Philosophy of Law & Government

1. Principles of Government
2. Essential Principles for the Conservation of Liberty
3. Philosophy of Government Compared
4. Citizen Compact
5. New Constitutional Proposal

Principles of Conserving Liberty Compared to Present Law

HOW THESE PRINCIPLES WOULD AFFECT PRESENT LAW:

These principles, which ensure the preservation of liberty, would prohibit many forms of existing law. The following examples of unjust law are provided, accompanied by the various fundamental rights which are violated by the enforcement thereof:

ECONOMICS:

1. Any printing of paper money, private or public, without 100% asset backing (violation of the right of OWNERSHIP of those holding existing currency having previously exchanged real assets for such currency).

2. The existence of the Federal Reserve, with bank regulatory powers, and debt monetization powers (violation of right of free CONTRACT to form independent, unregulated banks; debt monetization functions are a corruption of OWNERSHIP rights of holders of existing currency).

3. Commerce commission regulations restricting free entrance into any business pursuit, fixing of prices, and controlling routes (violation of rights of CONTRACT and OWNERSHIP).

4. Anti-trust laws, when mutual cooperation and joint action is purely voluntary (violation of CONTRACT rights).

5. All laws regulating employee-employer conduct, that is not fraudulent, or mandating benefits or taxes as a condition of employment (violation of LIBERTY, CONTRACT, and OWNERSHIP rights).

6. Union shop and forced collective bargaining laws (violation of employer's right of CONTRACT and OWNERSHIP rights, as well as right of LIBERTY of non-employed persons to freely bid for a job invitation).

7. Health and safety regulations, as a prohibition of business activity and where enforced by coercion, where non-consenting persons are not affected (violation of right of SELF-RESPONSIBILITY to take risks, and the right of CONTRACT to accept risk).

8. Restrictive licensing as a requirement to engage in professional services (violation of the right of right of the purchaser to be SELF-RESPONSIBLE for the risks of dealing with unlicensed persons; also a violation of both party's right to CONTRACT). Prosecution of fraudulent practices in violation of professional contracts would be encouraged by these principles.

9. Any wage, price, rent, or interest rate controls (violations of LIBERTY, CONTRACT and OWNERSHIP rights).

10. Any government restriction of international or interstate trade between willing partners, except where such trade would assist an enemy of these rights (violation of rights of CONTRACT and OWNERSHIP).

11. Any involuntary taking of property for so-called "eminent domain" or "public purposes" (violation of right of OWNERSHIP).

12. Any government mandated zoning or land-use restrictions not involving direct damage to other's property rights (violations of OWNERSHIP). Voluntary restrictive covenants would be proper under the principles.

13. Any laws giving powers to form cities which coercively include properties of non-consenting owners (violation of OWNERSHIP, LIBERTY and CONTRACT rights).

14. Any law prohibiting a US citizen from hiring foreign persons as long as the citizen is willing to accept the full responsibility for that person (violation of right to CONTRACT).

TAXATION:

1. Any taxation without a citizen-government contract (violation of LIBERTY, OWNERSHIP, CONTRACT and ASSOCIATION rights).

2. Any laws mandating that persons or business entities collect taxes for the government without compensation (violation of LIBERTY, OWNERSHIP, CONTRACT rights).

3. IRS tax code, Income tax laws (violation of right of PRIVACY, DUE PROCESS. The latter representing the taking of PROPERTY without contractual consent).

4. Use of tax funds to benefit special interests (job training, unemployment compensation, welfare, food stamps etc. ) without the consent of the giver (violation of CONTRACT, OWNERSHIP).

5. Inheritance taxes (violation of OWNERSHIP, and right to dispose of one's property without penalty).

6. Involuntary participation in Social Security taxes (violation of right of OWNERSHIP, CONTRACT, and SELF-RESPONSIBILITY for retirement).

7. Any tax law that is not completely uniform to all users of the service (violations of the principle of equal JUSTICE under law).

