The Golden Rule Is the Basis of American Wealth and Liberty
The basis of American wealth is American liberty. The basis of American liberty is due process. Due process is based upon the Natural Law. The Natural Law is based upon the Golden Rule. The Golden Rule is the basis of wealth and liberty. Mutual respect is necessary for societies to flourish.
Poverty is the natural state of mankind. In the beginning of recorded history, everyone was poor, including the rich, relative to today. This is because they did not have as many tools (capital) to produce as many goods and services to trade for what others had produced, as compared to today.
Wealth is not how much money you have but how many goods and services you can demand with your money. If the supply of goods and services increases relative to the supply of money, then that same amount of money could be exchanged for more wealth. Thus, with the same amount of money, one has become wealthier. That is how wealth is made common.
In order to increase production, one must invent/use capital (tools) to make work easier. Tools either save time doing work or increase the quality and quantity of goods and services. For example, try farming using no tools vs the horse-plough vs the tractor.
People tend to produce more when they are free to keep the fruit of their labor (property). Historically, the freedom of due process results in free trade in free markets and capital production (so-called Capitalism).
Due process means that no one, including the legislature, may deny another their life, liberty, or property without first convincing a jury of their peers that they should lose their life, liberty, or property. Just as denying someone their life or property without due process is murder and theft, respectively, denying someone their liberty without first going through due process is illegal, even if the legislature votes for it.
Due Process is found in the 5th Amendment to the US Constitution:
“No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”
The logic of the 5th Amendment is based on the Natural Law as defined by the Declaration of Independence, which is based on the Englishman John Locke’s Second Treatise on Civil Government (1690). The Natural Law is basically, “Don’t hurt people or take their stuff.” No one was born to command another. It is, fundamentally, mutual respect.
John Locke published in his treatise,[1]
“But though this is a state of liberty, it isn’t a state of licence in which there are no constraints on how people behave… The state of nature is governed by a law that creates obligations for everyone. And reason, which is that law, teaches anyone who takes the trouble to consult it, that because we are all equal and independent, no-one ought to harm anyone else in his life, health, liberty, or possessions.”
The American revolutionaries stated it thusly in the Declaration of Independence,
“In Congress, July 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
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 […]”
The Natural Law did not emerge in a vacuum. It emerged in Christian Europe. American culture is based on English/British culture as they settled the British colonies, 13 of which united to declare themselves to be free and independent states. We are equal before the Laws of Nature’s God. Jesus is king.
Jesus Christ predicates the Natural Law in Matthew 19:16-19,
“And now a man came to him, and said, Master, who art so good, what good must I do to win eternal life? He said to him, Why dost thou come to me to ask of goodness? God is good, and he only. If thou hast a mind to enter into life, keep the commandments. Which commandments? he asked. Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother, and Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”
The Golden Rule is expressed in many ways: Love they neighbor as they self, do unto others that which you would have done unto you, or treat others the way that you want to be treated. It is fundamentally about mutual respect.
Jesus defined one’s neighbor in 10:25-37 of the Gospel of Luke thusly,
“It happened once that a lawyer rose up, trying to put him to the test; Master, he said, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus asked him, What is it that is written in the law? What is thy reading of it? And he answered, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with the love of thy whole heart, and thy whole soul, and thy whole strength, and thy whole mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. Thou hast answered right, he told him; do this, and thou shalt find life. But he, to prove himself blameless, asked, And who is my neighbour? Jesus gave him his answer; A man who was on his way down from Jerusalem to Jericho fell in with robbers, who stripped him and beat him, and went off leaving him half dead. And a priest, who chanced to be going down by the same road, saw him there and passed by on the other side. And a Levite who came there saw him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, who was on his travels, saw him and took pity at the sight; he went up to him and bound up his wounds, pouring oil and wine into them, and so mounted him upon his own beast and brought him to an inn, where he took care of him. And next day he took out two silver pieces, which he gave to the inn-keeper, and said, Take care of him, and on my way home I will give thee whatever else is owing to thee for thy pains. Which of these, thinkest thou, proved himself a neighbour to the man who had fallen in with robbers? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then Jesus said, Go thy way, and do thou likewise.”
From the perspective of the author, we can talk about whether you love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind; but, that is ultimately between you and God. Civil authority has nothing to do with it. The law is meant to regulate human interactions. Jesus here shows that the high class people of his time- the priest and the Levite- would not help their neighbor. The Samaritan, who were considered the lowest kind of people by the Jews of the time, was Jesus’s example of a good neighbor. Modern day Samaritans are Palestinians.
In fact, Jesus takes his teaching one step further. He states that when he comes back to judge the living and the dead, if you don’t help those who are desperate or oppressed, you’ll go to hell because he is the desperate and oppressed.
The Gospel of Matthew 25:41-46 states,
“Then he will say to those who are on his left hand, in their turn, Go far from me, you that are accursed, into that eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you never gave me food, I was thirsty, and you never gave me drink; I was a stranger, and you did not bring me home, I was naked, and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison, and you did not care for me. Whereupon they, in their turn, will answer, Lord, when was it that we saw thee hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to thee? And he will answer them, Believe me, when you refused it to one of the least of my brethren here, you refused it to me. And these shall pass on to eternal punishment, and the just to eternal life.”
Since you will be judged for not caring for people in prison, imagine how you will be judged if you send people to prison for whom you do not care. You can tell people not to sin, but so long as they are not violating someone else’s life, liberty, or property, then they are free to sin.
