The Roman Catholic Church was guilty of many abuses in Europe all through the Middle Ages, and I think the people of Europe had good reason to walk away from it. But as they did, they made a massive error: They didn’t replace it with anything better.
The Church, regardless of its errors and crimes, taught virtues to the people of that continent. Medieval Europe became home to a culture founded largely on some very positive values, and you can’t deny that the Church had a hand in that development.
After all, not everyone involved with the institution was corrupt and abusive (in fact, such villains were the minority). A significant percentage of local priests, monks and nuns were decent, caring people, trying to help the people of their diocese. However many and evil the inquisitors were, the number of kind and decent clergy was higher, and they had their effects.
Europe’s error was that they didn’t just reject the Church; many of them rejected everything that was associated with it. The virtues that the Church taught, however poorly, had given Europe a moral core. Those virtues should have been preserved.
The New Enlightenment
Europeans of the 17th and 18th centuries removed themselves from the mental bondage of the Church, much as the current people of the West are starting to remove themselves from the mental bondage of the state. And this got me to thinking…
Are there things that we, in our disgust for the state, might foolishly throw away, like many Europeans did with their cultural virtues?
Honesty, I couldn’t think of much.
A lot of us, from the Tannehills to Murray Rothbard to myself and many others, have written about justice in the absence of state force. That’s pretty well covered.
Roads and fire protection are simple too, and they’ve been covered as well.
The one thing that I could think of beyond these is a Bill of Rights.
A Great Concept, an Inadequate Term
A lot of people think that a Bill of Rights is a statement from a government, outlining what rights they give the people. But in the better cases – such as the US Bill of Rights – that is false. A good Bill of Rights is a set of restrictive statements, detailing what the people do not permit the government to do.
Now, we all know that our US Bill of Rights is broken every day, but the principle is a good one, and the concept itself can be a useful thing.
So, I propose a Free Man’s Bill of Rights. Not a statement of rights that we expect someone to give us, but a set of rights that we will defend. In other words (take notice):
These are rights that we demand and will defend.
* * * * *
The Rights of Free Men and Women
We hold these as inherent and inalienable human rights:
- We are free to do whatever we wish, so long as we extend this same right to others.
- Every individual stands equal to any other person or group. We accept no person or group as inherently superior.
- No person or group has a right to aggress against us.
- We hold the right to defend against aggression.
- Our property is our own, and our will regarding it ought not to be opposed. Any person or group that attempts to counter
- our will regarding our property is an aggressor.
- Our sole obligation to others is to do no harm. Cooperation, compassion, and kindness are positive goods that we choose to
- bring into the world, but so long as we harm no one, we have committed no offense.
- We claim the freedom to trade, to express ourselves as we wish, to move and think as we wish, and to be free of surveillance.
We will defend these rights, both for ourselves and for others.
* * * * *
Please discuss.
Paul Rosenberg
[Editor’s Note: Paul Rosenberg is the outside-the-Matrix author of FreemansPerspective.com, a site dedicated to economic freedom, personal independence and privacy. He is also the author of The Great Calendar, a report that breaks down our complex world into an easy-to-understand model. Click here to get your free copy.]
Those are a good start, but its the “Tragedy of the Commons” that they do not cover. The empathy towards mother earth. There are quite a few human activities that destroy life on earth that fit into those 7 points.
sure reads like staples of the NAP to me,
my question is how does govt on almost any level exist with those 7 bill of rights when the worst abuser of them is govt itself?
“2. Every individual stands equal to any other person or group. We accept no person or group as inherently superior.”
Egalitarian bullshit.
Everyone should be treated equally in the eyes of THE LAW.
Other than that, reality says otherwise.
Richard Wax, I would suggest that you read some of Rothbard’s essays on how the free market would solve many of the environmental issues that you are concerned about. The current narrative is that big business is bad and not concerned about destroying our planet, but in many ways I think that is a false narrative.
For Examply: How much did the negative press from the BP oil spill hurt their bottom line? The narrative is that they didn’t care about the environmental impact to the Gulf of Mexico and just wanted to get as much oil as possible as cheap as possible. While some of that may be true, I think companies understand that being good stewards of our planet can increase the goodwill of their company and result in more long term business, at least they should.
Rothbard makes the argument that we should let people and businesses own bodies of water, I think it’s a good idea and a good way to avoid the “Tragedy of the Commons” issues you are referring to.
