We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. . . .
A nice statement of the fact that rights are inherent in individuals and are neither created or granted by government. Government can infringe upon those rights, but even in the most oppressive society, those rights exist, regardless of what the government says.
Yes, those are the words from our Declaration of Independence. However, they don’t have the force of law (the 1st Amendment does, at least for now). Nor are those words recognized by other countries. For them, the UN declaration is as close as they come. And like almost everything else the UN does, they aren’t worth the paper they’re writen on. Of the 200 or so countries on Earth, how many have anything close to true freedom of speech?
I’m not citing it as legal authority, just as a good statement about where rights come from.
Legally speaking, there’s an argument to be made that the Civil War ended much of the philosophical underpinnings of the Declaration–secession is broadly considered to be a dead letter, even though that’s the whole point of the Declaration. Weakening the states’ role in the federalist system that way led to massive expansion of the federal government (to be sure, other forces were at work as well).
But isn’t prohibiting folks from attacking free speech a violation of their free speech rights? 🙂
Who said anything about prohibiting free speech (Non-Sequitur.) I realize you were going for a joke. Didn’t work.
Of course, their free speech is liable to get others speaking so freely they get a visit from the secret service.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. . . .
A nice statement of the fact that rights are inherent in individuals and are neither created or granted by government. Government can infringe upon those rights, but even in the most oppressive society, those rights exist, regardless of what the government says.
Yes, those are the words from our Declaration of Independence. However, they don’t have the force of law (the 1st Amendment does, at least for now). Nor are those words recognized by other countries. For them, the UN declaration is as close as they come. And like almost everything else the UN does, they aren’t worth the paper they’re writen on. Of the 200 or so countries on Earth, how many have anything close to true freedom of speech?
I’m not citing it as legal authority, just as a good statement about where rights come from.
Legally speaking, there’s an argument to be made that the Civil War ended much of the philosophical underpinnings of the Declaration–secession is broadly considered to be a dead letter, even though that’s the whole point of the Declaration. Weakening the states’ role in the federalist system that way led to massive expansion of the federal government (to be sure, other forces were at work as well).
But isn’t prohibiting folks from attacking free speech a violation of their free speech rights? 🙂
Who said anything about prohibiting free speech (Non-Sequitur.) I realize you were going for a joke. Didn’t work.
Of course, their free speech is liable to get others speaking so freely they get a visit from the secret service.