The Declaration of Independence states that “…all men are created equal…they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…”

Sir William Blackstone wrote:

“Man…must necessarily be subject to the laws of his Creator…This will of his Maker is called the law of nature…This law of nature…is of course superior to any other…No human laws are of any validity, if contrary to this: and such of them as are valid derive all their force…from this original.”

Others who have taught that man’s rights come from God and/or Natural Law include Aristotle, Cicero, Thomas Aquinas, Montesquieu, and John Locke.

The competing view(s)–that rights come from the State, or collective society, or a monarch, or a “vanguard”–have been taught by philosophers such as Thomas Hobbes, Karl Marx, Jean Jacques-Rousseau, and John Rawls.

Why It Matters

If our rights come from a human source, whether that be collective society, a monarch, or any other person or group of people, then they can also be taken away by human sources.

In other words, unless rights come from a Creator or Natural Law–a source that transcends humans–they are not unalienable by definition.

If your right to life is granted by collective society, or a democracy, then your life can rightfully be taken by nothing more than a majority vote.

If your property is granted by a vanguard, or a group of elite individuals in charge of the state, then it can be taken at any point by the same people.

If a king grants you your right to raise a family and grow a garden, he can legitimately take your wife, sell your kids as slaves, and pillage your garden any time he sees fit.

Our constitution was not written to grant rights — it was written to secure rights that have always existed regardless of any government.

Do you know why the following questions matter? Can you list at least three sources of opposing views on the answers?

Read the questions, then answer them by commenting below.

1. What is the source of man’s rights?

2. What are the differences between inalienable and civil rights?

3. What is the proper role of government?

4. What is the American form of government?

5. What are the four foundations of freedom?

6. What is more important–culture, or politics and government?

7. What are “legitimate foundation” and “legitimate authority” in political philosophy?

8. What is the fundamental character of human beings?

9. What are the seven major societal forms, or institutions, and what are the roles of each?

10. What are the connections between liberty and property?

Liberty largely depends on strong, healthy families; any freedom lover strives to make their home and family an ideal for the rest of society to model.

With this in mind, I’m constantly looking for ways to improve my meager parenting skills. I have just come across the absolute best thing I have ever read on parenting, and wanted to share it with my readers.

It is an article entitled “Better Than Punishment” by Duane Boyce of the Arbinger Institute and it can be found here.

Read it, share it with your family and friends, and let me know what you think by posting a comment below.

In his classic book Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness, Robert Greenleaf tells of attending a lecture in New York by the South African writer Laurens van der Post.

“It was a disturbing lecture about the vexing problems of that part of the world,” writes Greenleaf. “In the discussion period a questioner asked, ‘Colonel van der Post, I am deeply moved by what you say about the plight of your country. What can we do over here to help.’

Mr. van der Post’s response captures the essence of what I believe our foreign policy must be in the 21st Century:

“Cultivate your own garden and its fragrance will be wafted across the ocean to us.”

Viktor Frankl was a Jewish psychiatrist who survived the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz. Under the worst circumstances imaginable, he found that he still had a fundamental freedom.

In Man’s Search for Meaning he wrote,

“The experiences of camp life show that man does have a choice of action. There were enough examples, often of a heroic nature, which proved that apathy could be overcome, irritability suppressed. Man can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom, of independence of mind, even in such terrible conditions of psychic and physical stress.

“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

Do we who live in the freest nation in the history of the world have any excuse for not being heroes?

The story is told of a young man who went to work for a rancher.

The first day of work the rancher asked the man, “Can you sleep when the wind blows?”

The young man was confused and didn’t know what the rancher meant.

That night a severe storm woke up the young man and he jumped frantically out of bed, afraid that the cows would be lost in the storm.

He ran outside, only to find that the cows were safe and warm inside the secure barn.

The rancher had taken care of them before retiring for the night.

As he went back inside, the man saw the rancher sleeping soundly. He then knew the meaning of the question the rancher had asked.

Can you sleep when the wind blows?

How can you survive and thrive in the Information Age?

There are ten critical skills taught by world-renowned experts Peter Drucker and Granville Toogood that any freeman must master to be able to impact society in the 21st Century. These are:

1. The ability to think.
2. The ability to learn.
3. The ability to teach.
4. The ability to persuade groups.
5. The 5-Minute Pitch.
6. The 8-Second Inspire.
7. The ability to quickly assimilate new technology.
8. The ability to apply knowledge learned from reading.
9. The ability to strategize and execute.
10. The ability to project accurately.

How can a person master these skills? Quite simply: through a world-class, leadership education.

The methodology of this essential education can be found in A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille. Read this outstanding book to learn how you can be a force for good in a rapidly changing world.