JJ3, trusting corporations to be good stewards of our environment is not a good idea. I’m not going to read Rothbard because I think the evidence is clear corporations work for their stockholders, not mother earth. Not all corporations, but the list is way too long for enumeration here. Not all corporations destroy the earth for profit, some like to put the people at risk. Case in point, the hip implant I just had removed. I’ve suffered a lot of pain over the last two years trying not be whinny patient, until I found out that cobalt was leaching into my body compromising all the soft tissue around the hip joint. Come to find out the company actually bypassed the normal FDA approval process and performed no clinical testing. Without a doubt this was done to compete with their competitors product already on the market, for shareholders of course. I like to think that the corporation I work does not hurt mother earth or people. In reality, they do however because of the transition of jobs to India leaving middle-class educated people here in the states hanging. Not a perfect world. In any case, whoever thinks privatizing water rights is a good idea is someone I won’t have a beer with.
Wax
” In reality, they do however because of the transition of jobs to India leaving middle-class educated people here in the states hanging.”
And Unions had nothing to do with that? Or predatory taxation by our wonderful government?
As an example, I remember reading stories about the Unions and the Automobile industry- the car companies were paying Union shitheads to come in and sit on their fat asses, reading romance novels instead of making cars because it was written into their contracts they couldn’t get laid off or canned because of slowed production…. the same Union shitheads who used to weld pop cans into the doors of the cars they were making… then the almighty government comes along and taxes the crap out of the company.
If it came down to paying Union blimps to read romance novels and not work, along with paying off the government, OR leaving for greener pastures, I’m pretty sure I know which direction I would go…
And this: “Case in point, the hip implant I just had removed. I’ve suffered a lot of pain over the last two years trying not be whinny patient, until I found out that cobalt was leaching into my body compromising all the soft tissue around the hip joint. Come to find out the company actually bypassed the normal FDA approval process and performed no clinical testing. Without a doubt this was done to compete with their competitors product already on the market, for shareholders of course.”
Not trying to downplay your situation- that’s a hard row to hoe for anyone, and I’m sure it sucks- but just because Company A puts something on the market, does that mean your doctor/hospital HAS to use it? I’m sure there is more than one company making hip replacements, so that means there is a choice. By your hospital and by you, personally. (If someone were putting replacement parts in my body, I would want that part, and company, vetted as completely as possible before anyone did anything to me- and if there were any alternatives available… but that’s just me).
If there is any blame to be laid, I would lay it at the feet of the hospital who chose that hip replacement for not vetting the product, or the company, properly. If a car company makes a piece of shit car that explodes on impact, you don’t HAVE to buy it. There are other cars on the market.
I assume it is the same with hip replacements, pacemakers, etc..
Billy, you hate unions, I get it. I don’t work for one, never have. Your two hundred percent wrong on who’s to blame on hip implants. The amount of time I spent researching hip implants before the orthopedic surgeon and I made the decision was well beyond your capabilities. I had access to research papers, etc not available to the general public. I over-looked the one detail that allowed them to circumvent the process. My bad, won’t happen again. I can’t imagine how people like yourself with average intelligence fair in this world. I guess jumping to random conclusions is one way.
Wax
Hey, ya know what?
Fuck you.
You sound like a Jew. Last name Wax? Wonder what it was before you all had it changed…
“Your two hundred percent wrong on who’s to blame on hip implants. The amount of time I spent researching hip implants before the orthopedic surgeon and I made the decision was well beyond your capabilities.’
I am SO SORRY Your Majesty. I had no idea I was talking to someone with such AWESOME “capabilities”… let’s see where your awesome ‘capabilities’ go from here.
“I had access to research papers, etc not available to the general public.”
Okay, I’m with ya so far.. your doc fronted you some papers, okay..
“I over-looked the one detail that allowed them to circumvent the process.”
Oh, I see- even with your AWESOME CAPABILITIES, superior intellect and access to Super Top Double Secret Eyes-Only reports on hip implants, you STILL managed to fuck up and get the one hip implant that not only wasn’t approved or vetted, but could cripple you worse than you already were and could possibly kill you…
Nice one, dumbshit. That one TINY detail escaped the laser focus of your research of Top Secret Eyes Only hip implant documents… tried to save a few shekels, hey? Next time you buy a hip implant, don’t go to Crazy Moshe’s Discount Hip Implants and Knish Stand….
“I can’t imagine how people like yourself with average intelligence fair in this world. I guess jumping to random conclusions is one way.”
