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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: koan who wrote (766288)	1/28/2014 2:56:23 PM
From: one_less	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1576097

It depends on your perspective. You don’t like the term “Self Evident,” you don’t like religion either. The first term Jefferson used was “Sacred,” Ben Franklin convinced him to tweek that religious sounding term so the statement wouldn’t be attacked on religious grounds. We all now hold Human Rights to be born in Natural Rights. But how do we know these are Natural Rights? Well, because there is universal agreement that this is obvious (Self Evident). The role of law is to protect Human Rights to the extent it is able. As you know, governmental systems are far from adequate in this regard. Even where the doctrinal code is fairly stated, due to the corruption of human beings, justice is never going to be applied satisfactorily. In their hearts people have always known this. The first attempt to codify human rights was by Cyrus who freed slaves and declared that all people had the right to choose their own religion, and he established racial equality in 539 BC after conquering Babylon. Cyrus was the King of Persia at the time. (See also: The Cyrus Cylinder) Human rights are perfect (as an innate condition of Humanity). The laws designed to protect them are simply the best we can do under the circumstances. The governments held responsible for protecting them are probably not much better than what has been in place throughout history. Sometimes across time and circumstance we’ve done better, and sometimes worse.

To: koan who wrote (766288)	1/28/2014 3:17:25 PM
From: one_less	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1576097

You should know that Hobbes did not believe we are capable of self-rule, because our brutal and deceitful nature will always allow the powerful to force the weak into subservience. He supported a strong monarchy who would rule with benevolence. It was Locke who convinced the enlightenment philosophers that people must have self-rule with no external authority in power, because given the chance they will formulate laws that protect themselves from each other, and from his writings our founding fathers created the great experiment in government we still live under. It is fairly obvious that Jefferson leaned heavily on the writings of Locke when he composed the Declaration of Independence, and that Locke’s influence was wide spread at the time. Locke: Natural Rights "The state of nature has a law to govern it" "life, liberty, and property" Declaration of Independence: Natural Rights "Laws of Nature and Nature's God" "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" Locke: Purpose of Government "to preserve himself, his liberty, and property" Declaration of Independence: Purpose of Government "to secure these rights" Locke: Equality "men being by nature all free, equal, and independent" Declaration of Independence: Equality "all men are created equal" Locke: Consent of the Governed "for when any number of men have, by the consent of every individual, made a community, with a power to act as one body, which is only be the will and determination of the majority" Declaration of Independence: Consent of the Governed "Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." Locke: Limited Government "Absolute arbitrary power, or governing without settled laws, can neither of them consist with the ends of society and government." "As usurpation is the exercise of power which another has a right to, so tyranny is the exercise of power beyond right, which nobody can have a right to." Declaration of Independence: Limited Government "The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations." Locke: Right to Revolt "The people shall be the judge.... Oppression raises ferments and makes men struggle to cast off an uneasy and tyrannical yoke." Declaration of Independence: Right to Revolt "Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes.... But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government." http://www.studyblue.com/notes/note/n/chapter-2-p-37-locke-and-the-declaration-of-independence-some-parallels/deck/3114344