 |
|
|
 THE LIBERTARIAN ENTERPRISE Number 822, May 17, 2015 Maybe they're just stupid
What IS a "Political Statement"?
Special to L. Neil Smith's The Libertarian Enterprise What IS a Political Statement? In philosophy, the study of politics is the study of interpersonal relationships, i.e. the study of how people interact with each other[1]. A particular political system will be a result of—a reflection of and guided by—a particular code of ethics or morality. A dominant form of morality (usually held implicitly) is selflessness and altruism and that leads to a political system with some form of authoritarianism. The Covenant of Unanimous Consent is explicitly guided by and a reflection of the ethical/moral principle contained in the Non-Aggression Principle. In the context of this article, a Political Statement takes the form of written rules—reflecting a particular ethics and morality—by which a group of people agree or are expected to conduct their relations with each other. Those who do NOT "agree" are usually ignored, ostracized or persecuted. In the Covenant of Unanimous Consent they are simply warned what to expect if they violate the Precepts of the Covenant. For comparison, some other notable political statements (and their links[6]) include: Exodus 24:12,13:
Moses' Ten Commandments ALL of the above political statements, except Moses, suffer the failings noted in the first sentence of the Covenant and also noted in the article A Written Constitution: Protecting the State from the People[2]. They (those forms of political Governance) rely upon "other", delegated people for enforcement—and that is their Achilles' Heel. The Covenant of Unanimous Consent reintroduces the idea of personal responsibility instead of relying upon "other", delegated people (government) to "make", care for and enforce sensible and rational laws. 1986: The Covenant of Unanimous Consent Why is a Political Statement Needed? Galt's Oath and the libertarian Non-Aggression Principle[3] are moral/ethical principles. The basic or minimum requirement for peaceful interpersonal relationships[1] is understanding and adhering to the Non-Aggression Principle (NAP), a very simple MORAL/ethical concept that is even readily understood by most children. But sometimes moral statements are not sufficiently explicit or not easily applied to particular situations. Because of varying education levels (there will ALWAYS BE children coming into adulthood), understanding the full consequences of moral statements and/or applying them consistently can become problematic. In larger groups of people, applying moral statements consistently becomes increasingly problematic—especially when modern-day sophists specialize in deliberately distorting and delight in twisting the meaning[4] of even something as simple and rational as the Non-Aggression Principle. Minimum requirements for living peacefully amongst other people do NOT require a person to be "fully rational" nor to understand what moral/ethical principles ARE, nor even to understand what principles are! Education levels vary enormously as do levels of rationality! A characteristic of Political Statements—and a reason why they exist—is that they are more explicit than moral statements and consequently, are less vulnerable to innocent and/or malevolent "interpretations" and deliberate distortions and twisting. That important point is worth repeating: Rules of Conduct, such as a Political Statement or the last five of Moses' Commandments, are MORE SPECIFIC AND CONCISE and considerably LESS ABSTRACT than moral principles, and are therefore less subject to misinterpretation and less liable to deliberate manipulation. The Covenant of Unanimous Consent is a five point Political Statement of interpersonal relationships based on and explicitly derived from the single moral principle in the Non-Aggression Principle.
Who would Use It? The Covenant of Unanimous Consent Footnotes:
[1] See What *IS* The Bare Minimum...? for more details: [2] A Written Constitution: Protecting the State from the
People [3] Galt's Oath and the libertarian Non-Aggression
Principle [4] Even something as simple and concise as the NAP can be a
target for distortion. See In
Defense of Non-Aggression [5] http://tinyurl.com/Index-to-Covenant-Articles [6] Links to historical political statements:
* What IS a Political Statement was originally published on
Dennis Wilson's web/blog/forum at http://tinyurl.com/Political-Statement
where additional supporting material exists and will continue to
be added when it becomes available. Thoughtful comments are
solicited.
Permission to redistribute this article, or any portion of it,
is herewith granted by the author—provided that appropriate
credit is given.
Just click the red box (it's a button!) to pay the author
This site may receive compensation if a product is purchased
|
|
|
|
Previous
Contents
Next
