John Locke, Natural Rights, and the National Defense Authorization Act

It’s the birthday of British philosopher John Locke, whose concepts of Natural Law and Natural Rights served as an underpinning to the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.  Locke believed that all people are endowed with rights to life, liberty, and property, and that the only valid use of government is to ensure that these rights are not violated.

This, of course, is why all Americans should be so completely infuriated by the developments over the past few years, in particular, the National Defense Authorization Act.  Among its other offensive aspects, the NDAA for 2012 allows the U.S. military to detain indefinitely persons who are deemed to commit “belligerent acts” against the United States. Insofar as there is no qualification of the term “belligerent acts,” (it could, in fact, apply to what I’m doing right now) this renders void any notion of personal liberty; it nullifies both the 4th and 5th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, as well as the natural rights of Americans.

Put another way, the very rights that government is in the business of protecting are the rights that are specifically being denied.

As I’ve mentioned before, this is a deeply disturbing trend – one that should outrage all American citizens, particularly the many millions of brave soldiers and their families who have sacrificed so greatly to maintain our freedom.