How well can you answer these questions?

7 Responses to “How well can you answer these questions?”

1. brainon4u on May 15th, 2008 2:06 pm
   

   OK, now my head hurts!
2. nbakerld on May 15th, 2008 2:57 pm
   

   1 - Our Creator/The Universe
   2 - Inalienable rights are natural rights, that we are born with. Life, liberty. Civil rights is what our society calls the right to be treated fairly, or to not be discriminated against.
   3 - To protect our natural/inalienable rights.
   4 - Supposedly a republic
   5 - ?
   6 - I am guessing you are asking what is more important to me, not to society. To me, government.
   7 - ?
   8 - I am not sure what this is asking.
   9 - government, religion, education, family,…? Just guessing
   10 - Property is the product of our liberty.

   Bonus - looks kind of like the Sacred Grove
3. spiffy3 on May 15th, 2008 5:06 pm
   

   1. God
   2. Inalienable rights are those which no-one can take away. Civil rights are those which can be taken away.
   3. To protect against deception and coersion.
   4. A constitutional, democratic republic
   5. Private virtue, Public virtue, Widespread Education, Auxiliary Precautions.
   6. Culture - it has a more direct impact on our daily lives.
   7. Not a clue on either one - but thanks for helping see something I didn’t know I didn’t know.
   8. Innocent
   9. government, community, family, academia, media, business, and one other - I’ll have to go check my notes for the rest of the answer.
   10. Private property is essential to have personal liberty.
4. pks on May 15th, 2008 5:22 pm
   

   1. What is the source of man’s rights?
   A: God, the source of life, gives us inalienable rights. Government grants us civil rights, which can be revoked, and are thus privileges, not rights.

   2. What are the differences between inalienable and civil rights?
   A: You can lose your civil rights. E.g. A convicted felon no longer has a right to vote in the U.S. Civil rights were granted by civil powers (i.e. government). Inalienable rights exist regardless of the prevailing form of government. E.g. Life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, property, privacy.

   3. What is the proper role of government?
   A: As nbakerld said, to protect our inalienable rights. Specifically, to prevent others from encroaching on our property or persons, and to uphold contracts.

   4. What is the American form of government?
   A: Representative republic — not a democracy, as some wrongly teach.

   5. What are the four foundations of freedom, according to the American Founders?
   A: From Cleon Skousen’s Five Thousand Year Leap, the freedom to buy, the freedom to try, the freedom to sell and the freedom to fail.

   6. What is more important–culture, or politics and government?
   A: Government, because if you get the governmental form right, a healthy culture can then flourish. If a bad form of government is established, culture will wither or become perverted. Compare the quality of life in Russia, China, and much of Africa to that in the West. As our U.S. governmental form morphs (decentralized to centralized, free(er) market to socialist), what cultural changes might result?

   7. What are “legitimate foundation” and “legitimate authority” in political philosophy?
   A: ??? Drop us a hint.

   8. What is the fundamental character of human beings?
   A: We have a tendency toward evil. We all fall short of perfection. So, governments, being made up of fallible humans, need to be constrained. Government is force, and if that force isn’t constrained, government encroaches on the rights of the people.

   9. What are the seven major societal forms, or institutions, and what are the roles of each?
   A: 1. The family, to provide fulfillment and a healthy place to raise children; 2. Church, to help us grow closer to God, and to find better ways to live; 3. Community, to provide opportunities for friendships and helpful connections among individuals; 4. Business, to provide useful goods and services, promoting prosperity; 5. Media, to inform and entertain; 6. Education, to prepare people for a useful and meaningful life; 7. Government, to protect our inalienable rights, including life, liberty and property.

   10. What are the connections between liberty and property?
   A: Property provides a means for storing value, a medium of exchange, a means for gaining more property, and sometimes a supply of our necessities (shelter, food, warmth, etc.). If my property rights are protected and enforced, then I am free to work to provide for my own needs, and may accrue a surplus, enabling me to donate to help others in need, if I choose. If my property rights are not protected, then I lose incentive to accrue property, and therefore lose incentive to stockpile a “buffer” against hard times. If hard times come, I would then become dependent on the goodwill of others or the benevolence (?) of government for assistance. In that case, I have lost my liberty, since handouts often come with strings attached. Just ask anyone who has tried to qualify for government-subsidized low income housing. They require that all tenants have an up-to-date vaccination schedule. They impose other conditional restrictions, too.

   – Paul
5. JohnSRobertson on May 15th, 2008 8:34 pm
   

   1. What is the source of man’s rights?

   The source of a man’s rights is the common recognition by his fellow man of his rights. Without such common recognition, all a man has is his ability to use force or persuasion. It is commonly believed by many, including the Founding Fathers, that rights are an endowment from God, but as anyone whose rights have been violated knows, they only exist if all others agree they exist.
    
