Natural law is a living thing which is what makes it sometimes so subtle and hard to pin down and define in the written word just as living things are. This is why the Great Teacher says the real law is written on your heart, a living thing. We feel what is right in our hearts if we are listening to what it says and not deceiving ourselves and believing the lies of those who have a reason to deceive. That is why it is almost impossible to just make a list of specific commands and write them on stone tablets. Like the ancient laws Moses is said to have given the Israelites it eventually devolves into a long long complicated list of prohibitions and prescribed punishments that result in innumerable injustices. Then the deceivers use and twist words and their meanings to further confuse and manipulate those who look to them for guidance. In my life the proper treatment of living things other than humans has been hard to sort out, taking into account the predator/prey default programming that seems to be a part of this particular construct. Of course open cruelty and total disregard for the lives and feelings of these living beings with which we share this world is easily seen to be sick and wrong. Yet it is impossible to survive in this world in many cases without taking the lives of countless other living things, some of whom we know seem to have consciousness, emotions and capacity for caring similar to ourselves. This is one area where we have to try hard to listen to the heart and work on demonstrate kindness, compassion, what is called humane treatment toward these lovable beings.
You are doing a great job of articulating the important principles involved Christopher, rather than just specific rules of behavior, although examples of such can be helpful as we develop our own insight and intuition within our own experiences. As we learn just how to apply those principles.
Yeah, I really feel that we have to make the case from the ground up. Which is why I have done so much of the groundwork, even though people were chomping at the bit for me to get to the "good part."
The better the foundation the sturdier and more stable the building will be, and the longer it will stand. The better people understand the founding principles the stronger and more articulate their support of them is going to be when the storms come, as they always seem to do.
I will need support like that on Monday when I release a bunch of explicit "rules" and people start coming at me hammer and tongs for all the mistakes I have made 🤣
In my country, Canada, the natural law would make sense and should lead the country.. But, we have psychopaths and tyrants leading our country and the laws they are creating are adverse to the natural law because the natural law does not serve their purpose. We think that we live in a free society, but I think we have been disillusioned for awhile.. Canada is communist, or getting there quickly. These would-be elected officials do not represent their constituents and are ramming dictates through our system to serve their purposes and not the people. When this happens, all one can see is that we have anarchy at the end of this. The people inevitably will not tolerate having tyrannical rules imposed upon them. But, maybe that is their goal? Before a country becomes wholly communist, usually there is a period of anarchy and great persecution.
Nearly all of my Canadian friends would agree with your assessment of the situation there.
And yes, tyrants often use a tactic that has been dubbed "anarcho-tyranny" to increase their power. Using the law to make things harder on law-abiding people while making it easier on criminals. Releasing criminals from jail to let them run amok. Importing criminal immigrants, or immigrants in large enough numbers that they will add significant absolute numbers of criminals from within their midst. Taking more immigrants than a single town can hold and putting them all there, knowing it will cause problems. These are all anarcho-tyrannical tactics.
My contention, and the contention of many others, including those here and reading/supporting my work, is that there is no fixing this problem from within the system. No amount of voting. No great savior-leader. The system is the problem.
So we are starting our own thing! That is the subject of the book (of which this post is one installment).
I agree completely. The Saviour of all himself showed a broken system for what it was, and offered the solution. The golden rule is the Rule. We all have to cling to that, for that is the foundation of a Republic..
The golden rule is good, but it also involves SHOULD morality. You should be nice. You should give to charity. Those are excellent for human interpersonal relationships.
But when it comes to governance, we cannot have governing authorities telling you exactly how nice you ought to be or that you should give 15% of your money to charity instead of 12%.
That is why I prefer something like the "first rule" for matters of creating order among humans.
"No person may be subjected to any transaction, initiation of coercive force, or imposition of authority to which he does not provide voluntary, informed, explicit, transparent, and revokable consent."
"No person may be subjected to any transaction, initiation of coercive force, or imposition of authority to which he does not provide voluntary, informed, explicit, transparent, and revokable consent." A truly great starting point, clear, concise, rational and hard to misunderstand.
