The Proper Role of Government

My political philosophy begins with the idea that every human being owns themselves and has a right to do what they please with their own body so long as they do not interfere with someone else's equal right to their own person. Whether that person be born or unborn, young or old, of any race, religion, or gender. It is the natural liberty of the individual that I hold as the basis for all rights. Conscious life is not something given, but chosen. As humans beings with the gift of reason, we become conscious of ourselves, control our actions and have the ultimate decision of whether to live our lives to the fullest, given our personal nature, or to live according to the dictates of nature and of others. The latter has been the unfortunate condition of mankind for much of its history. But in the United States in America this has been enshrined for over two centuries in the Declaration of Independence as ¨we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.¨

From this self-ownership comes the right to keep what we make with our person. A society based on private property and mutual exchange ensures the most peaceful social arrangement, and the only one compatible with natural liberty. Protection of what is ours in our person and property allows for self-improvement to our higher faculties. A free society is essential for virtue, as the reach towards the highest good differs from person to person. But the overriding principle is that of happiness. The system of private property and voluntary exchange guarantees that whatever an individual’s definition of happiness may be, my course of pursuing it will not stifle them.

The purpose of government is to protect this liberty fundamental to the development of the angels of our nature. In a state of unlimited liberty, there is the constant threat of voluntary action which takes away our life, liberty, and property depriving us of the essence of our existence. Government’s primary role is prevent harm to others, consisting in the initiation of physical force against others. This includes murder, theft, bodily hard among other things. From this right derives the right of individuals to enter into contract with each other, cementing voluntary agreement into law to facilitate cooperation. As we make these contracts, there is the constant threat of one party not holding up their side or agreeing to the contract on false pretenses. To this government must prosecute fraud, of deliberately misleading a party to a contract.

In our time, government has grown far beyond the principle of protecting our natural, inalienable liberty described by the Declaration of Independence as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. My principles of government allow for a far smaller government which provides national defense, courts, police, and the provision of public goods individuals are not able to provide by contract like infrastructure or education. I add to these basic provisions the principle of subsidiarity, government should be done at the most local level possible. Government is always the use of force from one person over another and should be as close to the individual it is using force against.