Section 4: Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness
The greatest natural right of any human being is life itself. There would be no humans without life; and there would be no life without humans. Plants and animals would exist just fine without humans, but they would never wonder about life nor contrive a word or language to define it.
The unborn do not have a free-willed choice of life. We are born by no fault or choice of our own. We exist as result of the natural urges of the human species. The support of human life, therefore, is the most important role of a fair and moral government.
The current U.S. Constitution contains what is known as the Bill of Rights. The original Constitution did not list any constitutional rights. It was not until later, after Congress began interpreting the Constitution incorrectly and immorally, that the American leaders realized that they had to include protection of individual rights or democracy would not work as it should. Bluntly, democracy (where the voice of the majority rules) cannot work if there are five wolves and one sheep trying to figure out what to have for dinner.
Thomas Jefferson clearly defined the purpose for a Bill of Rights:
“A Bill of Rights is what the people are entitled to against every government, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference.”
Ten amendments were added to the original U.S. Constitution that defined the rights that the leaders at that time thought were most important. But as government often does, it failed miserably to consider life itself and what laws should exist to support and protect it for each individual.
The ability to exercise one’s right to religion, to speech, to peaceable assembly, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances is limited if a person was/is homeless, hungry, sick, afflicted mentally, or imprisoned.
What right to bear arms could possibly be more important to a poor, homeless, hungry, sick, afflicted, or imprisoned person than to use that right to procure the basic necessities of life and liberty for that person and that person’s dependents?
What need is there to be “secure in their persons,” if such persons are homeless, hungry, sick and afflicted, or in prison? What “houses, papers, and effects” would then exist to be protected against unreasonable searches and seizures? Warrants for arrest are most often issued “upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized,” against the poor, homeless, hungry, sick, afflicted and imprisoned. What need is there for the right to be protected against unreasonable searches and seizures when a person doesn’t have anything to search or seize?
Without money to pay for the services of expensive and experienced lawyers, what right does any “accused …enjoy…to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense”?
How can a person with no money or means afford bail once they are arrested? If “excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted,” then how does this right become relevant to the poor, homeless, hungry, sick and afflicted, and especially those already incarcerated?
The only part of the Bill of Rights that makes any sense and that equally empowers the people to pursue the proper rights that protect them in life, liberty, and the pursuit of their individual happiness is Amendments IX and X (9 & 10).
Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people
The Humanity Party® (THumP®) calls upon the government to recognize that there are certain rights that are being denied to the people; that the current government does indeed disparage the right of the people to live.
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.” “Or” is the conjunction that THumP® considers the most important part. The people reserve the right to define the rights that are most important to them.
Most honest politicians are not oblivious to the moral aspects of good government:
It was once said that the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped.” —Hubert H. Humphrey
No right established by law should supersede the right to the basic necessities that support human life. No government should exist that does not prioritize the right to life as its number one purpose and protection.
American hypocrisy demands that an unborn fetus has the right to life. Yet when born into the world, the basic rights to support that life are withheld and removed once that fetus reaches adult maturity (according to society).
America has defined itself as a Christian nation based on its belief in the Bible and the stories of “Jesus” therein. Yet, ironically and hypocritically, this Christian nation fails to understand the words of their own Christ when he, according to their own beliefs, defined the parameters of a “righteous” person who will “inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,” and a wicked person who “shall go away into everlasting punishment.”
The Christian parameters of righteousness vs. wickedness, according to their own accepted national faith, completely depend upon, nothing more or nothing less, than how the homeless, hungry, thirsty, sick, afflicted, stranger, and imprisoned are treated. If their needs are not provided for, then a nation is wicked. If their needs are provided for, then that nation is righteous. (See the Bible, New Testament, Matthew, chapter 25.)
THumP® has a plan to provide meat for the hungry, drink for the thirsty, a place of security for the stranger, health and mental care for the sick and afflicted, and value and help for those in prison. THumP® has no affiliation with any religion or faith. We are affiliated with our true humanity and dedicated to the support of human life.
THumP® has formulated a solution to provide every human with the basic necessities of life from the time of birth to the time of death. The solution incorporates the best parts of Capitalism and a Free Market economy (based on the right to pursue wealth and greed) with the best parts of Socialism (based on the advocacy that an economy should be owned and regulated by society as a whole). At this time in human development upon Earth, one economic system without the other would not serve the needs of all people equally.
America’s incredible innovations and advancements in technology and industry are not a result of regulation and consideration for the whole of humanity. They are products of greed and the promotion of self-worth through peer recognition. Competition in business motivates innovation; and new development and money rewards it. Unless the motivation and rewards continue to exist, humans will not advance as they have in the past.
THumP®’s government outline inserts into the Constitution the inalienable rights to life by providing the basic necessities of life to all, free of charge. Congress will be forced to implement laws that guarantee these rights. However, money will always be the issue and concern.
Humans created money; therefore, humans can control money. A strong government with the support of the majority of people can regulate money for the best interests of the people. Politicians depend on the ignorance of the people, and are subjected to their own ignorance, in not properly understanding, implementing, and regulating money.
Greed can be motivated and controlled by providing corporations and the wealthy with the opportunity to make their money in producing the goods and services that support the basic necessities of human life, instead of providing the military provisions to kill people. More money is made from war than from any other social event. Committing the same means and focus to the war on poverty will produce the same results: the United States of America can become the world’s supreme force in winning this war.
Inflation can and should be controlled. When John Doe goes to bed after working a long day and earning enough money to buy a loaf of bread, the motivation for him to get out of bed the next day is that by working the same amount of hours he can purchase the same loaf of bread today that he did yesterday. If, during the night, a group of politicians decides to devalue the money that he earned for that loaf of bread (so that when he wakes up, the money that he earns that day will only buy half of a loaf), one can imagine the emotional affect this inflation will have on John Doe’s mind. Government should exist and the proper laws be implemented to ensure that the wages for which John Doe works today will be worth the same tomorrow. And just as important, Government should ensure that the profit made by the Baker yesterday is not increased just because more of John’s neighbors demand a supply of bread.
As the population of the world grows and more and more cultures become dependent on international trade and the money that is the means of this trade, more money must be created to compensate and account for the growth. (See our Fair Tax Plan for an explanation of how this can be done.)
Providing the people with their basic necessities will not make people lazy. Emotional health is vital to human motivation. Children are at their creative best when they have their needs provided for and they are able to use their free will, unforced, in the exploration of their environment. Children do not like to be forced to do anything. Being forced is work. Play is not being forced to do something, but is often more physically and mentally demanding and challenging than work, yet much more enjoyable. Allowing humans to believe that they are playing with each other at the Game of Life is much more conducive to overall peace and tranquility, than forcing free-willed people to do something that they do not enjoy. A government can become the ultimate parent or guardian that inspires its children to greatness in their individuality.
Once there is more money created to increase the basic prosperity of the people, the governmental powers that introduced the money into the economy must and can control its inflation. More jobs will be created that people look forward to doing when force is not the motivating factor in getting out of bed each morning. Entrepreneurship, creative thinking, pursuing individual value and self-worth in promoting ideas and personal skills will be rewarded with money, as they have always been. As more people are given the opportunity of free choice to live and pursue life as they desire, because their basic needs are provided for, innovative businesses, jobs, and increased competition will result exponentially.
Before life can begin and necessitate liberty to produce the pursuit of happiness, it (life) must be protected, supported, and valued as the most important part of human existence. The right to life truly is the greatest part of our shared humanity.