What, then, is law? It is the collective organization of the individual right to lawful defense.
Each of us has a natural right to defend his person, his liberty, and his property. These are the three basic requirements of life, and the preservation of any one of them is completely dependent upon the preservation of the other two. For what are our faculties but the extension of our individuality? And what is property but an extension of our faculties? If every person has the right to defend even by force his person, his liberty, and his property, then it follows that a group of men have the right to organize and support a common force to protect these rights constantly. Thus the principle of collective right its reason for existing, its lawfulness is based on individual right. And the common force that protects this collective right cannot logically have any other purpose or any other mission than that for which it acts as a substitute. Thus, since an individual cannot lawfully use force against the person, liberty, or property of another individual, then the common force for the same reason cannot lawfully be used to destroy the person, liberty, or property of individuals or groups. Such a perversion of force would be, in both cases, contrary to our premise. Force has been given to us to defend our own individual rights. Who will dare to say that force has been given to us to destroy the equal rights of our brothers? Since no individual acting separately can lawfully use force to destroy the rights of others, does it not logically follow that the same principle also applies to the common force that is nothing more than the organized combination of the individual forces? If this is true, then nothing can be more evident than this: The law is the organization of the natural right of lawful defense. It is the substitution of a common force for individual forces. And this common force is to do only what the individual forces have a natural and lawful right to do: to protect persons, liberties, and properties; to maintain the right of each, and to cause justice to reign over us all. If a nation were founded on this basis, it seems to me that order would prevail among the people, in thought as well as in deed. It seems to me that such a nation would have the most simple, easy to accept, economical, limited, nonoppressive, just, and enduring government imaginable whatever its political form might be. Under such an administration, everyone would understand that he possessed all the privileges as well as all the responsibilities of his existence. No one would have any argument with government, provided that his person was respected, his labor was free, and the fruits of his labor were protected against all unjust attack. When successful, we would not have to thank the state for our success. And, conversely, when unsuccessful, we would no more think of blaming the state for our misfortune than would the farmers blame the state because of hail or frost. The state would be felt only by the invaluable blessings of safety provided by this concept of government. It can be further stated that, thanks to the non-intervention of the state in private affairs, our wants and their satisfactions would develop themselves in a logical manner. We would not see poor families seeking literary instruction before they have bread. We would not see cities populated at the expense of rural districts, nor rural districts at the expense of cities. We would not see the great displacements of capital, labor, and population that are caused by legislative decisions. The sources of our existence are made uncertain and precarious by these state-created displacements. And, furthermore, these acts burden the government with increased responsibilities. The Complete Perversion of the Law But, unfortunately, law by no means confines itself to its proper functions. And when it has exceeded its proper functions, it has not done so merely in some inconsequential and debatable matters. The law has gone further than this; it has acted in direct opposition to its own purpose. The law has been used to destroy its own objective: It has been applied to annihilating the justice that it was supposed to maintain; to limiting and destroying rights which its real purpose was to respect. The law has placed the collective force at the disposal of the unscrupulous who wish, without risk, to exploit the person, liberty, and property of others. It has converted plunder into a right, in order to protect plunder. And it has converted lawful defense into a crime, in order to punish lawful defense. How has this perversion of the law been accomplished? And what have been the results? The law has been perverted by the influence of two entirely different causes: stupid greed and false philanthropy. Let us speak of the first. >From The Law by Fredric Bastiat. Vjk --- In [email protected], "Sasan Sadat-Sharifi" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Bob, > Why do you view Liberty as a service to be provided by Government? The > sole purpose of Government is to RESTRICT liberty in the name of some > collective good. Since the collective good of 300 million individuals > can never be defined, these restrictions always end up doing more harm > than good. > ---Sasan > -------------------------------------------------- > > --- In [email protected], "Bob Giramma" <evil_spock@> wrote: > > > > The claim is, "Liberty is for everyone or for no one. Words like > 'citizen' > > or 'foreigner' are used by governments to set people against one > another in > > the real struggle - free men against government. Libertarians need to > > dispel the awful notion that certain rights only apply to Americans." > > > > Well, I agree that liberty is for everyone. But it's not the > responsibility > > of Americans, through our government, to provide liberty or rights for > > anyone other than Americans. If Mexicans or Cubans or Chinese > people want > > to be free, then they can either demand it of their government or ask > > Americans, through our government, for permission to live freely > among us. > > They have no more right to live in our country than they do to live > in my > > home. > > > > I have property rights, among them is my share of the piece of property > > called America that I own collectively with other Americans. Let those > > without US citizenship apply to become legal shareholders of America and > > thus be able to live here. To the extent it enhances the freedom and > > prosperity of Americans, we can decide who enters and who doesn't. > > > > As Bruce says, the reason we have an American government is to > maximize the > > freedom of Americans. Many aspects of illegal immigration have a net > > negative impact on my liberty. > > > > _____ > > > > From: Bruce Cohen [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Sent: Sunday, January 13, 2008 12:31 PM > > To: [email protected] > > Subject: Re: [Libertarian] Better news on the LP release front > > > > > > The American Government's job is to maximize > > freedom for AMERICANS. > > > > That's it's charter and that's what the vast majority > > (over 90%) of Americans want. > > > > The fact is, Libertarianism, in its core principles > > is for minimizing government to the point where > > it's a net gain of freedom. > > > > Libertarians believe Government is a necessary > > tool, intended to improve the net amount of > > freedom for all citizens of that government. > > > > I also think that building a bastion, a bulwark > > of freedom and prosperity here, will provide > > an inspirational model for other people and > > other governments to emulate us. > > > > Or... > > We COULD throw open the borders and > > bring the whole mess down. > > > > chris fields <wastedwhiteguy6978@> wrote: > > > > Liberty is for everyone who is willing to work for it. You can't steal > > liberty you have to earn it and it's definitely not free. > > > > Susan Hogarth <[EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:hogarth%40gmail.com> com> > wrote: On > > Jan 9, 2008 8:48 PM, chris fields <wastedwhiteguy6978@ > > <mailto:wastedwhiteguy6978%40yahoo.com> yahoo.com> wrote: > > > ... > > > We are a country of liberty for our citizens, not for foreigners > who come > > > here and live off of our system and contribute nothing in return.... > > > > This strikes me as dangerous nonsense. Liberty is for everyone or for > > no one. Words like 'citizen' or 'foreigner' are used by governments to > > set people against one another in the real struggle - free men against > > government. > > > > Libertarians need to dispel the awful notion that certain rights only > > apply to Americans. Every human being on the face of this planet has > > the exact same rights. > > > > -- > > Susan Hogarth > > http://www.collieth <http://www.colliething.com/> ing.com > > > > > > > > > > --------------------------------- > > Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! > Search. > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _____ > > > > Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find > > > <http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=51734/*http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/c > > ategory.php?category=shopping> them fast with Yahoo! Search. > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > >
