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The Purpose of Government:
to serve or to enslave?
The bedrock of a free society is private ownership of property.
The whole purpose of government is to protect the rights of the citizens, not to take them away.
The greatest threat to our lives, property, freedom, and security is not foreign policy, illegal aliens, overpopulation, nuclear attack, war, drugs, pornography, drive-by shootings, gangs, gun ownership, smoking, second-hand smoke, school violence, censorship, immorality, homosexuality, prostitution, child abuse or molestation, crime, or natural disasters. It is our government!
How one uses what one has determines its value. A gun in one man’s hand can save his life or someone else's if he uses it for that purpose; if used to end his own life or that of an innocent person, however, the gun is used for a destructive purpose. The gun is only the tool with which to serve a man's purpose; the man who is holding a gun in his hand, however, will determine in which way the gun will be used. Clearly, the gun itself is neither good nor bad, only thinking makes so.
A law is a good one when it protects the rights of the individual; it is a bad one when it violates the rights of the individual.
Laws passed for "thd good of society", "in the public’s interest", "to protect the children", "for the welfare of the people", are laws that tend to violate the rights of the individual; any law that violates the individual’s rights serves to strengthen and empower the government. Therefore, the legislation of victimless (consensual) crimes is passed, not to strengthen or empower the individual, but the government.
Private property was the original source of freedom, and is still its main bulwark.
Laws which protect individuals from unprovoked force and fraud are justifiable; however, the vast majority of laws have nothing at all to do with protection of lives or property.
There would not be more criminals than there are prisons if there were not more laws than there are crimes.
Government should leave people alone unless they are aggressing against someone; regulations limit an individual's choices, especially their choices about what to do with their property.
As Thomas Jefferson said, it is far better to be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.
It is the policy of the American government is to leave its citizens free, neither restraining them nor aiding them in their pursuits.
Law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the right of an individual.
People should not be forced into conformity with any social blueprint; their private plans should not be overridden in the interests of some national plan or social goal. Government - the public power - should never be used for private advantage; it should not be used to protect people from themselves. Well, then, what should the law do to peaceful, innocent citizens? It should leave them alone! When government lets John Doe alone, and punishes anyone who refuses to let him alone, then John Doe is a free man.
When is it right for government to use force? The traditional answer is that when the individual has initiated force, as in a robbery, rape, or murder, then the use of force is justified, both to restrain him and to deter others from doing the same thing. When the state acts in this defensive way, it plays a force-reducing role, lowering the sum total of violence in the world. So, let it not be forgotten that the only role of government is to protect the rights of the individual, and when the purpose of government is thus served well, the condition of society improves.
It has been proven throughout history that the more laws a nation has, the more rampant crime runs within it; the less laws a nation has, the less crime in that nation. Contrary to what most people think, it is the excess of laws that cause excess of crime.
Are laws necessary? Of course they are! People who disrespect other people's property or their lives do not follow laws, and that is why innocent, peaceful citizens need laws.
Historically, the most important value in Western civilization is the idea of individual liberty. The human person was looked upon as God's creature, gifted with free will which endows him with the capacity to choose what he will make of his life. This is our inner, spiritual freedom and it must be matched by an outer and social liberty if man is to fulfill his duty toward his Maker. Creatures of the state cannot achieve their destiny as human beings; therefore, government must be limited to securing and preserving freedom of personal action within the rules, and the rules must be designed to maximize liberty and opportunity for everyone.
Unless we are persuaded of the importance of freedom to the individual, it is obvious that we will not bother to structure government around him to protect his private domain and secure his rights. So, the idea of individual liberty is the key.
If the political agency is to serve a moral end it must not violate the moral code. The moral code tells us that human life is sacred, that liberty is precious, and that ownership of property is good. And by the same token, this moral code supplies a definition of criminal action; murder is a crime, theft is a crime, and it is criminal to abridge any person's lawful freedom. It is the essential function of government, then, in harmony with the moral code, to use lawful force against criminals in order that peaceful citizens may go about their business. The use of lawful force against criminals for the protection of the innocent is the earmark of a properly limited government. Standing in utter contrast is the State's use of tyrannical force on peaceful citizens, whatever the excuse, or whatever the rationalization. It's the contrast between defense and aggression, between the rule of law and oppression.
It is government, not individuals, that should be limited in its ability, because when government gets too big, it is unable to perform its proper role, which is to use lawful force against criminals in order that peaceful citizens may go about their business.
