It’s so important to understand law and our God-given natural rights in today’s world. When I talk about law, I don’t mean the rules government lays out for us; I’m talking about true Law, which is something that has existed forever, and will exist forever whether you follow it or not.
Natural Law vs Positive Law
Natural Law – a body of law or a specific principle held to be derived from nature and binding upon human society in the absence of or in addition to positive law
Positive Law – law established or recognized by governmental authority
Many people nowadays think that the law is whatever the government tells us to do. They think we should do what we’re told, because otherwise we’d get in trouble and have to pay a fine or maybe even go to prison. These are regulations, or Positive Law, set down for us by authorities.
But there’s so much more to “law” than stopping at red lights and going at green.
Natural Law is ethically binding because of what it is. Because as humans we have a higher standard to live up to, a solid Right and Wrong that is dictated to us all through our conscience. It is written in our hearts. It was created at the beginning of time, and it’ll never be destroyed. We must follow it, simply because we are rational human beings. Deep down we all know that right is right and wrong is wrong. No matter what.
There is one thing, and only one, in the whole universe which we know more about than we could learn from external observation. That one thing is Man. We do not merely observe men, we are men. In this case we have, so to speak, inside information; we are in the know. And because of that, we know that men find themselves under a moral law, which they did not make, and cannot quite forget even when they try, and which they know they ought to obey.
C.S. Lewis – Mere christianity
But I haven’t yet told you what this sacred law is! Quite basically don’t hurt people and don’t take their stuff.
Natural Rights
In order to understand this properly, we need to understand that each and every person has something called Natural Rights.
Natural Right – a right conferred by natural law
When it comes to natural rights, think of them as the inherent freedom you’re born with. These rights are like your favorite pair of comfy pajamas, always there and fitting just right! They’re the fundamental entitlements that every individual possesses, simply by being human. Pretty cool, right?
The whole point of Law is to protect these God-given Rights. Not hurting people and not taking their stuff, is simply respecting other people’s rights.
We all have the right to life, liberty, and property. These are like three essential pillars that form the sturdy legs of a table, providing support and balance.
Life, Liberty, and Property
Life: You can live, and nobody can legally kill you. It means that you have the right to exist and enjoy all the wonders life has to offer. Any man who murders another breaks the law, causing pain not only to the dead man and to all those who knew him, but to his own conscience and mind. Nobody in his senses could possibly be the same after doing such a thing. (NOT SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE!)
Liberty: This means you’re free to think, believe, and act as you wish, as long as it doesn’t harm others. It’s like being the captain of your own ship, charting the course of your life’s adventures. If someone tries to enslave you, or make you do anything against your will, they are not respecting your rights; and are basically a criminal. This rules out the idea that “everything I don’t like must be banned” and “everything I do like must be compulsory”. People may only use persuasion (argument, reason, entreaty, and expostulation) to pursue their goals, and not coercion (compelling others to do what you want by use of threats and force).
Property: This means nobody can take your stuff. That doesn’t just refer to physical possessions but also includes the fruits of your labor and your ideas. It’s like having a secret treasure map leading you to success and prosperity. It does NOT mean we have a right to free stuff, but at least we have the liberty to work for our needs! This also means that you can say what you want to say, go where you want to go, and do what you want to do, as long as you do so on your own property or with the permission of the property owner.
Jim owns his fists. Joe owns his nose. Jim has no right to hit Joe on the nose. If he does, he has violated the natural law.
Government
These rights must be protected, or criminals would ignore it, hurting you and taking your stuff unfairly. That is why people set up an organisation called government. Citizens pay governments to protect their rights, and justly hold bad guys accountable.
At least that’s what they’re meant to do. The trouble comes when governments try to create new laws.
No human being, nor any number of human beings, have any right to make laws, and compel other human beings to obey them. To say that they have is to say that they are the masters and owners of those of whom they require such obedience.
