It Is Dangerous to Be Right When the Government Is Wrong - Andrew P. Napolitano [13]
If we are to live forever in a legal system founded on Positivism, then we can only hope that we will have laws which, coincidentally, happen to be just. But there is another way, the way of the Natural Law: Rather than be content to follow the will of the truncheon, we can choose to listen to those words which enunciate truth, and our Founders’ promise that those truths will not be denied by government.
This book is about the titanic battle between adherents of Positivism and believers in the Natural Law; stated differently, between Big Government and individuals. As we shall see, the danger that befalls individuals inevitably comes from the government. The government makes it dangerous for us to be right when it is wrong.
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Chapter 1
Jefferson’s Masterpiece:
The Declaration of Independence
When I think about current mainstream sentiment, that the federal government can regulate all personal behavior, right and wrong, protect us from every catastrophe, take care of us from cradle to grave, and tax any activity, I wonder: When did Americans lose their way? How have we as Americans strayed so far away from the ideals which brought about the American Revolution? Do most Americans even know that the American Revolution was not the war for independence but instead the cause of the war for independence?
John Adams explained in a letter to H. Niles in 1818 when he wrote, “But what do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American war? The Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations.”
What were these duties and obligations that changed in people?
The Revolution before the Revolution
What exactly was this Revolution that occurred in people’s minds, who started it, and when? Many people consider the British philosopher John Locke to be the grandfather of the American Revolution. Locke was the father of what was formerly called Liberalism; he was one of the most important Enlightenment thinkers, and in 1689 he published his two most influential essays entitled The Two Treatises of Government. The second of these two treatises was An Essay Concerning the True Original, Extent, and End of Civil Government.
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The Freest Nation in the World: The United State of Nature
In his second treatise, Locke traces the evolution of man from when he is born in a state of nature, to being part of an organized society governed by the laws of nature. Locke starts off his theory with a description of the state of nature; where all men are born equal, free, in possession of certain natural rights, and governed by the natural law of morality. This theory of equality means no one has rights that are superior to any others’, and these natural rights are rights that are possessed by all people, given by our Creator, as a consequence of our humanity.
Societies will form naturally because individuals will come together in an attempt to acquire various goods and property, which will inevitably lead to conflict because of man’s fallible nature. It is for this reason alone that governments will form, with their only roles being the protection and preservation of every individual’s natural rights, and the only way the government gains this power is through the consent of the individuals involved. According to Locke, if governments abuse their powers, or if individuals do not consent to their governance, it is the right of the people to revoke their consent or to alter or abolish the government. What is the role of government today? Did anyone actually consent to this government? Where and how do you go about giving your consent, do they even ask for it, is it assumed that you implicitly consent, and more importantly, how do you revoke that implied consent?
Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right
As we can see, our liberties, rights,