Dear Rob,
You wrote:
Actually, that's what the Constitution and the Judiciary were
supposed to be
for.
If a document, like the Constitution, has the magical power to protect
individual rights, then why not eliminate the middle man and simply
issue a document prohibiting every person from initiating force?
Best, Michael
Of course, a document is an inanimate object. It has no "magical" powers by
itself. But a fully informed populace, aware of their rights under that
document, combined with a Judiciary that is supposed to be just as powerful
as the other two branches -- yes, that's "magical".
--- "Dr. Michael R. Edelstein"
<dredelstein@...> wrote:
Dear Rob,
If a document, like the Constitution, has the
magical power to protect
individual rights, then why not eliminate the middle
man and simply
issue a document prohibiting every person from
initiating force?Best, Michael
This document is meaningless to the many public
officials who 'swear' to 'protect and uphold' this
very document, and as soon as they are done swearing
to uphold this document, they immediatelt begin to
violate it. So much for the magical power of a piece
of paper 'protecting' individual rights, excessive
taxation, and 'limited government.'
Dave Barker.
--- Rob Power <robpower@...> wrote:
Of course, a document is an inanimate object. It
has no "magical" powers by
itself. But a fully informed populace, aware of
their rights under that
document, combined with a Judiciary that is supposed
to be just as powerful
as the other two branches -- yes, that's "magical".
And idealistic!
For one thing, judgment of who is initiation of force is a subjective, particularly with no single rule set to apply.
Cheers,
Steve
OSX freeware and shareware: http://www.dekorte.com/downloads.html
After waking up: 
For one thing, judgment of who is initiating force is subjective, particularly when there is no single set of rules to apply.
Cheers,
Steve
OSX freeware and shareware: http://www.dekorte.com/downloads.html
Steve,
Sorry, I may have mislead you earlier by speaking in favor of
"anarchism." It would have been clearer for me to use the term
"anarcho-libertarianism," since there are many subtypes of anarchism.
For one thing, judgment of who is initiation of force is a
subjective,
particularly with no single rule set to apply.
In an anarcho-libertarian society, the libertarian meaning of
"initiation of force" would apply.
Best, Michael
Can you point me to a clear definition?
Cheers,
Steve
OSX freeware and shareware: http://www.dekorte.com/downloads.html
Yes. In Rothbard's _For A New Liberty: The
Libertarian Manifesto_, he has an excellent section
titled "The Nonaggression Axiom" in Chapter 2.
Best, Michael
Dave,
I would argue that the Constitution is far from meaningless. During the history of the United States, multitudes of bad laws have been struck down as unconstitutional and barred from taking effect. Many others, undoubtedly, never made it to the point of being enacted into law, because of this expected result. Even though a plain reading of the Constitution shows that various levels of government are violating it right and left, with a very few rare exceptions these violations occur within a framework of judicial consent. The Constitution remains, therefore, a powerful tool for limiting government, since any judge or court can, at any time, have an epiphany and choose to interpret the Constitution correctly, with a very, very good chance of government falling into line if the opinion is not reversed by a higher court.
Besides all this, the Constitution remains on the books as the highest law of the land for all to see. It continues to carry enormous moral weight as a constant reminder of lost freedoms and government lawbreaking. In the absence of such a document, Americans would be reduced to relying upon the fuzzy collective memory of society. Anarchists, in mocking the effectiveness of this paper document, would replace it with... no protection at all.
Yours in liberty,
<<< Starchild >>>
I'm afraid I don't have this on hand.
Could you bring this to tonight's meeting?
Cheers,
Steve
OSX freeware and shareware: http://www.dekorte.com/downloads.html