Since civilization began two great opposing forces have played havoc with mankind. The first is self-ownership, the second is government. For hundreds of years philosophers and jurists have recognized that there is something called natural justice, which I would describe as that interpersonal treatment between human beings that is fair and equal to all; it is universal. This treatment allows each individual several spheres in which he is supreme to act as he sees fit; we call these spheres RIGHTS. The first to mention is the right of self-ownership, the claim to which I established in an earlier blog as:
Without my life, I would not exist, therefore my life is the most important thing that I possess; in a way, it is me. It is more important to me than to anyone else. I am the only one who best knows my needs, my fears, my desires and my dreams; therefore I am the best judge of how to live my life to its fullest. This gives me the strongest claim to ownership of my life
As we all have equal rights to ownership of our lives; none of us can infringe upon others’ lives without their permission. This condemns the use of force on others. Any interaction between individuals can only be acceptable if all parties agree. Blog 03/11/2007
Flowing from this is the right to property that has been lawfully acquired. No one can have self-ownership if he is not allowed to sustain and enrich his life and to do so requires that he has discretion over the resources necessary to do so; ergo has the right to acquire property.
The 2nd force is government, which has no claim to being natural or just. It is an institution, organized and controlled by a small group of people that asserts powers to rule over defined tracts of the earth and all it contains. It claims to have sovereign power to do so and will enforce this with an army, police-force and courts. Subjects obey at the fear of their lives.
The first force depends on cooperation, the second on coercion.
Libertarians have adopted the natural-justice philosophy and in New Zealand Libertarianz is the only political party to do so.
Fast forward to the recent raids by a squad of armed offenders, backed by hundreds of police, against alleged trainee terrorists, bears out the havoc mentioned earlier. These ‘aspiring terrorists‘ allegedly planned acts of terrorism across the country to overwhelm the police-forces. It will be months before those charged appear before the courts and little is known about the charges laid thus far. Of course governments can pass any law to make any action illegal but if natural justice is to prevail, and that is the function of the courts, then we will see the whole affair quietly disappear, just like untold other dire events that were supposed to make our lives perilous and governments necessary.
Without my life, I would not exist, therefore my life is the most important thing that I possess; in a way, it is me. It is more important to me than to anyone else. I am the only one who best knows my needs, my fears, my desires and my dreams; therefore I am the best judge of how to live my life to its fullest. This gives me the strongest claim to ownership of my life
As we all have equal rights to ownership of our lives; none of us can infringe upon others’ lives without their permission. This condemns the use of force on others. Any interaction between individuals can only be acceptable if all parties agree. Blog 03/11/2007
Flowing from this is the right to property that has been lawfully acquired. No one can have self-ownership if he is not allowed to sustain and enrich his life and to do so requires that he has discretion over the resources necessary to do so; ergo has the right to acquire property.
The 2nd force is government, which has no claim to being natural or just. It is an institution, organized and controlled by a small group of people that asserts powers to rule over defined tracts of the earth and all it contains. It claims to have sovereign power to do so and will enforce this with an army, police-force and courts. Subjects obey at the fear of their lives.
The first force depends on cooperation, the second on coercion.
Libertarians have adopted the natural-justice philosophy and in New Zealand Libertarianz is the only political party to do so.
Fast forward to the recent raids by a squad of armed offenders, backed by hundreds of police, against alleged trainee terrorists, bears out the havoc mentioned earlier. These ‘aspiring terrorists‘ allegedly planned acts of terrorism across the country to overwhelm the police-forces. It will be months before those charged appear before the courts and little is known about the charges laid thus far. Of course governments can pass any law to make any action illegal but if natural justice is to prevail, and that is the function of the courts, then we will see the whole affair quietly disappear, just like untold other dire events that were supposed to make our lives perilous and governments necessary.