The only law that any human being can rightfully be compelled to obey is simply the law of justice. And justice is not a thing that is made, or that can be unmade, or altered, by any human authority. It is a natural principle, inhering in the very nature of man and of things. It is that natural principle which determines what is mine and what is thine, what is one man’s right or property and what is another man’s right or property. It is, so to speak, the line that Nature has drawn between one man’s rights of person and property and another man’s rights of person and property.
LYSANDER SPOONER
So imagine your neighbour wants your car, and one night she takes your keys and drives off with it. That’s illegal of course! You would call the cops, and there should be a just consequence for your neighbour.
But what if she got her friend Jeff, who is a cop, to help? Would that still be illegal? Of course! Stealing is ALWAYS wrong. It would be the same no matter what they stole – if Jeff stole your car, your furniture, or your money, he would always be breaking the law. Even if the Prime Minister took your car, that’s illegal stealing too!
This might all seem obvious to you, but here’s where it gets tricky: what if wicked, power-hungry people got into government and used it as a method of getting what they want without getting in trouble? No! Surely not! They must have our best interests at heart right?
It would be nice to think so, but in fact, powerful people break the law continually!
Legal Plunder
Legal Plunder occurs when government, the people meant to protect our rights, start to become the criminals themselves! Governments take our money without permission all the time, give it to someone else, and never get in trouble for it! They claim that the law is not applicable to them, because the money taken goes to a good cause – if they didn’t take it, how would our roads be built, and who would help the poor? But what about the fundamental law which says don’t hurt people and don’t take their stuff? If a law allows government to do something the rest of us aren’t allowed to do, it’s not a true law.
“Yeah, but we’re allowing them to do it because it’s safer than fending for ourselves.” you may be thinking.
If you are happy to pay authority to look after you, that’s perfectly fine! You should be able to make your own deal with government.
The problem is, not everybody does agree to pay them for protection. A lot of people would rather not! And no matter what, we all have the right to liberty, which proclaims we should be allowed to make our own decisions.
True government means protecting the natural rights of everybody, not a license for one group of people to violate the rights of others when they please.
But what do you think? Is taxation the same as stealing?
7 thoughts on “Law and Natural Rights”
Yes, yes, YES! This is so good! I have been thinking about this sort of thing for a few weeks, so thank you for answering some of my questions. Just what I was looking for!
The distinction between Government and State is crucial. Governments are born out of a community of people to outsource “some” services. The same people can bring their own business to others. The State works just the other way around: it corces people, all people, to follow arbitrary laws.
And yes, taxation is stealing and it is the only way the State has to force us and enslave us.
Keep writing Renata!
Good for you, Renata! I wish I’d had your wisdom at your age. It took me a long time to to work out these important principles. Once discovered, I have found nothing, during my long life, to make me find them able to be shaken or disproved. Hold your torch aloft and pass it along to others, to light their way. I wish you all the best for your future.
Well said!
I have just read “The Ethics of Liberty” by Murray Rothbard, which lays out these ideas in (convoluted) detail. I got to the end and thought “there were a lot of good arguments in there, but how would I explain it to someone else? What was the key point?”
Thanks for reminding me that “don’t hurt people, and don’t take their stuff” is still the best summary of our innate moral code.
Well said — though I disagree with you about property in “ideas.”
Well said! Notice how no one really tries to argue against natural law, they only argue for more positive laws.
What a splendid essay, Renata. You understand far more at 15 about right and wrong, and natural moral law (positive law too!), than the average American I know of any age.
As you go further, consider the concepts of self-ownership, personal moral autonomy, and the natural individual right of self-determination, and integrate them into the case that you already have in your head as you refine and expand it.
Also, I am confident that this semi-famous two-page thought experiment posed by the late philosopher Robert Nozick in his book Anarchy, State, and Utopia will resonate with you and provoke further thought:
https://fee.org/articles/the-tale-of-the-slave/
Here it is as a PDF:
https://rintintin.colorado.edu/~vancecd/phil215/Nozick.pdf
G’day and good luck!
Bill
Comments are closed.