Protection without Oppression

Good Government should protect people from exploitation and oppression; equally important is that government should not itself create oppression by intrusive laws, nor exploitation through government waste and inefficiency.

The Principle of Non-Injury can be defined with a degree of precision which creates its own disciplines on government by restricting law between the twin confines of obligation and limitation.

The purpose of law is to prevent injury, and the identification of an injury either actual or potential obligates government to initiate the legislative process. The formulation of legislation which will prevent that injury either totally or as nearly as practicably possible will conclude the process. That defines government obligation.

The limitation upon law is that without a clearly identifiable injury caused by one person or party against another, there can be no law. Thus government-initiated intrusive or oppressive laws cannot pass. In the words of John Stuart Mill, "The only purpose for which power can rightfully be exercised over any member of a civilized community against his will is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant."

The adoption of such a clearly defined Principle affects the process of legislation and government, as well as the very status and function of legislators.

Both obligated, and limited in their actions, Legislators become Interpreters of the Principle, the legislative process directed not to satisfying the demands of sectional interests, but to the honest and consistent interpretation of the Principle based on a clear understanding of it. Legislators become the servants of justice, not the manipulators of it.