Says the guy with the gimpy hip implant that’s trying to kill him, despite all his awesome research, “superior” intellect and access to shit that us mere mortals and lowly proles can’t possibly fathom…
You stupid, arrogant fuck. I hope one of the side effects of your cobalt leeching is that your useless dick falls off… Only someone as self-centered as you could think “well, even with all my awe-inspiring intelligence, access to ultra-secret hip implant documents and research capabilities, I still managed to fuck up and choose the wrong thing…. therefore, it HAS to be the manufacturer’s fault! Yeah!”
Just do the world a favor and fucking die already…
That’s what I was trying to expose. It worked. Now go beat your wife.
Wax
“That’s what I was trying to expose. It worked. Now go beat your wife.”
Awww, how cute… gimpy tried to make a funny.
Seriously though, THAT was the best you could come up with? What a disappointment…
Why don’t you just hop a flight back to Tel Aviv and spare the rest of us?
Nice smile Billy
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Billy – the crack sounding like a Jew really makes you seem like an idiot, which you are not. So why act like one? Glad you know what Jews sound like. That is just anti-semitism in its most basic form. When you start frothing, you seem to lose grasp of what is reasonable.
Attack the dumb cunt for being a dumb cunt. Do not attack him for “sounding like a Jew”. That really does just sound stupid.
Again, I am trying to help you out. You have a lot to contribute. Chill on the racism and anti-semitism,
So, Billy sticks with the anti-semitism. Go figure. When intellect fails, he falls back on his prejudices.
Ok, one more shot. Drum roll …..
Nice Smile Billy
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Mr Wax – you douchebag, you have no idea what capabilities folks around here have. The fact that you think yours are superior is proof positive you are an imbecile. We crap bigger than you around these parts, and that includes Billy.
I thought I was one of the smarter monkeys here on TBP
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See Billy, it is simple – attack him for his doucheness. It is both easy and fun. He really has no defence. He reeks of dank unwashed poontang, such is his great doucheness.
Mr Wax, that is your problem – you really should not try and think. Nothing good will come of it. People around here are almost universally smart. Otherwise they would not survive. They really are an extraordinary bunch.
Llpoh, I don’t get it. I have NEVER, (excepting simply being a smartass) said anything remotely derogatory about Jews, but rather about the “Jewish” state and you have flipped the anti-semite finger at me many times over the years. What gives?
Z – you and I are good buddies now. I am willing to admit you were wrong and leave it at that. :).
I will grant you this – perhaps I extrapolated too much. As I have oft said, I really do not care what happens in the middle east. I simply can see both sides, and depending on where you stand, the views are radically different.
I gave you a thumbs up.
Re Billy, I am full of milk and kindness. I think he has an anger management problem where when he gets pissed his brain stops functioning. So maybe we can get him on chill pills.
Llpoh
I am what I am… you know that. You know hurling pejoratives like “rayciss” or “anti-Semite” won’t get any traction with me… those Words of Power lost meaning a long time ago…
I was, in fact, throwing bait in the water with the Jew remark… if I got a hit, it opens a whole ‘nother world of insults I can use.
Unfortunately, you stepped in and scared the fish away…
I thought I was doing quite well, illustrating how fucking stupid Mr. Superior Intellect was by choosing to have something installed in his body that could kill him…. despite the Secret Squirrel Eyes Only documentation he claims to have had access to, his “capabilities” (WTF-ever that means) and his Brainiac-level of intelligence.
I’m starting to think Herr Wax works wherever he does because he got lucky, not because he turned down the job offer from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory….
Thank you Lipoh ,i knew one day you would see my great intellectual abilities.You could add my handsome look and beautiful body.Again thank you.
Billy – if it was an intentional ploy, I applaud your ingenuity. But you see, now, my well honed powers. Mr Wax is well out-gunned around these parts.
You really have not seen a real battle yet. Admin and I have been known to flay each other for days – and the differences in our positions have to be measured with a micrometer.
A fellow that only drops by occasionally these days named Davos and I fought an epic 3 day battle. We are now on good terms, I think.
It ebbs and flows. Z and I have been mortal enemies, but as of late I really am appreciating a lot of his stuff.
Newbies that survive learn a lot. Mr Wax will be unlikely to survive.
Bb – at times you may be an idiot, but damn it, you are OUR idiot, and you have shown great resilience and fortitude. That is commendable.
Billy – I did not understand you were playing with your food before eating it. My bad.