8. The use of tax funds to promote partisan views not held by all of the taxpayers (violation of rights of OWNERSHIP, BELIEF)

CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAW:

1. Any law excusing criminal action by reason of insanity (violation of SELF-DEFENSE rights of members of society). This does not mean they are necessarily subjected to the same punishment as crimes committed with full intent, but rather, that members of society can demand restrictions upon the future actions of those insane persons who have violated others rights.

2. The involuntary incarceration of mentally ill or insane persons who have committed no crime or who do not represent an imminent and pernicious threat to others (violation of LIBERTY, PRESUMPTION OF INNOCENCE).

3. Any laws releasing criminals from responsibility for their acts when technical violations of the rights of the accused occur (violation of SELF-DEFENSE rights of the people, and the citizen-government contract to uphold those rights). The better solution is to prosecute both the criminal and the officer who violated his rights, but to each according to the seriousness and damage caused by the respective offense.

4. Bankruptcy laws (violation of CONTRACT and OWNERSHIP rights of the creditors).

5. Limitations on prosecution of treason to a declaration of war (violation of SELF-DEFENSE rights of every individual citizen).

6. Laws prohibiting capital punishment for those proven to be an imminent threat to others by multiple or heinous offenses (violation of SELF-DEFENSE contract implicit between citizen and government).

7. Laws restricting the right of victims to restitution (violation of principle of JUSTICE that victims be restored to prior condition to the greatest extent possible).

FOREIGN POLICY:

1. Any foreign aid, loans, or loan guarantees to other nations (violation of OWNERSHIP rights of non-consenting taxpayers). Voluntary contributions would be acceptable.

2. Any military incursions outside national boundaries not in verifiable defense of the fundamental rights of US citizens (violation of the defense purpose of Government and the OWNERSHIP rights of those non-consenting persons who were forced to pay in taxes for the military action). Defending the rights of others would have to be on a volunteer basis unless the threatening power had also shown its intent to ultimately violate US freedoms.

3. Any monetary support or future commitment, with taxpayer funds, of international organizations who are in any way hostile to our national sovereignty or these fundamental rights (violation of defense role of government).

4. Any treaty or agreement which would subject our laws, citizens, or properties to international arbitration without the specific consent of the US parties directly affected (violation of the citizen government contract to defend citizen rights).

5. Any treaty or agreement failing to defend US citizen rights and properties from any threat, foreign or domestic (violation of defense role of government).

6. Any public or private trade with communist governments or persons under the influence of such governments that has openly expressed opposition to these rights (constitutes aiding and abetting an enemy and is a violation of defense role of government).

PERSONAL RIGHTS:

1. Civil rights legislation prohibiting private limitations of association for any reason (violation of right of CONTRACT, ASSOCIATION, BELIEF and free JUDGMENT).

2. Any law mandating public or private preference for special minorities not merited by free negotiation between contracting parties or uniform standards of performance (violation of equal JUSTICE under law).

3. Any restriction on the right of any association of belief (including religious beliefs) to influence government to the degree such influence is exercised by the equal rights of all citizens (violation of right to act on the right of BELIEF when not treasonous or coercive).

4. All laws prosecuting individuals for voluntary actions where no victim is capable of being specifically defined and visible to the law (violations of LIBERTY, CONTRACT and ASSOCIATION)

5. Any laws prohibiting persons from taking health, safety or financial risks, or laws mandating that persons take certain actions for their own benefit when failure to do so does not coercively affect others (violation of right of SELF-RESPONSIBILITY and freedom to fail).

6. Any restriction on the unlimited right of persons and associations to financially or otherwise support political causes and candidates, not of a treasonous nature (violation of LIBERTY).

7 Any restriction on the free movement of citizens not guilty of treason or criminal actions.

8. Any support or funding of abortions of convenience (violation of right to LIFE).

9. All compulsory school attendance laws, school and teacher certification laws (violations of rights of PARENTAL or SELF-RESPONSIBILITY FOR EDUCATION, and rights of LIBERTY, and CONTRACT).

10. All laws giving public schools a monopoly on the use of property taxes or other taxes from the general funds of state or federal governments (violation of principle prohibiting use of general taxation for special interests, the fundamental right of OWNERSHIP, the freedom to CONTRACT with other schools without financial penalty, and the right not to subsidize the promulgation of objectionable beliefs and values taught therein).

