Nostr

Can the People delegate something they themselves don't have a right to do to the government?

This is a question I've pondered for a while, but can't come up with a satisfactory answer.

Its not legal for the American people to kill someone, even in retaliation for the commission of a crime, but they can delegate that authority to the government by way of capital punishment.

There are other examples of instances where a citizen isn't allowed to do something, but can give that ability to the government.

Its sort of a conundrum. I'd like to hear some other opinions and thoughts on this.

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B 1y ago

Interesting question!

I live in a country that doesn’t have Capital Punishment so I find this curious.

A conundrum of rights.

A secondary question could follow that:

Should we be outsourcing things to Governments (and, when it comes down to the nitty gritty, government employees) that perhaps we wouldn’t do ourselves even if we had those rights?

If everyone who voted for the law went into a pool of people from whom was selected at random (like jury duty) to ‘pull the trigger’ rather than paying someone else to do the ‘dirty work’, would the majority of people continue to agree with the law? Perhaps… perhaps not.

Same question re sending people to war.

Would politicians/voters be in such a rush to send troops into battle if they themselves were required to be with them on the front line? Historically conscription generally isn’t a big vote winner.

I’m not suggesting that we shouldn’t have particular laws or armed forces. I’m just observing.

We seem to outsource a lot of our rights… but also a lot of our responsibilities.

It is definitely a conundrum!

nobody 1y ago

This is going to rub all our anarchists the wrong way, but here goes...

US concept for this initially was an odd mix of Christian and humanist principles.

Founders assumed government authority is not a direct delegation of individual rights but a distinct institution ordained by God to uphold order and justice.

Yes, individuals cannot take life in retribution--because God said so. But the government is deligated the authority to administer justice, including capital punishment--again, because God said so.

The authority to kill comes not from the people themselves but from a divinely sanctioned structure designed to maintain peace and punish wrongdoing. The government’s unique role affirms that individuals alone (including kings or presidents) are not equipped or authorized to exercise ultimate judgments like this. Including presidential pardons.

So no deligation of power by the people. Just affirmation of predetermined structure.

mikel77.runion@gmail.com 1y ago

This is my kind if discussion. I can already I’ve come to the right place and feeling good about it the move.