INTRODUCTION The quark theory of hadrons, although mathematically very satisfying and originally very simplistic in nature, has led to a large number of particles, (six quarks and a large variety of gluons and heavy bosons), with an assortment of colors and flavors, none of which have really been observed directly. Along with this collection has come an assortment of related theories to explain phenomena such as the weak interaction and other decay processes.

There has been no satisfaction about the apparent inconsistency about the amount of matter and antimatter in the universe, about the fact that the magnitude of the charge of an apparently indivisible electron appears to be the same as that of that of the proton, which is a combination of particles with fractional charges, and about the apparent lack of conservation of quantities such as strangeness and charm in weak interactions and decays. As with any theory that is first developed to explain previously observed phenomena, lore builds up whereby subsequently observed physical phenomena are made to fit the theory. When a theory approaches this point in its evolution, a new approach is needed. This article presents such an approach, one based on a reexamination of generally accepted physical observations.

All detectable elementary particles decay into smaller particles, with the final result being an electron or positron, some neutrinos and photons, protons and nucleonic neutrons. Even free neutrons decay into protons and leptons and there is some conjecture that the protons themselves may even decay into something smaller. All of the proposed proton decays result in decay products that eventually decay in turn into electrons, positrons, neutrinos, and photons.

It is proposed herein that all matter actually consists of combinations (bindings) of basic leptons and antileptons (electrons, positrons, neutrinos, and antineutrinos). It is proposed that conserved properties such as electrostatic charge, baryon number, isospin, strangeness, and charm are actually carried by these basic leptons. Neutrinos, instead of being the mere waste particles of the weak interaction, are proposed as fundamental constituents of all matter. The forces involving neutrinos are traditionally characterized as "weak" and neutrinos do not generally interact with other matter. A more appropriate term for the leptonic binding force is probably "short", however, because it is the force that actually binds matter together. It must be exceedingly strong at short distances to contain the necessarily large amount of bound kinetic energy of the very light leptons. When the basic observable particles are examined, binding rules that support the observed decays, subject to conservation of the number of basic leptons, are suggested herein. However, the mathematics to support such bindings, sort of a quantum leptodynamics, is not not discussed.