In relation to sin, one story of Jesus in the Gospel of John: 8:4-11 reads,
“Master, they said, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Moses, in his law, prescribed that such persons should be stoned to death; what of thee? What is thy sentence? They said this to put him to the test, hoping to find a charge to bring against him. But Jesus bent down, and began writing on the ground with his finger. When he found that they continued to question him, he looked up and said to them, Whichever of you is free from sin shall cast the first stone at her. Then he bent down again, and went on writing on the ground. And they began to go out one by one, beginning with the eldest, till Jesus was left alone with the woman, still standing in full view. Then Jesus looked up, and asked her, Woman, where are thy accusers? Has no one condemned thee? No one, Lord, she said. And Jesus said to her, I will not condemn thee either. Go, and do not sin again henceforward.”
This is consistent with liberty being protected from the legislature by a jury in the 5th Amendment. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
However, just because someone is supposed to tolerate and aid sinners, that does not necessarily mean to one has to associate with them. Jesus’s example of conflict resolution is remarkably similar to due process.
Jesus says in Matthew 18:15-17,
“If thy brother does thee wrong, go at once and tax him with it, as a private matter between thee and him; and so, if he will listen to thee, thou hast won thy brother. If he will not listen to thee, take with thee one or two more, that the whole matter may be certified by the voice of two or three witnesses. If he will not listen to them, then speak of it to the church; and if he will not even listen to the church, then count him all one with the heathen and the publican.”
Despite our foundations in the teachings of Jesus and the Constitution, the United States have the world’s largest prison population. That is because so many of our “laws” break the Laws of Nature’s God. Two examples would be the drug war and another religion: Socialism.
Proponents of the drug war in the legislature both construe the Constitution to deny or disparage the rights of Americans without first going through due process and also fund the violent drug cartels, increasing violent crime.
“The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” -9th Amendment
“See, if you look at the drug war from a purely economic point of view, the role of the government is to protect the drug cartel. That's literally true [...] It's very hard for a small person to go into the drug importing business because our interdiction efforts essentially make it enormously costly. So, the only people who can survive in that business are these large Medellin cartel kind of people who have enough money so they can have fleets of airplanes, so they can have sophisticated methods, and so on.” -Milton Friedman, 1991 interview with Randy Paige on America’s Drug Forum.
To clarify, the prohibition of prostitution, drug use, or even gun ownership is perfectly Constitutional if the jury votes for it, not the legislature. The legislature may only deny citizens those liberties through a Constitutional amendment, like alcohol prohibition via the 18th Amendment.
Socialism is an involuntary religion, in violation of the 1st Amendment. They have a holy book (Communist Manifesto), political messiahs (Caesar/President), televangelists (CNN, MSNBC, CNBC), denominations (Marxism, Communism, Democratic-Socialism, Democrats), tithing your fair share to the government because no religion would take care of people otherwise, vows of poverty for mother earth, mask burkas, and eucharistic vaccines that cause you to go to heaven. Socialism is the religion of stone throwers. They do not support the Bill of Rights.[2]
Socialism, were it voluntary, would be perfectly legal. But socialist politicians tend to have few followers when they can’t rob Peter to pay Paul.
Practicing civil disobedience through due process is an effective way to restore the Bill of Rights.
Due process is a system for peaceful revolution. When the government breaks the law, disobey civilly. A jury can acquit people of a crime if they deem that the law is illegal, as is the purpose of the 5th, 9th, and 14th Amendments. The government cannot effectively enforce any law which the jury hates because government requires the consent of the governed. Hence, the power of due process.[3]
That is what will happen after Americans default on the debt. People will disobey the government, and most laws and regulations will go unenforced, because the police and beaurocrats won’t work for free. The police will only have enough money to protect our life, liberty, and property. Mutual aid societies and charities will replace welfare. Christianity will replace Socialism.
The reason why Christianity has thrived in the West, historically, is because the church fills the void of a an impoverished people relying on a bankrupt government. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, society was reorganized around the (Roman) Catholic Church. After the War Between the States, much of the South was burned to the ground and looted, and people reorganized around local churches. That is why they call the South the Bible Belt.
The basis of American wealth is American liberty. The basis of American liberty is due process. Due process is based upon the Natural Law. The Natural Law is based upon the Golden Rule. The Golden Rule is the basis of wealth and liberty. Mutual respect is necessary for societies to flourish.
Matthew 7:21-23,
“The kingdom of heaven will not give entrance to every man who calls me Master, Master; only to the man that does the will of my Father who is in heaven. There are many who will say to me, when that day comes, Master, Master, was it not in thy name we prophesied? Was it not in thy name that we performed many miracles? Whereupon I will tell them openly, You were never friends of mine; depart from me, you that traffic in wrong-doing.”
End Note: This is not the prosperity gospel. The wealth described is increased generally, but you won’t get rich just because you follow the teachings of Jesus. Continuing the story of which commandments to keep in the Gospel of Matthew above, Matthew 19:20-26 reads,
“I have kept all these, the young man told him, ever since I grew up; where is it that I am still wanting? Jesus said to him, If thou hast a mind to be perfect, go home and sell all that belongs to thee; give it to the poor, and so the treasure thou hast shall be in heaven; then come back and follow me. When he heard this, the young man went away sad at heart, for he had great possessions. And Jesus said to his disciples, Believe me, a rich man will not enter God’s kingdom easily. And once again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to pass through a needle’s eye, than for a man to enter the kingdom of heaven when he is rich. At hearing this, the disciples were thrown into great bewilderment; Why then, they asked, who can be saved? Jesus fastened his eyes on them, and said to them, Such a thing is impossible to man’s powers, but to God all things are possible.”
Tetelestai
[1] http://www.earlymoderntexts.com/assets/pdfs/locke1689a.pdf
[2]https://www.hamiltonmobley.com/blog/socialism-is-the-opiate-of-the-people
[3]https://www.hamiltonmobley.com/blog/due-process-government-by-default