   2. What are the differences between inalienable and civil rights? 

   Inalienable rights are non-transferable. They cannot be given from one person to another, nor can they be taken from another person. Inalienable rights are liberties which protect an individual from what another individual might choose to do. Civil rights, on the other hand apply to a unique set of rights which can be transfered from individual to individual, such as specific property rights. Unlike inalienable rights which are supposed to pre-exist government, Civil Rights only exist within the realm of government.
    
   3. What is the proper role of government?
    
   The proper role of government is to protect the rights and liberties of its citizens.

   4. What is the American form of government?

   A Constitutional Representative Democracy a.k.a. a Constitutional Republic.
    
   5. What are the four foundations of freedom, according to the American Founders?

   Private Virtue
   Public Virtue
   Widespread Education
   Auxillary Precautions

   6. What is more important–culture, or politics and government? 

   That depends on what your understanding of culture, politics, and government are.
   If by culture, you mean the sum totality of art, literature, philosohpy, and religion, then culture is supremely important, as it is from culture that politics and government arise.
   Government, however, is the protector of society, and by extension, culture. Without government, the culture may be completely destroyed by forces hostile to its existence, even if such hostility is manifested in the form of a peaceful revolution.
   Politics is the art and science of negotiation between groups of people, including groups with only one member. Such negotiations take place over the possession and use of various resources within the grasp of the various members of society. Without politics, governments would eventually collapse into anarchy or solidify into a totalitarian oligarchy or dictatorship.

   7. What are “legitimate foundation” and “legitimate authority” in political philosophy?

   “legitimate foundation” refers to the philosophical basis for a given proposition such as the existence of fundatmental human rights. It is asks the question, “upon what rational or logical basis does the premise (idea or concept) rest?”
   “legitimate authority” refers to the philsophical basis upon which a claim of authority may be made for one person or entity to act in opposition to the wishes or desires of another entity.
   In American political philosophy, the foundation is that of a presumption that all individuals are created equal and endowed by their creator (either Nature, or God) with fundamental inalienable rights, and the authority is the consent of the governed who gather together to form a society which protects each individual’s fundamental rights from infringement by others.

   8. What is the fundamental character of human beings?

   The fundamental character of human beings is to pursue their own self-interest in a manner which they perceive to provide the most success in the fulfillment of their desires. Most human beings have the quality of empathy which causes them to seek the welfare of their fellow creatures, even at the expense of the immediate fulfillment of their needs and desires; whereas some do not possess this quality and their behavior is only restrained by self-preservation.

   9. What are the seven major societal forms, or institutions, and what are the roles of each?
    
   BUSINESS - The segment of society best suited to distribute the natural resources of a nation to all members of society and the world.
   GOVERNMENT - The segment of society best suited to protecting the rights of the individual from infringement.
   FAMILY - The segment of society best suited for carrying for the material needs and wants of the individual
   RELIGION - The segment of society which is supposed to educate the ethical and moral conscience of each member of society
   MEDIA - The segment of society which is best able to disseminate information about the state of all other aspects of society to the widest possible audiance
   EDUCATION - The segment of society charged with influencing the intellectual development of the individual’s mind and providing a rational basis for self-reliance after the family
   ART/ENTERTAINMENT - The segment of society which alternatively pacifies and inspires the populace when other aspects of their lives are not sufficiently fulfilling

   10. What are the connections between liberty and property?
   Liberty and personal property are inextricably connected because personal property is necessary for an individual’s survival, without which, liberty would be meaningless.

   Namaste,
   John
6. mariegpalmer on June 1st, 2008 10:09 am
   

   Read the questions then answer them by commenting below.

   1. What is the source of man’s rights? God

   2. What are the differences between inalienable and civil rights? Inalienable are given by God, civil are by your society and may be based on inalienable

   3. What is the proper role of government? Protect rights is what I’ve always heard, but I’m not sure

   4. What is the American form of government? The name is really long, but basically a democratic republic

   5. What are the four foundations of freedom, according to the American Founders? Not sure, I’d have to look at Oliver DeMille’s lecture on it for a reminder

   6. What is more important–culture, or politics and government? culture is more important, but politics and government are great cultural forms to maintain a culture in a good way

   7. What are “legitimate foundation” and “legitimate authority” in political philosophy? I don’t know, but this is a fun exam

   8. What is the fundamental character of human beings? We deeply desire goodness, truth and progression, but we don’t always know how to find or live these things, so, like Mises says, we do what we believe will give us the most satisfaction

   9. What are the seven major societal forms, or institutions, and what are the roles of each?

   10. What are the connections between liberty and property? It is hard to have liberty without the ability to own property.

   Bonus Question: What is the significance of the picture I used on this post?
7. Stephen Palmer on June 2nd, 2008 8:29 pm
   

   Thanks for the excellent responses everyone! I’ve enjoyed reading them and have learned some things. I will be posting my answers to the questions soon, although they are not much different than the responses we’ve already seen.

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