CONCLUSION:

These principles of liberty and statements of the fundamental rights of man should leave you with a great sense of hope and inner peace, knowing that we are capable of discovering, with the help of God, those ultimate standards which will enable us to live at peace with other men of good will. But, with all the progress represented here, these principles do not yet place all the difficult questions of law into fixed legal language. There are still many conflicts in life that will have to be decided by human judgment. We must take great care in the training and development of wise men to serve as legislators and judges.

In an even larger sense, we must never fail in our sacred obligation to train up our own children in the defense of these principles. I know of no school, public or private, where the full range of truth in these matters is taught. Shallow references to patriotism and nice stories about American history will not suffice in the sophisticated and piecemeal decline in liberty that we presently suffer.

Toward the restoration of our liberties, I submit to you, in conclusion, a Declaration of Sovereignty, setting forth in the classical style of Thomas Jefferson, the essential elements of freedom, our general grievances against tyrannical government, and a declaration of our individual and family sovereignty. It is a signature document, and I encourage you to sign it as a personal pledge toward our mutual understanding and joint dedication to a renewal of liberty and justice for all.

THE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS OF MAN

Joel M. Skousen

DEFINITION:

Fundamental rights are those rights to act, or to be, which all persons can do or possess simultaneously without compelling any other person to provide a service or tangible asset.

1:

RIGHT TO LIFE

THE RIGHT TO LIFE ITSELF FROM CONCEPTION TO NATURAL DEATH, EXCEPT AS A CONSEQUENCE FOR A CRIME AGAINST THE RIGHTS OF OTHERS.

COROLLARY RIGHTS relating to man's innate ability to think, believe, and reason:

A. The right of FREE THOUGHT and JUDGMENT on the individual worth of ideas, people and things. Every individual is unique, possessing different capabilities and characteristics which may vary from time to time according to the correctness of one's desires, thoughts and actions. Therefore, in a free society, individuals must be free to judge another's worth according to the merits as he alone perceives them, without restraint or coercion, and to act upon such judgment in each person's rightful economic, social and intellectual arena.

B. To BE FREE to BELIEVE according to each person's conscience, without restriction, except when actions based upon that belief would violate the fundamental rights of others.

2:

LIBERTY

THE FREEDOM TO ACT WITHOUT EXTERNAL OR PRIOR RESTRAINT WHEN THOSE ACTIONS ARE NOT IN DIRECT AND HARMFUL CONFLICT WITH THE RIGHTS OF OTHERS.

COROLLARY RIGHTS:

A. To be solely RESPONSIBLE for one's own health, life, education and safety. It is, therefore, not the right or duty of other men, whether by individual or government force, to coerce men to act in any way they may deem beneficial for another's welfare, when failure or refusal to so act will not directly or harmfully affect others outside covenant and contractual relationships. This includes the right to take PERSONAL RISKS without prior restraint as long as others, who are not bound in a voluntary contractual relationship with knowledge of those risks, are not involved.

B. To engage in any ECONOMIC ACTIVITY desired as long as such activity does not involve compulsion upon others or the assistance of an enemy of these fundamental rights.

1. To engage in voluntary CONTRACTS, written or verbal, without restriction or regulation except where direct and harmful non-contractual consequences to others occur; and to enforce such contracts, which are unfulfilled, where real consideration in the form of labor, assets or other property was given.

2. To unrestricted SELECTION and PURCHASE (from a willing seller) of all available goods and services desired, whether deemed good or bad by others, whether domestic or imported, except where such purchase, possession or use will infringe upon the rights of others, or directly assist an enemy of these rights.

3. To circulate and negotiate any tangible asset or sworn evidence thereof as money or a MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE as long as it is voluntarily accepted by another and fraud and misrepresentation are not present.

4. To PUBLISH any written, photographic, or electronic material, as long as others are not involuntarily exposed to such material on their own or contractual property.

5. The right to state any opinion about another person or product without providing proof or evidence as long as such statements are labeled clearly as opinion.

C. To ASSOCIATE with other persons without coercion as long as that association is desired by all parties, does not constitute a direct and harmful threat to another's rights, and where such association is not in violation of the desires of the property owner.

