natural rights Archives

Womans face photo by emiliano-vittoriosi-unsplash

MACDONALD: Schrödinger’s Gun

August 29, 2026 Steve MacDonald

I don’t think we’ve ever articulated it that way (Schrödinger’s Gun), but we’ve certainly inferred it. New Hampshire’s continued status as one of the safest states in the country is, in part, a result of our respect for law-abiding citizens and their right to self-defense. If you don’t know whether someone is armed but they … Read more

MACDONALD: Bankrupt

May 12, 2026 Steve MacDonald

Ward Clark, writing at Red State, reminds us that “The primary purpose of government is to protect the liberty and property of the citizens.” If you asked 100 randos on any American street corner how many would even come close to that? Depends on the street corner, I suppose, but the closer you get to … Read more

The Founders on the Source of Rights and an Essential Reading List

December 9, 2024 Michael Boldin

Rights Are Not Gifts from Government. They don’t come from a constitution, a bill of rights, or any document at all. Natural rights come from your creator and are inherent to your humanity. Even civil rights are built upon this foundation. The founders and old revolutionaries widely embraced these principles. Starting with the Declaration of Independence, … Read more

How Do You Ban Something Constitutional?

December 9, 2024 Ian Underwood

In the comments of a recent post on attempts to ban guns at polling places, a reader asked what seems like a pretty simple question: How can one ban something that is constitutional? Here’s the short answer to that: You ban it, let people bitch while they get used to it, and then move on … Read more

Of Course, Vermont Has an Unconstitutional Religious Test

July 16, 2024June 7, 2024 Steve MacDonald

Have you ever seen someone you used to know whom you thought was put together well? Then you run into them years later, and they look like they just gave up. That’s Vermont.

Tulsi Gabbard Speech on women screen grab

Individual Rights and God-Given Freedoms

December 21, 2023December 21, 2023 Steve MacDonald

Tulsi Gabbard isn’t great on every issue, but she was better than most Democrats on a lot of issues (and more than a few Republicans) and has since left that Klan Bake to take up many a cause on the center-right.

Think statue in miniature Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash

Imagine, if you will…

October 9, 2023 Ian Underwood

Imagine, if you will, a government funded by user fees instead of by taxes.

Are you being defended? The defense department can send you a bill for that. Is Congress doing something for you? It can send you a bill for that.

DNA Puzzle Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay

My DNA is my Permit

June 2, 2023 Ian Underwood

I used to be on the fence about the idea of ‘intellectual property rights’ until, by chance, I heard a comment from one of the leaders of the Swedish Pirate Party: You know that something can’t be a right if it expires.

Writing an Excellent Constitution for the Planet Mars

December 28, 2022 Op-Ed

Our US Constitution seems to be out to lunch, as they say. Some scholars may wish to fiddle with it in order to make it work better. But I shan’t try that, as I am pretty sure it would be a waste of time.

Second and Third World Nations Save Us From Biden’s New World Health Order (NWHO)

June 1, 2022 Steve MacDonald

There’s been a lot of noise behind the scenes about the Biden Administration’s proposed amendments to International Health Regulations overseen by the World Health Organization (WHO). The chickens have been clucking about it for weeks, with people losing their minds on both sides.

convoy truckers canadian flag original Photo by Dillon Kydd on Unsplash

License to Tyrannize

February 13, 2022February 13, 2022 Ian Underwood

In case you haven’t yet grasped just how insidious the idea of occupational licensing really is, here’s a reminder from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, speaking to the truckers in the Freedom Convoy:

Physician: Nothing About The Wuhan Flu Justifies Denying Your Natural Liberties

June 30, 2021 Steve MacDonald

This is good stuff, concentrated for easy consumption. Dr. Simone Gold, one of the founding members of America’s Frontline Doctors, is back with another presentation that will make the left and the establishment they lead snap like a twig.

Notable Quote – What Is To Come of Our American Experiment?

June 8, 2021 Skip

“The American project, distilled to its essence, was, and the conservative project is, to demonstrate that a government constructed on the assumptions of natural rights must be limited government.”

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem Signs Order Banning Vaccine Passports

April 29, 2021 Steve MacDonald

With few exceptions, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has been on the side of liberty throughout her tenure. Her handling of the so-called pandemic has consistently put individual liberty above the desires of bureaucrats and calls for more constraint on natural rights.

Life is Preferable to the Alternative … Don’t You Agree?

December 7, 2020

There probably isn’t much that is more important than life itself. Don’t we all have an innate right to retain our life? Isn’t that a “right” the government does not and should not have the right to end?

It’s America That’s Exceptional, Not Americans

October 1, 2020 Ian Underwood

I was recently talking to a friend who moved from Israel to America about 30 years ago. He’s been building a career, raising a family — basically living the American dream. He said that one of the reasons he wanted to come here was that he grew up hearing about ‘American exceptionalism’.

College Students: Stealing Other People’s Stuff is an Acceptable Form of ‘Protest’

September 11, 2020 Skip

The Declaration of Independence, in part, starts off with “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” The word happiness was swapped in for “property” at the last minute because it “flowed better.” The NH State Constitution is much clearer on the point.

Of the State of War

January 21, 2019 Steve MacDonald

Locke’s third chapter is on the State of War. It is an expository on the concept presented in the previous chapter regarding when one individual broaches another’s right to life, liberty and property. In the Of the State of Nature, we learned that one person broaches another’s natural rights he declares himself an enemy to … Read more

“We will do our best to carry our disagreements as we do our firearms — discreetly.”

January 8, 2019 Op-Ed

By NH Rep. Mike Sylvia The New Hampshire House started off the new term in a rather bumpy fashion on last Wednesday. With the exception of four brave souls bucking their majority’s leadership, the House adopted rules that violate the Constitution to which they had sworn an oath just a few weeks ago. Not only … Read more

Whose rights are they

July 15, 2024February 20, 2015 Steve MacDonald

Natural rights. What are they? How do you know what they are? Where do they come from? Whose rights are they and what is governments role with regard to them?