Thank You John Locke

The rule of nature asserts that a human can protect themselves and their family by whatever means necessary and use the natural resources they find, to promote and protect themselves and their family.  This is all well and good while there is only one family on earth, and even then it becomes complicated when there is more than one child in that family.  If there is only one adult human on this planet and that adult is accompanied by a single partner it is unlikely that they will fight over resources.  Hopefully the Earth holds enough for the two of them to coexist peacefully.  If those two adults have four children, two male and two female, and the four children form partnerships and have children, it is still unlikely that the sibling couples will fight over resources, again, with the entire world to gather from.  But if they do, I think it is fair to assume that they can go to their parents to help them successfully resolve their disputes.  But as the years pass and the children’s, children’s, children’s, children whatever, become embroiled in disputes, at some point the Great-great-great-great-etc. first ever parents will be dead, or at the very least overburdened with duties, so they will not be able to settle every dispute, and at this point rules/laws will have to be laid down and judges will have to be appointed/elected and committees formed and punishments meted out and things will be very complicated.

Today, every inch of land is spoken for and all of the earth’s resources are coveted, and the rule of nature is no longer viable.  Today, to be safe and successful and to protect your family and the products of your labor you can’t just rely on yourself or your family, you have to belong to a group.  And to be accepted into a group you have to go by the group’s rules.  You can change groups if you wish but you can’t just ignore the group’s rules and expect them to protect you, and you can’t live on your own and make up your own rules.  It’s too late for that, even if your name is Adam and/or Eve.

So chose a group, learn the rules and work within the system to change what you disagree with or feel is no longer applicable, or just plain don’t like.  But don’t try to make up your own rules.

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How is being human different from being any other animal? Humans are born free, and humans believe that the rest are here to either serve humans or be resources for the promotion and well-being of humans.  Humans are born helpless and remain so for many years.  Like animals, humans are born irrational.  Because humans are born helpless children should expect to be sheltered, fed, protected and educated until they reach the age of reason.  All other animals are born irrational and to a great extent, stay that way.  As the product of their parents the burden of bringing up a child falls on the parent’s equally.  It is up to the parents to restrain and correct children when they act on their irrational impulses.

Adults are humans that have reached the age of reason and are expected to be rational.  They are responsible for themselves but can neither take their own life nor let someone else take their life.  Adults have the right and the duty to take what they need from nature to prosper and protect themselves and those in their care.  Irrational adults, acting as animals, can and should be incarcerated, punished and even executed to protect rational adults and children.  If you treat rational adults as objects, if you act like an animal, (an irrational, instinct driven brute) then you can be treated like one.

Humans group together because the many are stronger than the one.  The purpose of groups, therefore, is to protect and provide for the few (the minority) and the weak against irrational brutes.  This act of coming together for strength makes for complications.

The wealth and physical well-being of the individual is supplemented by their labor.  The addition of labor to natural resources changes them and makes them more valuable and the enhanced natural resource now belongs to the laborer.

A small group is cohesive.  Conflicts within the group are adjudicated by someone everyone trusts.  The group comes together to protect itself from outside forces, to be stronger than any one individual could be.  When groups grow too large for an individual leader to effectively command they need written laws and appointed or elected; leaders, representatives, and judges.  If the group grows large enough these positions become full time jobs and the people in them need to be supported by the group.  The rules that govern the group are there to protect the individuals not restrain them.  The rules protect the individuals rights not take them away.  Surplus can be either an undesirable or desired complication of large groups.  An isolated person, family or small group generally struggles to survive and would never waste the time to produce a surplus that would go to waste.  Waste is irrational and serves no purpose.

Child Care Hierarchy

Most primitive –      Young are born fully formed and on their own from birth.

                             Young are protected for a few days.

                             Young are protected and fed by mother.

                             Young are protected and fed by both parents.

                             Young are protected, fed and taught survival skills.

                             Young are protected etc. for two or three years.

Humans-                Young are cared for until the age of reason.

Reasonable (rational) adults want to be treated with respect and treat others they way they want to be treated, but what we consider reasonable depends upon what we were taught as we grew to the state of reason.

Slavery: no one would put themselves into a state of slavery.  Slaves have no control over their life and no one can be born into slavery, we are all born free and are not indebted to anyone for the actions of our parents or guardians.  The only way to rightfully become a slave is to start a war and loose.  Once conquered, the losing individuals give up their right to freedom.  They acted irrationally by starting an unprovoked war and are held accountable for it but the children and nonparticipating spouses of the enslaved warriors did nothing to have their natural born freedom taken away.  Once the children of enslaved warriors reach the age of reason they are free and are to be judged by their peers as to how well they go by the rules/laws of the society they are in and are free to use their labor to provide for themselves and their family.

If you partake of ANY benefit of government you give tacit consent to authority of the government, its rules and laws.  Said government is restricted to the powers it is given by the people.  If you do not want to go by the rules of a group you can change groups or you can try to find a place where there are no established rules and go back to the rules of nature where you rely solely upon yourself for EVERYTHING.

Thank you John Locke for writing; Two Treatises of Government.