Exactly. But if we look at everything that’s been going on around us since 2020 there’s lots of uninformed consent going on. There’s lots of pushing and coercing with absolutely no understanding. They are trying to make us dumb, and they are treating us like we are dumb animals, and due to ignorance of our own rights, we are letting them.
I agree, it takes a self deluded person who thinks he is somehow more clever, better, superior to others, and is being smart to take advantage of them as he sees them as lesser beings here for his exploitation. These are the kind of sickos who scrabble for the top positions in any so called "government."
Yes the inherent God-given rights of humans and the moral law. We do have those under common law, but our current legal system has put them off to the side and instead likes operating with corporations and those who have been made members of that corporation (us).
Right Wendy, and made us "corporations" WITHOUT our consent, or for most people even understanding what they have been turned into with this legal hocus pocus.
Good article . Natural law for mankind is simply logic. The Golden rule did't have to be commanded to see that it is simply the best route through life. Go on a cruse ship where 40 or 50 countries are represented in the workforce and all get along without criminal Government intervention. The problem is, it has not been used as the basis for any manmade government in History. The ruling class is not and has never been subject to the golden rule. They have always been simply above that. The natural laws are squelched by Governments. I am not a preacher, but there are many logical statements that should be heeded by mankind in the Bible.It was described for us in the past. Read 1 Samuel :8.
Man has dominated man to his injury. Read Jeremiah 10:23:, Man was never meant to govern man. Read Jeremiah 10:23. And yet today we have more incarcerated people in this country that has a claim of being a more free country than any other on earth. In this country Freedom of the press is ranked 45th in the world. Natural law may be spoken of on the political stage to tickle the ears of the masses to collect their votes, but simply look at the governmental record and you will find natural law is nowhere to be found. also check-https://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/NOTE1.HTM. We have always been held accountable by moral laws that have no need to be written. Writing down laws that are simply common knowledge like we should not, rape, steel, murder, lie, cheat, slander, hate (other men without just cause , like the dehumanizing of the enemy in any war) is redundant, but people simply must be reminded daily since corrupt governments try their very best to hide natural law.
Not that I am not going to support Christopher, but I am waiting for my btc to go a bit higher before I buy a prepaid card or Christopher gets his Exodus wallet set up (smile)
In the meantime, I have given you a temporary comp, to thank you for your ongoing comradeship and support. I will try to get on the Bitcoin thing ASAP.
I appreciate that Christopher, I really do appreciate you and the important work you are doing. It is so gratifying to see someone who has found his purpose in life and is carrying it off so magnificently. Thank you!
But I wonder if the bigger problem isn't the imposition of authority through tyrants laws but rather the manipulation of the general population via mass media.
The fact of the matter is we just went through one of the most draconian impositions of individual rights abuse and 70% of the Western world willingly complied. The threats of force did not do this, the coercion did. The reality is parents are willingly helping their children mutilate themselves.
I love the work you are doing on this dissertation but if we don't first address the propaganda, this will never see the daylight it deserves.
Let's think through solutions together. Off the top of my head…
1. We deprive the media of OUR minds. This seems the easiest, since we have control of it.
2. We counter with information of our own. This is already happening. It is obviously mostly asymmetric (memes, especially) but it is working reasonably well under the circumstances.
3. We buy the media out. Difficult—Elon Musks are few and far between.
4. We deprive the media of the government gravy train. The existence of government power is the reason why the stakes are so high for them. If that were gone, they would have to deal with pure market forces. That may help some. Of course, this solution too is not going to happen quickly.
..."The general presumption is that order is produced by government officials creating and imposing laws."...when can I stop laughing? Maybe the problem is that over the last 50-60 years the education system has been teaching this as if it was etched in granite. Heck, I even believed it for decades. Trying to get anyone over the age of 40 to rethink what government is and how it can be circumcised is a monumental task.
You are certainly on the right track. The natural law world will be for the younger generations. But you are going to need one heck of a crowbar to pry their prison-phones away. Perhaps one must be "indoctrinated" with the freedoms and pleasantries of living more natural.
