Philosophy Of Government

Basic Philosophy and Theology

The New Hampshire Constitution has similar language in it. It begins, "All men are born equally free and independent," and continues in Article 2, "All men have certain natural, essential, and inherent rights - among which are, the enjoying and defending life and liberty; acquiring, possessing, and protecting, property; and, in a word, of seeking and obtaining happiness."

These statements are inherently philosophical and, in the first case, theological. The theological foundation of the Declaration of Independence is that the Creator (God) created people as equals, no one or group of them in some kind of natural position of authority over others. The philosophical conclusion, whether or not our equal creation is credited to a Creator, is that it is moral for people to treat each other as natural equals and immoral to do otherwise. Naturally, we have equal rights and should respect the equal rights of others. For a good discussion on injustice, 'negative' rights, and the law, see Bastiat's "The Law."

From our equally created state we can derive philosophies of consent and the zero aggression principle. For an introduction to the Zero Aggression Principle (sometimes called the Non Aggression Principle), see this Wikipedia article. The thought behind the Zero Aggression Principle is natural and academically well supported.

Philosophy of Government

While practical concerns cause debates about what really constitutes the protection of life, liberty, and property, I tend to favor the 'less is more' approach. I favor laws that punish criminals who actually commit acts of force and/or fraud against other people and/or their property. I favor enforcing those laws consistently. Beyond that, I favor voluntary interactions among citizens to solve the myriad of social problems we face.  To see how these ideas are applied to specific issues, see the issues page.