1. Individuals may PEACEFULLY ASSEMBLE in groups without criminal or treasonous intent as long as private property rights and free movement on public property are not infringed or impeded.

D. To DISASSOCIATE with other persons without public reason or justification (but one cannot expel anyone from his presence except on his own or contractual property)

E. To be FREE to WORSHIP God according to the dictates of conscience, and to extend one's highest allegiance to Him. No individual or government power may, therefore, rightfully coerce a person to subordinate his ultimate allegiance to God to any earthly power, though an individual may voluntarily do so. In the opposite sense, no man may be compelled to acknowledge God or worship him.

3:

OWNERSHIP

THE RIGHT TO OWN, DISPOSE OF, AND CONTROL ALL PROPERTY AND ASSETS WHICH ARE EARNED BY THE HONEST FULFILLMENT OF VOLUNTARY CONTRACTS, RECEIVED AS A GIFT, INHERITED, OR EARNED IN PROPORTION TO THE APPLICATION OF ONE'S LABOR TO UNOWNED PROPERTY.

COROLLARY RIGHTS relating to or restricted to ownership and property rights:

A. To BE FREE FROM BEING ACTED UPON or involuntarily influenced in a harmful manner, when on one's own or contractual property and not directly and harmfully affecting the rights of others.

B. To exclude all persons not desired from one's own property.

C. To make any WRITTEN OR VERBAL EXPRESSION, on property within one's ownership or control, whether for personal or commercial intent, without prior restraint or restriction of the distribution thereof, except when acting so as to destroy or deny to others some fundamental rights.

D. To act in PRIVACY, within one's own or contractual property, free from search, seizure, regulation and internal surveillance except when acting to infringe upon, or destroy another's rights.

4:

SELF-DEFENSE

TO DEFEND ONE'S PERSON, RIGHTS, AND PROPERTY AGAINST ANY OVERT AND IMMINENT THREAT, AND TO USE THE MINIMUM, APPROPRIATE FORCE REQUIRED, OF THE ALTERNATIVES IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE AT HAND, TO ELIMINATE SUCH THREAT, WHEN NO IMMEDIATE RECOURSE IS AVAILABLE TO ASSISTANCE OR CONSTITUTIONAL ADJUDICATION.

This includes the right to defend oneself against the aggression of other persons acting unconstitutionally as a majority within a government with the intent to take assets without prior consent or otherwise deprive any person of these fundamental freedoms.5:

FAMILY RIGHTS

FAMILY POSSESS TOTAL SOVEREIGNTY OVER FAMILY AFFAIRS THAT DO NOT INFRINGE UPON OTHER'S RIGHTS AND THAT DO NOT CONSTITUTE AN IMMINENT THREAT TO THE LIFE OF THE CHILDREN THEREIN

There exists a natural covenant relationship between parent and child, beginning at conception, that is binding upon the parents and requires them to assume the ultimate responsibility for child care, safety, and education until the child arrives at an ability or desire to be responsible for self.

However, in deference to the voluntary covenant relationship which generally involves the sacred act engendering a child, governments should never be granted power to intercede in the affairs of parents and children as long as parents are not proven guilty of physical abuse, or extreme negligence which threatens the life of the child, as clearly defined in constitutionally restricted law, and in no case against the will of the child, when at a sufficient age to speak and have knowledge of the facts, he or she expresses an uncoerced desire to remain with one or both parents.

Children have the right to demand of their parents, minimum CARE, AND PROTECTION until reaching an ability, or desire to be self-sufficient--as long as the child is not acting in rebellion with the requirements of his parents which do not constitute extreme physical cruelty, or gross negligence, as defined in constitutional law. Such definitions shall not include normal physical discipline such as spanking which does not break the skin or cause permanent physical harm.

Parents have the right to ultimate RESPONSIBILITY and AUTHORITY for the health, education, and welfare of their dependent CHILDREN without interference or prior restraint from government, except when proven guilty of gross physical cruelty, or gross negligence, as defined by constitutional law, and where the child does not object to such government interference, as provided above.

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