical > sections on the GNU web pages. No? Again, see https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/gnu-misc-discuss/2019-10/msg00002.html How the GNU project will be governed should be raised with RMS, since he is the head of the project, most of the areas that Mark raises are already being addressed or have been addressed.