Llpoh
” I think he has an anger management problem where when he gets pissed his brain stops functioning. So maybe we can get him on chill pills.”
I don’t “do” chill pills…
And I manage my anger just fine, thanks. I was reasonably sympathetic with Herr Wax and stated my case that he had misplaced blame. He responded like an arrogant, stuck up piece of shit and insulted me… which pissed me off.
I will confess that something had happened here IRL while this little exchange was going on that had me quite angry, so maybe Herr Wax caught some blowback from that… but only a little.
Whatever he got from me, he earned by being a window licker.
hilarious comments.
Llpoh even welcoming billy into the fold. Not an easy task. Llpoh’s been a “really nice guy” since his trip to Europe. Or was it the joy of firing two assholes when you got back? Or did you visit some of the better red light districts in Europe? Get the pipes cleaned out did ya?
I look forward to billy participating in upcoming shitfests. He’s done a marvelous job holding his own, and fights a good fight. I hope he sticks around.
Llpoh
Playing with my food? Heh… okay, that was funny. Actually got me smiling…
Think of me as kin to Iorek Byrnison…
He’s not a party hound or a joker, either… might even have “anger issues” himself… but not a bad sort and certainly someone you would want on your side in a scrape…
Llpoh
This one’s better…
Billy,
You bagged any of those Al Qaeda terrorists they let in the U.S. that ended up running around in Kentucky?
It appears I brought a knife to a gun fight. I made a few benign comments and Billy makes some wild conclusions based on extrapolations that were obviously drawn from his ideology. I respond, and all hell breaks loose. Kind of funny. I guess you can say I’m using the Nike defense now. Billy, you should be proud that your company on this blog think your the village idiot.
Billy takes anger management classes from the Hulk. Just sayin’.
AWD
“You bagged any of those Al Qaeda terrorists they let in the U.S. that ended up running around in Kentucky?”
One more time…
@ AWD
All right… fuck it…
It was spiderman facepalming because that remark was fucking stupid….
Llpoh, I think I have something to say on whether we are “good buddies.” I shall keep an open mind but shall remain my suspicions. I know how tricky you redskins can be.
Llpoh says:
Bb – at times you may be an idiot, but damn it, you are OUR idiot, and you have shown great resilience and fortitude. That is commendable.
Aww, Mr. Llpoh, I think I love you, here’s a big ole wet kiss from a grateful mom! bb, you be sure and play nice now, and I will treat you to Peter Piper Pizza tomorrow.
“Our property is our own, and our will regarding it ought not to be opposed. Any person or group that attempts to counter our will regarding our property is an aggressor.”
Who OWNS the Earth?
if Monsanto claims “Property Ownership” over the Breadbasket states of the FSoA from Pennsylvania to Colorado, are we “aggressors” to try to take it back from them?
Does Lloyd Blankfein having a virtually UNLIMITED source of FRNs from Da Fed entitle him to Buy Up every piece of Arable Land left on the Earth?
Should the Chinese using their HUGE stockpile of FOREX be able to buy up all of Africa and ship out the food over to China because this is “Their Property”? How is it their property and not the property of the Africans?
RE
Wax
You know, if you actually went back and reread my original post to you, you’ll find where it is sympathetic to your physical situation, and then make my point – Unions suck and here’s why. You yourself say you got no skin in the game when it comes to Unions, but then you launch into this sneering, self-important bullshit laced with backhanded insults “well beyond your capabilities”… “I can’t imagine how people like yourself with average intelligence fair in this world”…
By the way, it’s “fare in this world”… not “fair”… dumbass. How’s that superior intellect thing going for ya? Looking a bit shaky from this end…
Now you come off with this innocent act? “I don’t know what I did… I was just minding my own business and said X and this other guy overreacted and blah and blah and some other bullshit… and by the way you’re the village idiot..”
Same garbage you applied to your hip replacement – “It’s not my fault! I did all the research! I had secret documentation from behind enemy lines! I had internal communications from Hips R Us! My doctor said so! It has to be the dastardly company that made the hip I bought! Even though it was there, plain as day that they did an end run around the FDA and the approval process and I totally fucking missed it, it’s STILL THEIR FAULT!”
There’s a psychiatric phrase for people like you- nothing is ever your fault, ever your responsibility, always blaming others… I don’t know what it is because it’s late and I’m too damn tired to go looking…. but it’s exists. And I have a feeling that it is typical of your generation…
Z – I think the expression is sneaky redskin, not tricky.