Yes, We Can Know

I try to write a new essay for each major holiday commemorating the ongoing fight for freedom, specifically Independence Day and April 19th, Patriot’s day. Usually my essays center on the experience of the men and women who committed their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to that fight, or the reasons for such a commitment.

With three days until Independence Day, doing a cut and paste of an old topic seems a little…old, maybe? Unworthy of such a holiday? While one of my goals in life is to make people appreciate the bravery and ideals of those who choose to risk everything for the freedom of themselves and their fellow man, it seems a little trite to do the same thing, over and over and over, and expect it to carry the same impact.

So, I’m going to ask you, instead of envisioning yourself as a warrior of the first American revolution, or the second, or a warrior of the Warsaw ghetto, or as a Branch Davidian, to imagine your reaction to a series of events.

What would be your reaction upon being told that someone was going to kill you?

What would be your reaction upon being told that someone was going to imprison you for ten years?

What would be your reaction upon being told that someone was going to take one fifth of all the money you would ever make?

I think I can speak for everyone when I saw that the first thought through any normal person’s head, for each of those three scenarios would be “That’s not fair.” “That’s wrong.” “They can’t do that.”

The reason those thoughts would be universal is because each one of those scenarios is evil. And this exposes a fundamental truth of the universe – no matter your culture, no matter your religious affiliation, no matter your upbringing, we all know what is right, and what is wrong. Beneath this lurks an even more basic truth – there is such a thing as right, and such a thing as wrong.

Good and evil are solid, concrete concepts, and they are applicable to all areas of human behavior. Yes, we CAN know if an action is good or bad.

I’m not talking about right and wrong as religious concepts here, I’m talking about them as human concepts. Good and evil are too important to be burdened with labeling the wearing of clothing of two separate threads, or women covering their hair. Right and wrong, good and evil are not about exerting capricious control over human interaction, but rather give worth to human interaction.

Imagine a universe where killing a man on a whim carried the same moral weight as defending one’s family. Where imprisoning a man for ten years on a whim carried the same moral weight as devoting one’s life to the cause of fighting fires. Where stealing a person’s money carried the same moral weight as giving your own money to charity. What a sad world that would be. What a horrible place to live. Can you imagine anyone electing, of their own free will, to live in such a world?

I can’t. Good and evil are separate. Without the necessary distinction between the two, there is nothing about life that is worth living. There is nothing worthy or valuable about humanity if not for the distinction between right and wrong.

It would likely be true to propose that the mere absence of such a distinction would be evil as well, for evil is always possible, in fact it is usually easier than good. It is the CHOOSING of good over evil that is admirable and worthwhile in human interaction.

So how can we tell if an action is good or evil, right or wrong?

Go back to those three questions I asked you. How would you feel about being killed for no reason? Imprisoned for no reason? Having your property taken for no reason?

The answer here is ownership.

We all own our own bodies. This is the most basic law of human existence: My life is my property. No one else has any rightful claim over it. No one has any right to dictate what I do with it. If I own nothing else in the world, I own the body my consciousness inhabits, and it is evil to take that from me, unless doing so will prevent me from visiting evil upon another. It is simply wrong, in all instances, to kill the innocent, to take life from anyone in any circumstance where they are not actively perpetrating evil. Every culture worthy of the title has recognized this since humans first organized themselves into groups. The TAKING of innocent life is always wrong.

If I own my body, I own my time on earth. There’s only so much of it, unfortunately, and each precious second can only be lived once. This is only a shade of difference away from owning my own life. If it is wrong to take innocent life, it is also equally wrong to take a person’s time. I may trade my time, voluntarily, for things that I need, there’s nothing wrong with that. Food, clothing, shelter, whatever luxuries and pleasures make life enjoyable. Other people have decided its worth their brief time on earth to create such things and trade them for things they want or need, and they believe this trade is worth that time. I believe the trade is worth my time as well. And here we recognize a similar form of evil to that of destroying innocent life – the taking of an innocent person’s time. Society has a word for this, and that is slavery. It may be a worse evil, as it can only be perpetrated upon threat of death.

Similarly, if I own my life, and the time it is on earth, I own the objects, items, and services I trade my valuable time for. In taking the property I’ve traded my time for, I’m being denied the fruits of my life. Taking my property is no different than forcing me to trade my precious time for…nothing. It’s exactly the same as taking that time, that energy. Government and the thief have the same modus operandi here – the taking of property can only be accomplished through the threat of force.

This is the essence of rights, distilled. All rights flow from property. From ownership. I own my body. I own the time I spend on earth. I own the fruit of my labor; that which I create with my own hands, or trade my time and labor for.

From the ownership of self and property come all the rights we presently enjoy. Religion, press, defense, jury trials, everything.

I have the right to worship any god, or no god.
I have the right to speak my mind.
I have the right to print whatever I wish.
I have the right to gather together with other people.
I have the right to defend all other rights against anyone who’d practice evil.
I have the right to keep my property from being used without my consent.
I have the right to keep my property from being searched without reason.
I have the right to a public trial.
I have the right to not be tried twice for the same offense.
I have the right to refuse to testify against myself.
I have the right to keep my property from being taken without my consent.
I have the right to a quick trial.
I have the right to have a jury trial.
I have the right to know any crimes with which I am charged.
I have the right to face my accuser.
I have the right to present witnesses in my own defense.
I have the right to an attorney.
I have the right to fair bail.
I have the right to not be tortured.
Any other rights, not listed belong to me as well.

Those are the rights listed in the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution, otherwise commonly known as the Bill Of Rights. There is an important distinction to be made here – these rights are not GRANTED by the Bill Of Rights. They are listed, ENUMERATED, in the language of the day.

This is not a national matter. This is not a federal matter. This is not a state matter, or a county matter, nor a city matter. These are human rights, belonging to every person on the planet.

The violation, of any of these rights, performed against an innocent person, is ALWAYS evil. The Founders of America believed this, recognized this, and they fought a long and bloody war against their own government to defend these rights. And they passed on this belief in the form of the Fifth Amendment in the Bill Of Rights: “nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” This is a fact. Ironclad.

Those 13 words validated the fact behind the United States Constitution, the highest law of the land – that government is the biggest violator of human rights, EVER. Those 13 words justified severe limitations placed upon the United States government – the only government in history defined more by what it could not do than what it could. Those 13 words, acting in conjunction with the remaining 9 amendments guarantee the free exercise of all human rights.

We can know what is right, and what is wrong, at all times. Good and evil can always be ascertained simply by looking at whose property it effects.

Or you can look at the inviolate human rights listed in the ten amendments to the United States Constitution. Same thing, really.