It certainly is an uphill climb. But then, what isn't in this crazy life? What is that figure about how many people participated in the American Revolution? 3%? We can do this. We just have to do it.
What is meant by a "natural law? I submit that that it is a "law" which is is consistent with the Principles of Reasoning" that are called "entropy minimax.' in the seven volume treatise on this topic by the late theoretical physicist Ronald Arlie Christensen. Under the "entropy minimax" criterion, the induced generalization (aka "model) expresses all of the available information about the conditional outcomes of the events of the future for the physical system being modelled but no more. The models of the leftist radicals express more that the availlable information or less.
There are two things happening simultaneously in nature. There is brutality, but there is also cooperation. Both exist. Trees share chemicals with each other, and with other plant species. Whales hide seals under their flippers to protect them from sharks. Wolves respect each other's territory. Territorial fights are settled with dances rather than with battles to the death.
Also, natural law is not drawn strictly from the behavior of animals. It is also in the moral principles that emanate from basic facts.
Tyrants, psychopaths and thugs crave order more than most.
Order is the rules of the game which they flout. If there is no order, there is no opportunity for cheating.
Good point!
> 1. No involuntary governance is morally permissible. 2. Democracy does not solve #1. 3. A constitutional republic does not solve #2.
What a time to write that! We're less than two weeks from the Most Important Election of Our Lifetimes! 🤣
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlcngdW2Ju4
This book is a gem.
SUBSCRIBE!
SUBSCRIBE!
SUBSCRIBE!
Thank you, Klaus!!
Natural law is a living thing which is what makes it sometimes so subtle and hard to pin down and define in the written word just as living things are. This is why the Great Teacher says the real law is written on your heart, a living thing. We feel what is right in our hearts if we are listening to what it says and not deceiving ourselves and believing the lies of those who have a reason to deceive. That is why it is almost impossible to just make a list of specific commands and write them on stone tablets. Like the ancient laws Moses is said to have given the Israelites it eventually devolves into a long long complicated list of prohibitions and prescribed punishments that result in innumerable injustices. Then the deceivers use and twist words and their meanings to further confuse and manipulate those who look to them for guidance. In my life the proper treatment of living things other than humans has been hard to sort out, taking into account the predator/prey default programming that seems to be a part of this particular construct. Of course open cruelty and total disregard for the lives and feelings of these living beings with which we share this world is easily seen to be sick and wrong. Yet it is impossible to survive in this world in many cases without taking the lives of countless other living things, some of whom we know seem to have consciousness, emotions and capacity for caring similar to ourselves. This is one area where we have to try hard to listen to the heart and work on demonstrate kindness, compassion, what is called humane treatment toward these lovable beings.
Well said in every regard.
I will still make an attempt to write some basic "rules" down, however. It is important to try, even though perfection will be elusive.
You are doing a great job of articulating the important principles involved Christopher, rather than just specific rules of behavior, although examples of such can be helpful as we develop our own insight and intuition within our own experiences. As we learn just how to apply those principles.
Yeah, I really feel that we have to make the case from the ground up. Which is why I have done so much of the groundwork, even though people were chomping at the bit for me to get to the "good part."
The better the foundation the sturdier and more stable the building will be, and the longer it will stand. The better people understand the founding principles the stronger and more articulate their support of them is going to be when the storms come, as they always seem to do.
I will need support like that on Monday when I release a bunch of explicit "rules" and people start coming at me hammer and tongs for all the mistakes I have made 🤣
Anyone can find fault if that is what they are searching for, but the wise look for greater perfection and find it.
Indeed, there is no such thing as "authority." Another fine article. May We find out!
And get rid of the psychopaths' tool called "money" - that allows Them to pay for bullies to enFORCE Their "authority."
Another piece examining how it would be:
Social Currency (article): https://amaterasusolar.substack.com/p/social-currency
A great article.
