Democracy currently offers two choices: Right or Left, Blue or Red, Rich or Poor, Bosses or Workers. As long as government represents sectional interests, each seeking advantage at the expense of the other, we will never have Good Government. And indeed, that government has failed us is widely recognized. Time now to start from basic principles and ask: What is government for, what should we expect of it, and can we produce a form of governance for everyone, without class or sectarian bias?
Freedom is an ideal to which we all aspire. But absolute freedom implies the freedom to restrict or eliminate the freedom of others. The best we can do is to maximize freedom, and this we achieve when we all accept certain limitations on our individual freedoms so that we do not infringe the freedom of others.
The idea is well summarized by one of the 20th century’s leading figures in British justice, Lord Denning, in his book The Family Story: “Each man should be free to develop his own personality to the full; the only restrictions upon this freedom should be those which are necessary to enable everyone else to do the same.”
To describe this concept of shared, limited freedom we use the word of Latin-Roman origin: Liberty. The universal maximization of Liberty requires in our personal relationships, in business and commerce and in our use of natural resources, that we respect others as we would have them respect ourselves. It favours no class or sectional interest at the expense of another; it is universal in concept, affording equal justice to all.
The interpretation and application of this Principle of Liberty in terms of everyday events and conditions is the function of Government. “The purpose of Government is to prevent men from injuring one another”. Thus Thomas Jefferson in the clear, straightforward language of his time.
More specifically, the Principle of Liberty requires Government to identify and define those actions leading to the injury of others, and so prevent them through appropriate Laws and Enforcement. It is a protective function, ensuring that a person suffering injury at the hands of another can have recourse to remedy and protection in law.
But Government should go no further, for governance beyond protection becomes oppression. And the process of governance must be executed with due attention to productivity, a concept familiar to every commercial enterprise requiring efficiency of operation and the minimum of waste.
Thomas Jefferson summarized these ideals in his first Inaugural Address given on March 4th, 1801:
“A wise and frugal Government,
which shall restrain men from injuring one another
yet leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement,
and which shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned:
this is the sum of good Government necessary to complete the circle of our felicities”.
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The Principle of Liberty is indeed a high and noble ideal. But can a Principle such as this be defined with sufficient precision to act as a guide for our everyday laws? Is it capable of useful and practical application to the needs of a complex society? The answer in both cases is positive. Read the book. It’s all here.
THE PRINCIPLE OF LIBERTY
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Governments are among the most wasteful,
the least productive of any organization yet devised by man.
They get bigger, and more expensive, by the day.
Better Government - less cost
Governments govern people.
Constitutions govern governments.
We need more of that!
DOWNLOAD THE BOOK:
Constitution: History, Theory and Practice
SPECIAL: THE NUMBER ONE ISSUE NOW
The Banking System Un-Masked
How the banks have brought down themselves,
our economy and our government.
Roads, bridges, piped water, electricity, telecommunications....
these are vital components of a nation’s infrastructure.
But outweighing them all in importance is a properly functioning monetary system.
Our present economic/financial system doesn’t work.
It is open to, and frequently subjected to extreme abuse,
and fails to provide support for industry and development.
It requires fundamental reform if it is to deliver the prosperity of which it is capable.
**DOWNLOAD THE BOOK:**
FINANCIAL REFORM for STABILITY and GROWTH
Yes 2 Growth
No 2 Austerity
ECONOMICS and PROSPERITY
Liberty and Economics
Applying the Principle of Liberty
The Basics and Crises of our Banking System
How it should work, and where it went drastically wrong.
The Four Phases of Capitalism
Private, joint stock, casino, and whiz kid.
Regional Investment Banking
for stability and economic growth.
Housing: Affordability and Forecolsure
Stabilizing the property market.
Quality + Productivity = Prosperity
Maximizing quality and productivity: a universal goal.
Millionaires and Unemployment
Our economic system demands a permanent degree of unemployment.
Man cannot live by debt alone.
Government and personal debt: the twin demons which haunt and burden our lives.
Prosperity - Anti-prosperity
We create prosperity in industry, then lose it in non-productive overheads.
Globalization - Localization
Importing is fine, but we need to produce something in exchange.
ENVIRONMENT
Environment - Conservation
Lifestyle, transportation, urban and rural planning.
Private car versus public transport
Public transportation brings new opportunities in urban development.
LIBERTY and CONSTITUTION
Personal Liberties - Transparency
Control of government accounts and productivity.
Government by Principle
A clear principle acts as discipline on government.
The Evolution of Governance
Monarchy to Minority - Left and Right - Government in Decline
The Search for Right Law
Liberty and the Principle of Liberty
CONSTITUTION
Ideals - history - theory
The City of ALBUQUERQUE
institutes new moves towards open government.
POLITICAL POWER CHOICES
Which would you choose for a brave new world?
The U.S. CONSTITUTION
Was it Stillborn?
What is Democracy?
Democracy - its meaning and significance today.
The Age of the Common Man
It’s the Age of People Power, the internet and the end of hierarchies.
No Government, President or Monarch, no institution of Law or Enforcement
should be created or be allowed to exist and to function,
no one should have power over others,
unless and until that power and the conditions of its use
have been fully, clearly and strictly defined.
www.Governing Government.info
Financial Reform for Stability, Growth and Prosperity.
Yes it’s possible, and it’s not rocket science.
www.ProsperityEconomics.org
Where there is Injury, there must be Protection.
Where there is no Injury,
there is neither cause nor justification
for the interference of law and the exercise of its power.
THE ART OF GOOD GOVERNMENT:
Protection without Oppression
Editor Michael Sartorius
www.arton.co/sartor
internet arton publications
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