The Declaration of Independence announced a universal principle…
Human beings have inalienable rights.
Some of these rights are named in the Constitution’s Bill of Rights, but the Ninth Amendment concedes that no such list can be complete. The rights that governments must honor are innumerable. As empathy evolves and expands, we discover more rights.
This concept of rights was not original to the Founders, but building a government based on it was. Please notice that the idea came first, and the government second. Therefore…
You do NOT get your rights from the Constitution.
Your rights existed BEFORE the Constitution was written. Human rights are “pre-constitutional rights.” If you believe these rights require governments to obey the Zero Aggression Principle, please work with us. Start by subscribing to our email newsletter.
Perry Willis
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Jim Babka
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Many libertarians see the U.S. Constitution as a Hamiltonian grab for power on behalf of a strong central government. The Bill of Rights were appended to it later in the form of amendments to guarantee liberties that the revolutionaries had fought with the British government to secure.
While the Declaration of Independence was among other things,a recognition of existing universal rights, the Constitution was an attempt to shackle the inevitable growth and totalitarian urge of government. The first was successful because its purpose was feasible; the later failed for the opposite reason. It is no blemish upon the brilliance and good intentions of the founders that they failed to foresee how terminology such as “the general welfare” would be fashioned like a wax nose to introduce and justify all manner of evil.
*Sigh* isn’t that the truth, David. If you read Patrick Henry’s reasoning behind not endorsing the Constitution, as well as Samuel Adams and John Hancock’s reasons for wanting a Bill of Rights, you can see how prescient they were. Patrick Henry’s words are practically prophetic. He warned about all three branches of Government and the potential for even the ‘checks and balances’ to be ineffective against Big Government:
http://www.theimaginativeconservative.org/2017/03/patrick-henry-constitution-thomas-kidd-timeless.html
Thanks for the link. I will pass it on. I don’t know about you, but when I suggest that the Constitution is a seriously flawed document, not a binding contract, and consequently I feel no obligation to honor it as such, I get a good deal of blowback from people who normally appreciate my support of freedom and individual liberty. Cheers
WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE GAS LIGHTING GAS BAGS IN THE NEW YORK NEWS MEDIA.
AND THE SOCIAL ENGINEERING POWER MONGER CONTROL FREAKS IN THE TWO BIG PARTIES.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.