In my country, Canada, the natural law would make sense and should lead the country.. But, we have psychopaths and tyrants leading our country and the laws they are creating are adverse to the natural law because the natural law does not serve their purpose. We think that we live in a free society, but I think we have been disillusioned for awhile.. Canada is communist, or getting there quickly. These would-be elected officials do not represent their constituents and are ramming dictates through our system to serve their purposes and not the people. When this happens, all one can see is that we have anarchy at the end of this. The people inevitably will not tolerate having tyrannical rules imposed upon them. But, maybe that is their goal? Before a country becomes wholly communist, usually there is a period of anarchy and great persecution.
Let us pray for peace in our lands.
Well and rightly said.
Nearly all of my Canadian friends would agree with your assessment of the situation there.
And yes, tyrants often use a tactic that has been dubbed "anarcho-tyranny" to increase their power. Using the law to make things harder on law-abiding people while making it easier on criminals. Releasing criminals from jail to let them run amok. Importing criminal immigrants, or immigrants in large enough numbers that they will add significant absolute numbers of criminals from within their midst. Taking more immigrants than a single town can hold and putting them all there, knowing it will cause problems. These are all anarcho-tyrannical tactics.
My contention, and the contention of many others, including those here and reading/supporting my work, is that there is no fixing this problem from within the system. No amount of voting. No great savior-leader. The system is the problem.
So we are starting our own thing! That is the subject of the book (of which this post is one installment).
Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts!
I agree completely. The Saviour of all himself showed a broken system for what it was, and offered the solution. The golden rule is the Rule. We all have to cling to that, for that is the foundation of a Republic..
The golden rule is good, but it also involves SHOULD morality. You should be nice. You should give to charity. Those are excellent for human interpersonal relationships.
But when it comes to governance, we cannot have governing authorities telling you exactly how nice you ought to be or that you should give 15% of your money to charity instead of 12%.
That is why I prefer something like the "first rule" for matters of creating order among humans.
"No person may be subjected to any transaction, initiation of coercive force, or imposition of authority to which he does not provide voluntary, informed, explicit, transparent, and revokable consent."
"No person may be subjected to any transaction, initiation of coercive force, or imposition of authority to which he does not provide voluntary, informed, explicit, transparent, and revokable consent." A truly great starting point, clear, concise, rational and hard to misunderstand.
Exactly. But if we look at everything that’s been going on around us since 2020 there’s lots of uninformed consent going on. There’s lots of pushing and coercing with absolutely no understanding. They are trying to make us dumb, and they are treating us like we are dumb animals, and due to ignorance of our own rights, we are letting them.
I agree, it takes a self deluded person who thinks he is somehow more clever, better, superior to others, and is being smart to take advantage of them as he sees them as lesser beings here for his exploitation. These are the kind of sickos who scrabble for the top positions in any so called "government."
Yes the inherent God-given rights of humans and the moral law. We do have those under common law, but our current legal system has put them off to the side and instead likes operating with corporations and those who have been made members of that corporation (us).
Right Wendy, and made us "corporations" WITHOUT our consent, or for most people even understanding what they have been turned into with this legal hocus pocus.
Good article . Natural law for mankind is simply logic. The Golden rule did't have to be commanded to see that it is simply the best route through life. Go on a cruse ship where 40 or 50 countries are represented in the workforce and all get along without criminal Government intervention. The problem is, it has not been used as the basis for any manmade government in History. The ruling class is not and has never been subject to the golden rule. They have always been simply above that. The natural laws are squelched by Governments. I am not a preacher, but there are many logical statements that should be heeded by mankind in the Bible.It was described for us in the past. Read 1 Samuel :8.
Man has dominated man to his injury. Read Jeremiah 10:23:, Man was never meant to govern man. Read Jeremiah 10:23. And yet today we have more incarcerated people in this country that has a claim of being a more free country than any other on earth. In this country Freedom of the press is ranked 45th in the world. Natural law may be spoken of on the political stage to tickle the ears of the masses to collect their votes, but simply look at the governmental record and you will find natural law is nowhere to be found. also check-https://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/NOTE1.HTM. We have always been held accountable by moral laws that have no need to be written. Writing down laws that are simply common knowledge like we should not, rape, steel, murder, lie, cheat, slander, hate (other men without just cause , like the dehumanizing of the enemy in any war) is redundant, but people simply must be reminded daily since corrupt governments try their very best to hide natural law.
