Suggested Ground Rules (Re: Beggars in Spain)

Jeff Bone (jbone@activerse.com)
Thu, 08 Jul 1999 03:17:29 -0500


Okay, here's a suggested set of ground rules. What would happen if
society was built up from these basic rules:

(1) There is a notion of ownership of property
(2) You cannot take or impair the use of somebody else's property
(3) You cannot harm another person's physical being
(4) There is a notion of a consensual, binding contract
(5) You cannot impair anyone's right to enter consensual contract
(6) All resources owned in common are managed
(a) in order to yield maximum "common benefit"
(b) in order to minimize negative impact to individuals
(7) Coercion is not allowed
(8) Everything else is tolerated

There are no particular rights except the right to personal safety,
right to safety of property, right to enter contract freely, right to
not be impacted adversely by management of resources held in common
trust, and right to freedom from coercion. There are correspondingly no
particular responsibilities except to respect these rights in others.

Where does this break down?

jb