I am a human being. You are a human being.
I have the right to lead a life of my own choosing, as long as I respect every other individual’s right to do the same.
I have the right to think and act as I see fit, as long as I do so peacefully. I have a right to act according to my own preferences and priorities and values, as long as they do not involve aggression or fraud.
I am a human being and no other human being is lesser or greater than I am in terms of his or her right to pursue happiness. We are all different from one another in many ways, but none of his more or less entitled to lead a life free from coercive interference by others.
Socializing is wonderful, communities are terrific. All human beings have the right to enter and exit relationships with other human beings. People must mutually agree to enter into relationships with one another, but a single individual always has the right to exit the relationship for any reason.
Anyone who pretends to have the right to interact with another human being or use another human being’s body or time or energy or property without that other person’s explicit consent is a bully. There is no “good of the group” that justifies or validates using some individuals against their will to benefit other individuals.
A well-intentioned person is a conscientious person. A well-intentioned person would never endorse the initiation of force against some people to benefit other people. A person who claims to be well-intentioned even after he or she is aware that they are advocating the initiation of force to achieve a goal they consider important is attempting a shortcut that no human being is entitled to use.
A human being is being treated as something other than a human being when attempts are made to bypass his or her explicit, voluntary consent. The pretense of justifying the use of force is a direct path to illegitimate exercises of power by some people against other people.
Everybody’s right not to be interfered with as they peacefully pursue their own happiness implies that everybody must respect limits on their approach to life. Specifically, nobody is entitled to happiness or wealth or fulfillment gained at someone else’s involuntary expense, gained by threats or uses of aggressive force, gained by deceit and fraud and lying.
A human being is a human being. Liberty is the right to be treated as a human being.