Very well said.
To one of your points—there have been a few small historical examples…
https://christophercook.substack.com/p/building-island-3-historical-examples-anarchism
Thank you for your response. Can’t seem to access the article you presented.
Same here Randy, since I haven't yet become a paid subscriber and don't download aps to get the free article.
Not that I am not going to support Christopher, but I am waiting for my btc to go a bit higher before I buy a prepaid card or Christopher gets his Exodus wallet set up (smile)
Thanks, Hat! I really need to do that!
In the meantime, I have given you a temporary comp, to thank you for your ongoing comradeship and support. I will try to get on the Bitcoin thing ASAP.
I appreciate that Christopher, I really do appreciate you and the important work you are doing. It is so gratifying to see someone who has found his purpose in life and is carrying it off so magnificently. Thank you!
Oh sorry—I forgot my archives are paywalled now. Someone suggested to me that I am giving too much of my work away for free 🤣
If you subscribe, I will give you a comp for a week, so you can check it out.
Another excellent article.
But I wonder if the bigger problem isn't the imposition of authority through tyrants laws but rather the manipulation of the general population via mass media.
The fact of the matter is we just went through one of the most draconian impositions of individual rights abuse and 70% of the Western world willingly complied. The threats of force did not do this, the coercion did. The reality is parents are willingly helping their children mutilate themselves.
I love the work you are doing on this dissertation but if we don't first address the propaganda, this will never see the daylight it deserves.
Let's think through solutions together. Off the top of my head…
1. We deprive the media of OUR minds. This seems the easiest, since we have control of it.
2. We counter with information of our own. This is already happening. It is obviously mostly asymmetric (memes, especially) but it is working reasonably well under the circumstances.
3. We buy the media out. Difficult—Elon Musks are few and far between.
4. We deprive the media of the government gravy train. The existence of government power is the reason why the stakes are so high for them. If that were gone, they would have to deal with pure market forces. That may help some. Of course, this solution too is not going to happen quickly.
What else should we put on this list…
Succinct way to put some meat on the bones of an extremely hard concept to put into words! I'm impressed.
Thank you very much. It is the culmination of many years of thought and continued refinement. I appreciate your appreciation of it!
..."The general presumption is that order is produced by government officials creating and imposing laws."...when can I stop laughing? Maybe the problem is that over the last 50-60 years the education system has been teaching this as if it was etched in granite. Heck, I even believed it for decades. Trying to get anyone over the age of 40 to rethink what government is and how it can be circumcised is a monumental task.
You are certainly on the right track. The natural law world will be for the younger generations. But you are going to need one heck of a crowbar to pry their prison-phones away. Perhaps one must be "indoctrinated" with the freedoms and pleasantries of living more natural.
It certainly is an uphill climb. But then, what isn't in this crazy life? What is that figure about how many people participated in the American Revolution? 3%? We can do this. We just have to do it.
Glad you continue to stir the pot. We may be witnessing the collapse of the current global system. The revival of good ideas is needed.
Thank you. I will keep stirring as long there remains strength in my arms and my spoon does not break!
Beautiful Christopher, just Beautiful!
What is meant by a "natural law? I submit that that it is a "law" which is is consistent with the Principles of Reasoning" that are called "entropy minimax.' in the seven volume treatise on this topic by the late theoretical physicist Ronald Arlie Christensen. Under the "entropy minimax" criterion, the induced generalization (aka "model) expresses all of the available information about the conditional outcomes of the events of the future for the physical system being modelled but no more. The models of the leftist radicals express more that the availlable information or less.
I would start by saying that natural law is something that one does not need to be a theoretical physicist to understand.
There are two things happening simultaneously in nature. There is brutality, but there is also cooperation. Both exist. Trees share chemicals with each other, and with other plant species. Whales hide seals under their flippers to protect them from sharks. Wolves respect each other's territory. Territorial fights are settled with dances rather than with battles to the death.
Also, natural law is not drawn strictly from the behavior of animals. It is also in the moral principles that emanate from basic facts.
That said, common law is essential too.